Restaurant Review: The Church Key

By Michael Aushenker | Contributing Writer

Photos by Rich Schmitt | Staff Photographer

On the evening “Moonlight” won the Academy Award for best picture, the movie’s crew and family watched filmmaker Barry Jenkins and co-screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney from this vast, contemporary Sunset Strip restaurant. The movie’s producers rented out the entire establishment to hold its viewing party.

Oscar night, however, was an anomaly—not the usual Sunday for The Church Key, which, on this day of the week, usually witnesses a frenzy of brunch business, replete with a DJ spinning background music.

On our night here, the staff seemed unpretentious, down-to-earth and kibbitz-ready, including Chef de Cuisine Christopher Fox, who implemented a menu crafted by Executive Chef Ryan Ososky.

“Church key” is slang for a familiar type of can opener once employed at this restaurant to open canned cocktails. (That might return soon). Closed on Mondays, Church Key offers a different program on each of its active weeknights. Tuesday Night Chicken Dinner turned out to be a terrific time for our first-ever visit—more mellow and subdued than the weekend nights, which gave us a chance to really immerse ourselves in this incredible environment.

Hands down, this was one of those rare restaurant outings where there was not one false note in the cuisine. We started out strong with a few items off of the gourmet dim-sum cart.

Empanadas, filled with pork sausage and aioli, arrived in a smear of whole-grain mustard and tasted scrumptious. Our Spicy Tuna on Crispy Rice, topped with a slice of jalapeno, evaporated quickly. Even something as light-hearted as Fried Mac & Cheese, two small fried fingers with macaroni and cheese filling, was made to perfection, delivering a terrific smoky aftertaste.

One of the most (deservingly) popular appetizers at Church Key is Chicken “Marsala” Agnolotti, an ambitious mélange of confit chicken (made of chicken livers) with mushrooms and marsala jus, all topped with shredded aged Pecorino.

Much appreciated were Ososky’s Potato Pierogies, on a bed of heirloom apple butter and accompanied by five-year aged Gouda, sour cream and chives. Rare is the Los Angeles restaurant offering pierogies—little dough pockets stuffed with soft potato filling—and we have Ososky’s Polish heritage to thank for this addition.

Known around the kitchen as “Foxxie,” Chef de Cuisine Fox introduced us to our first entrée, the popular Crispy Pork Belly, a Korean chili glaze and sesame-covered affair with escarole kimchi and cilantro—all topped with a sunny side-up egg. Decadent for sure—those savory porcine morsels colored by the piquant kimchi.

“We try to do fun food,” Fox said. “[Comfort food] that’s been tweaked.”

Beef & Broccoli is bold and direct—slices of grilled 8 oz. hanger steak with charred broccolini and crispy maitakes on a bed of fermented Chinese black bean vinaigrette. The 26 oz. Bone-In New York Steak comes with raclette potatoes, rainbow baby carrots and red wine sauce. For seafood lovers, there’s Dungeness Crab & Spinach Dip, with aged Gruyere and grilled sourdough.

Then came the entrée to top all entrees. At $21 a half order—or $34 a whole order—CKFC, a basket of boneless buttermilk-batter fried chicken with amazing house-made (yet not spicy) cheddar jalapeno biscuits and two chef sides, was formidable in both quality and quantity. Our perfectly tender and moist chicken came with tasty, fluffy blue corn waffles and cherry Kool-Aid-marinated watermelon, which made for a sublime chicken and waffles experience that was simultaneously playful and gourmand.

For dessert, it doesn’t matter whether or not you typically enjoy eating donuts. Church Key’s sublime Brioche Donuts, with its brown butter glaze, cinnamon caramel and side of milkshake, will divide and conquer you.

Operated by four partners, including managing partner Tatiana Brunetti, Church Key is the only restaurant this team runs; its stylish and sleek, yet earthly and inviting, environs created by interior designer Carrie Livingston. Billing itself as “modern American cuisine,” Church Key is indeed a cross-cultural melting pot of epicurean delights, cross-referencing comfort foods from different corners of the world.

Framing our terrific meal were the alcoholic concoctions of our magic mixologist Floyd, who told the Palisadian-Post that he aimed to create a cocktail program that is “fun, approachable and whimsical.” Floyd told us that he studied molecular gastronomy and indeed proved to be part-Bill Nye as he whipped up a cosmic glass of The Classified, with a big blue orb of ice at its center.

Next to this drink foamed up a nice, bright, glass of Peachy Lips—a small volcano of Hangar One Vodka, Peach Espuma and champagne that did not rely on egg whites for its sudsy layer but tastes as light and refreshing as it is colorful and visual. (Floyd also creates a stunt drink employing an Otter Pop and liquid nitrogen.)

Cucumber Basil Smash features quality gin and Chareau Liqueur with muddled cucumber, blueberries and citrus. I’m a sucker for a good Old Fashioned, and that shotgun-to-the-chest hit of Thai Old Fashioned—bourbon, tamarind and Thai basil—did not disappoint. Tequila is the narrative thread flowing through many of Floyd’s libations, from Jamberrie, incorporating Herradura with homemade blackberry jam, citrus and toasted cinnamon, to the flashy, Classified and Chipotle Sour-infused Border Patrol.

What’s interesting about Church Key is that the restaurant is constantly changing and challenging itself. As Foxxie mentioned, the menu mutates every six weeks or so.

Assistant Manager Leana Raynauli explained tentative spring plans for Livingston to turn the front area into a “Church Key Café,” complete with patio-esque atmosphere.

One might be hard-pressed to find a culinary destination as daring and original as The Church Key, and while the restaurant’s name might be pseudo-ecclesiastical, the cuisine within is indeed a revelation.