Sarmadi Buys Out Steven Arroyo at Church & State

Photo credit: Anne Fishbein

Yassmin Sarmadi at Church & State

Yassmin Sarmadi has bought out her business partner Steven Arroyo at the downtown bistro Church and State. The deal was official at the end of last week. Arroyo's Los Feliz Cobras & Matadors recently closed; the last Cobras is the flagship location on Beverly Boulevard.

"He was less involved in with this restaurant than his other places," said Sarmadi this afternoon. "Walter and I where the ones here on a daily basis." Walter is chef Walter Manzke, who revitalized the bistro when he took over the kitchen earlier this year. (Manzke is not among Saramadi's limited partners, nor is her domestic partner, Joe Miller of Joe's in Venice.)

As for any changes at the restaurant, which got
raves from the Weekly's Jonathan Gold in July, Sarmadi says things will stay pretty much the same. "I'm fortunate to have an amazing chef like Walter here. We like what we've done and we'd like to keep it that way."

Church & State: 1855 Industrial St., L.A., (213) 405-1434.