Downtown’s Long-Running French Bistro Church & State to Close, Again

Arts District restaurant Church & State is closing once again, ending an up and down year for the important Downtown restaurant. The warehouse-y bistro space inside the Biscuit Company Lofts was among the first big restaurant players in the whole of the Arts District a decade ago, and has featured food from prominent chefs like Tony Esnault, Walter Manzke, and David Féau over the years. Now the restaurant’s final night of service, in its current iteration, will be Saturday, November 23.

Earlier this year, Church & State actually closed for a first time, with owners Esnault and Yassmin Sarmadi selling off the ten-year-old space and moving to Orange County to open the restaurant Knife Pleat. The place was down for more than a month before being resurrected by serial restaurateur Bill Chait and partner Taylor Parsons, who brought on Féau and kept the Church & State name. That was in June.

Now, per an email sent wide by Parsons yesterday, Church & State will once again shutter before the end of the month, this time to make room for an entirely new restaurant that will be operated by Chait and Parsons. Per the note, the unnamed new project will include a partnership with a prominent local Chinese restaurant group, though Parsons declined to name the new partners. There has been speculation on who that group might be for some time, with at least one big San Gabriel Valley name bandied about behind the scenes.

Wonho Frank Lee

As for Church & State, the final night to enjoy the place is this November 23, though Parsons does note in his email that the address will continue to host private parties and film shoots until reconcepting in the spring.

Church & State. 1850 Industrial St., Los Angeles.

• Downtown LA’s Next Big Restaurant Opens in This Historic Fire Station in Arts District [ELA]