Celebrate French Chef Tony Esnault and his New “Cool” Take on Bastille Day 2017

Celebrate Bastille Day on Friday, July 14^th DTWA with the most unusual at Church & State.  Executive Chef Tony Esnault has added four special menu offerings to celebrate this French National Holiday.

On the menu on the cool side are the  Vichyssoise, a chilled soup of leeks, onions, potatoes, and cream, and the Salade Lyonnaise with frisée, soft poached egg and bacon lardoons.

For the main attraction, Church & State will be offering two extraordinary Parisian entrées:  Chef Esnault’s Bouillabaisse, a Provençal fish stew made with prawns, mussels, clams, rock fish, fennel, potato, leek, and rouille, or the Confit de Canard made of duck confit, ratatouille, pickled grapes, and duck jus.

Church & State will be open on Bastille Day, Friday, July 14^th, 2017, for dinner from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm; 1850 Industrial Street #100; Los Angeles, CA 90021; 213-405-1434: www.churchandstatebistro.com

 

 Housed in the time-honored Douglas Building, and one of L.A.’s most beautiful settings, SPRING Owner Yassmin Sarmadi and Executive Chef Tony Esnault will serve A Grignoter & Sweets for the holiday.    A selection of nine A Grignoter (nibbles) includes a plate of Huitres Glacées du Jour, four daily market selected oysters, Melon et Jambon, fresh melon and handcrafted ham, Figues & Brie, (you guessed it), figs and Brie, and an assorted selection of additional delicious bites for $4.00.

Spring will also be offering a special selection of Sweets, including the Chou à la Crème; a puff pastry filled with vanilla cream, the Louis XV; Valrhona Jivara Chocolate with crunchy hazelnut, or the Pastèque; a refreshing watermelon ice cream sandwich for just $3.00 each.

 Pair your celebratory French fare with a glass (or bottle) of fine French wine from Spring’s extensive wine list, or celebrate by sipping a custom, artisanal cocktail of your choosing.

Spring Los Angeles will be open Bastille Day, Friday, July 14^th, 2017 for dinner from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm; 257 South Spring Street; Los Angeles, CA 90012; 213.372.5189; www.springlosangeles.com

Executive Chef Tony Esnault brings the light and sophisticated cuisine of Southern France to Spring, his latest collaboration with partner and wife Yassmin Sarmadi. Spring opened in February 2016 at Los Angeles’ historic Douglas building, and presents a complementary culinary experience to the couple’s acclaimed French bistro, Church & State.

“The simplest way to describe the culinary difference between the two restaurants is to say that, while Church & State’s classic bistro fare is driven by the use of butter, the backbone of Spring’s lighter fare is olive oil,” says Esnault.

Growing up on his grandparents’ farm in the south of France, Esnault learned at an early age to appreciate seasonal ingredients and regional French cooking. One of his earliest culinary memories includes his grandmother showing him how to hunt and prepare every part of a rabbit.

By eight years old, Esnault had already decided he wanted to become a chef. In his early culinary years, he trained at the François Rabelais culinary school in Lyon, followed by multiple Michelin-starred restaurants across Europe.  In 1996, at the legendary Louis XV restaurant in Monte Carlo, where he met his mentor, Alain Ducasse.

“First and foremost, he (Ducasse) taught me how to maintain flavors without altering the ingredients too much,” Esnault says. “There’s a radiance to food in its natural state that you don’t want to undermine.”

Elegance of flavor and artistic execution have become Esnault’s award-winning trademarks in the United States, including the Ritz Carlton Boston, and as executive chef Alain Ducasse’ Essex House and Adour at the St. Regis in 2007.

Esnault relocated to Los Angeles in 2009 to head the Patina kitchens in the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall to rave reviews.