For a Gruyere-laced tart at Church & State, order a contrasting Pinot Blanc

I once had the delicious assignment to write a story about tarte flambée in Alsace, going around to a number of different places that make the traditional flatbread. I wouldn’t call it Alsatian pizza, really, but it elicits the same kind of fervid enthusiasm. The crust is rolled out fine as a crepe, and then spread with crème fraîche, thinly sliced white onions and matchsticks of bacon. Cooked in a woodburning oven it emerges blistered at the edges, but still supple enough to roll up to eat--which is what people there do.

Los Angeles doesn’t have any tarte flambée specialists—yet, but we do have chef Tony Esnault’s version at the French bistro Church & State downtown. His is spread with cave-aged Gruyère cheese, making for a richer tart, and presented on a crisp, almost cracker-like crust: a great start to a meal at this boho French bistro.

The wine to drink with it? A beautifully crisp Pinot Blanc scented with peaches and flowers from the famed Alsace vintner Domaine Zind-Humbrecht. The wine should be well chilled, the better to contrast with the tarte’s sumptuous melted cheese. Not hard to understand why this is such a classic combination.

ALSO:

Doughnut bacon sandwich

Pairings: pasta fagioli and Barbera d’Alba

Pairings: mustard roasted chicken with a Beaujolais cru

Twitter.com/sirenevirbila