Barbecue without the sweat

AMERICA’S love of the summer barbecue is as vast and cultivated as a Nebraska wheat field. If only you could say the same about your backyard.

It might not be the place to host a civilized fete at the moment. Or maybe you’re wilted like a head of butter lettuce in a locked car and probably can’t take more heat-based punishment. Fortunately, a slew of L.A. restaurants are here to help with a variety of summer barbecue parties sure to satisfy even the most insatiable grilled-meat cravings.

Clementine in Studio City is best known for its made-from-scratch American comfort food and its dreamy baked goods, so it’s little wonder that the restaurant’s “BBQ Fridays” excel at more of the same. The menu features mini barbecue brisket and chicken sandwiches on house-made buns as well as Sheboygan-style bratwurst sandwiches. Sides include cold watermelon, corn on the cob with cumin butter, and traditional potato salad. Also look for root beer floats and fruit crisps and cobblers.

“We’re going to start using peaches soon,” says manager Anastasia Sotiropulos, adding that a recent hit at the barbecue was the “perro caliente” -- a bacon-wrapped Niman Ranch hot dog with jalapenos and mayonnaise.

In Santa Monica, Wilshire restaurant is hosting a Sunday “Neighborhood Barbecue Night,” featuring what chef Andrew Kirschner calls “classic all-American backyard barbecue.” The restaurant used to be closed Sundays, so Kirschner says that when they decided to keep it open, they wanted to do something with a casual vibe. Hence the mixed barbecue sampler platters piled high with juicy Chimay-braised baby back ribs, Kobe tri-tip, Andouille sausage and pulled pork meant for unfettered sharing and sticky fingers.

For barbecue that breaks the traditional mold, Vinoteque in Culver City themes its Saturday barbecues around a different world region each week and serves the results in a lush backyard patio shaded by lemon and orange trees.

“You feel like you’re in Tuscany,” says co-owner Gil Ran. Vinoteque’s barbecues are priced at $28 per person and include four to six courses and one glass of paired regional wine or two glasses of beer. Ran says upcoming themes include Mediterranean (fish kebabs, lamb koftas, house-made pita), Australian (“shrimp on the barbie”) and a New England clambake.

If you’re looking for sleek-urban cool, Katana’s Red Sun Sunday barbecues take place on the Sunset Strip restaurant’s chic front patio.

“On Sunday nights during the summer, people are hitting house parties in Malibu or having pool parties, so we thought, ‘Why don’t we do something too?’ ” says Lee Maen, an Innovative Dining Group partner.

The something they came up with is a party atmosphere fueled by giant tropical drinks for two and savory robata grill skewers including Kobe beef with shiitake mushrooms and sweet sauce, lobster and rib-eye steak with mustard sauce, and Wagyu beef with green beans.

With barbecue options as ready-made as these, all you need to expend energy on this summer is remembering the Wet-Naps.

-- Jessica Gelt

Small bites

* Antonio Alessi’s Italian restaurant, Crudo Bar & Ristorante, has soft-opened for lunch. In the same Sunset Strip complex as Ketchup and Caffe Primo, Crudo specializes in, yup, the Italian raw-fish bites. A central crudo bar anchors the space but there is also a bar and lounge and a covered patio. 8570 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 289-1131.

* David Overton, the man behind the Cheesecake Factory, has paired up with a Singapore-raised chef to open Century City’s RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen. The ambitious menu includes specialties from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and India. 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City, (310) 552-9988.