Hatchi series with Walter Manzke

Since it opened about two and a half years ago in downtown Los Angeles, Church & State has been a wildly popular restaurant and a favorite among the food critics. The French bistro has been blogged by many and reviewed by many esteemed critics, including LA Times' S. Irene Virbila, who gave the restaurant three stars. Up until a few months ago the kitchen was lead by chef Walter Manzke, but he recently departed Church & State to launch a restaurant of his very own, which is expected to see the light of day in early 2011. I never got to try Church & State and I regret that fact, especially since many of my food-obsessed friends have all raved about his food. So when I heard chef Manzke was making a guest appearance at BreadBar's monthly Hatchi series, I made absolutely made sure to secure my reservation for this one-time event.



I arrive promptly for my 7:30 spot which I booked more than two months ago, and met up with three friends. This event turned out to be quite the blogger fest as I immediately spotted several people armed with cameras. Fellow blogger weezermonkey was right in front of me as I waited for the hostess to seat us. Moments later we're led to a corner table inside the main dining room. We had already previewed the 8-dish menu online and so it was an easy decision to simply order two of everything. Yes 16 total dishes for the four of us--but keep in mind these are smaller plates, so that justifies our gluttony, right? The theme for tonight was Around the World in Eight Dishes, with each of the eight dishes representing a different country's cuisine.



The menu also boasted three special cocktails for the evening, all of which looked very good. I decided to pass, though, as my friend brought a very special bottle of Hewitt Cabernet Sauvignon from her friend's private wine collection. Our server promptly corked it and poured each of us a glass. This particular wine started out on a sour note with strong and overpowering tannins, but as time passed, the wine aired out allowing the tannins to subside and the fruitiness to shine. (Linda, if you're reading this, I want a bottle!).



As I mentioned already, we asked for two of each plate, and we also requested a demi baguette with the foie gras butter. Unfortunately the demi and the amuse bouche came out after our first course; apparently we weren't the only ones receiving items out of place as several other bloggers reported inconsistency with pacing and ordering. Nonetheless, here are the eats.


Mexico: Yellowtail ceviche, jalapeno, tomatillo sorbet. This was a simple and elegant presentation to start off the night, and I must say it came out rather quickly from when we placed the order. I enjoyed the fresh, ocean-like taste from the yellowtail and it paired nicely with the sorbet. The lukewarm temperature of the fish was slightly distracting and I would have preferred it to be much colder.




BreadBar epi. Our bread service showed up after the first course, but I won't complain because it was extremely good. In my opinion, which I know all 3 of my readers value, BreadBar makes the best bread in Los Angeles and this epi was no exception. Crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, the epi was warm and full of aroma. I had asked for foie gras butter, but instead we received the French Echire butter (thank you KevinEats for spotting that) which was too cold to be easily spread but then quickly melted once shoved inside a hand-torn piece of warm epi.




Amuse bouche. Our server couldn't quite explain what this was and so I can't recite much more detail other than saying it was a shrimp skewer with a shot of some type of "ceviche" sauce. The shrimp was tasty and cooked nicely, but the shot was uninspiring. It was also served warm and I think the taste would have been much more effectual had the shot been served ice cold.





Thailand: White corn curry soup, mussels, coconut tapioca. The black mussels were good on their own but I found them to be competing heavily with the curry soup, which was slightly dominating in taste with a strong corn flavor. The soup was also a bit runny; overall I'm not sure this pairing worked well.





Spain: Santa Barbara spot prawn, garlic, sherry. Moving on to our next course and it's a good one. I recently experienced the amazing spot prawns at Providence a few weeks ago (that review coming soon) and these prawns were about as good, albeit at a much lower price. They were cooked beautifully and seasoned just enough to heighten the taste. I consumed these quickly, head to tail, even taking in some of the antennae. Delicious.



Italy: English pea ravioli, soft egg, Parmesan. Softly cooked ravioli were filled with a mild pea puree, then topped with Parmesan shavings and served with a soft-cooked egg. The ravioli on their own were slightly monotonous in taste, but breaking the egg and mixing the yolk with the ravioli made for a very creamy and savory mouthful, with the Parmesan adding a hint of saltiness and texture. Very nice.



With the egg broken.




Vietnam: “Banh Mi” pig’s feet sliders. These were a huge hit with the table and for good reasons. The deep-fried pigs feet were delicious and very comforting, and the bun was soft and warm with a toasted underside. The bun-to-meat ratio was absolutely text book; with so many sliders I've had these days, the bun simply dominates the meat and condiments. Not so with these.




France: Tarte flambe, caramelized onion, bacon, gruyere. Our last savory course. Firstly, why is only half of the tart covered with bacon? I'm wondering if we got another person's order who had asked for half of the tart to be bacon-less? In any case, the tart was thin, crispy, and loaded with caramelized onion and gruyere. Crispy pieces of bacon added smokiness and texture--and more fat--to the pieces that were lucky enough to be dressed with said pork fat. Yum.



Philippines: Leche flan, pandan, coconut sorbet. My favorite dish of the night was this leche flan with coconut sorbet. Unlike so many other flans that I've had that were dense with a jello-like consistency, this one was soft and creamy, with a texture similar to softened butter. I loved how the milkiness was so present in each bite, and with the sugary pandan I felt as if I was eating a tres leches-like dessert. The coconut sorbet was refreshing and helped tame the overall sweetness.



Japan: Chocolate fondant, Bing cherries, black sesame ice cream, green tea. The last dish of the night and it was very unremarkable. I'm not sure what the chocolate fondant was meant to look or taste like, but it showed up looking burnt with a taste that was chewy and overcooked. I could taste very little of black sesame in the ice cream, probably because of the dominating burnt taste from the fondant. The shot of green tea was interesting in texture but far too mild in taste.

That final dish concluded our dinner and while there were some definite hits and misses with the outing, I'm absolutely looking forward to Walter Manzke's new restaurant, wherever that may be. Our server was attentive and kept our water glasses topped off, but again the dishes were out of order and we almost didn't get our amuse bouche. In fact we weren't even aware of an amuse bouche until our server asked if we had received it. Other bloggers complained they never received it, and one person mentioned that some of the dishes were running out too quickly. Others will agree with me that the service issues are mostly due to the ill-prepared staff at BreadBar; they are probably not accustomed to handling a pop-up like the one last night. Service issues aside, I've now become a fan of chef Manzke's cooking and I'm certain his new restaurant will be just as successful as Church & State.



BreadBar
10250 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles CA 90067