CHURCH AND STATE restaurant

“Say Cheese!” September 18th for National Cheeseburger Day!

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Cheeseburgers

Celebrate regional American National Cheeseburger Day When the cheese was added to a hamburger it was a big deal. Honoring the 1926 invention of The word “cheeseburger” is a shortened form of the phrase “cheese hamburger”, meaning a hamburger with cheese.  The original word hamburger arguably comes from the town of Hamburg in Germany and refers exclusively to a burger made from beef.  Half a century later we ate burgers with a variety of quirky toppings at Hampton’s, Hollywood owned by the wonderful Stanley Ralph Ross and Paul Newman, including PPJ I swear, which is a fond memory to me and an figment of my imagination to my husband.  Cheeseburgers topped the list then.  And it does now.

Malibu Farm

Cheese oozing out of the new Malibu Farm, Newport Beach, a burger with its special fermented, grilled onions (above and below)

cheeseburger

Malibu Farms, Lido Village, Newport Beach offers a cheeseburger with fermented/grilled onions with broccoli mashed potato and greens

And now almost a century after the cheeseburger was introduced, upscale burger chains (you know who they are) became a “BIG” deal when they re-introduced a variety of toppings along with cheese, and then a cheeseburger and a plant-based burger.  Yet, try and stop the cheeseburger.

Cheeseburger

The Raymond 1886 with its welcoming outdoor patio and historic caretaker’s cottage has competition for National Cheeseburger Day from its own 1886 cocktails, which make a meal onto themselves.   The Raymond Cheeseburger prepared with ground Kobe beef, crispy lettuce, fresh tomato, crunchy pickles, melted cheddar, and “Eva’s Secret Sauce “ is simply a burger but better somehow in the outdoors loved where the sheer exuberance of the place seems to pour right into these juicy, oversized burgers.  For details on how they are made please see: //localfoodeater.com/pasadena-raymond-place-lunch/

Executive Chef Tim Guiltinan talks about his cheeseburgers with imaginative ethnic twists

The Raymond 1886, Pasadena’s  historic Craftsman cottage and patio,  1250 South Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105; 626.441.3136; open for lunch and dinner www.TheRaymond.com 

Former surfer Chef Raphael Lunetta’s modern diner Lunetta All Day the ultimate California version made with Snake River grass-fed beef, caramelized onions, juicy beefsteak tomato, aged white cheddar and Marie Rose sauce.  It pairs perfectly with your any one of the long list of beverages.

Cheeseburger

L.A.D. Burger, (Photo Courtesy of Lunetta All Day)

Lunetta All Day 2420 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405; 310.581.4201; www.LunettaSM.com

Lunetta At Night indulges in Chef Raphael Lunetta’s Snake Rover Heirloom Cheeseburger made with Snake River grass-fed beef, grilled onions, fresh heirloom tomato, sharp cheddar, and avocado while sipping on a perfectly prepared handcrafted cocktail from The Moon Bar.  Leave it to Chef Lunetta to serve the most classic and the most cutting-edge deconstructed versions.

Lunetta At Night  2420 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405; 310.581.9888;www.LunettaSM.com

Executive Chef Sammy Monsour’s  Jenny’s Pimento Cheeseburger at Preux & Proper celebrates National Cheeseburger Day with a Cheeseburger topped with mouthwatering pimento cheese.  Chef Sammy made a name for himself with burgers at Boston’s JM Curley’s before arriving on the LA scene so you know these are the best.  P & P burgers are prepared with Strauss grass-fed beef, pickles, horseradish remoulade, pimento cheese, and plenty of north country bacon.

Jenny’s Pimento Cheeseburger at Preux & Proper (photo courtesy of Ziv Sade)

 Preux & Proper  840 South Spring Los Angeles, CA 90015; 213.896.0090;www.PreuxandProper.com

Executive Chef Tony Esnault’s Burger at Church & State (DTLA) adds a little ethnic flair with American regional, French versions. offers a French version prepared with grass-fed beef, dijonaise, brioche, and Emmentaler cheese; with additional toppings available like crispy bacon, caramelized onion, or free-range fried egg for $1.  The restaurant offers the burger lunch and dinner. For details, please see: www.ChurchandStateBistro.com

Church & State, 1850 Industrial Street, Los Angeles, CA 90021; 213.405.1434. 

 

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

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Celebrate Bastille Day on Friday, July 14th 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 14th, 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 14th, 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.

 

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