Valentino relaxes with C Bar

VALENTINO, for 35 years one of the grande dames of Southern California fine dining, is getting a little work done. Nothing serious mind you, just a nip and tuck here and there.

The most notable alteration will be the introduction of what owner Piero Selvaggio is calling the C Bar in the front room. In this case, C is for carpaccio, culatello (the special heart of prosciutto), crudo (sushi, Italian style) and cicchetti (Venetian seafood snacks).

Of course, this being Valentino of the legendary wine list, it also stands for Chianti and even Cabernet.

The details are still being worked out, but C Bar will be across from the restaurant’s existing bar where there is now a private booth. You will be able to idle there before beginning a full meal, or just stop in for a quick bite and a sip of something tasty.

In other words, C Bar is Selvaggio’s version of the popular wine/small plates bars that seem to be springing up everywhere. Executive chef Angelo Auriana will be in charge and will be working with chef de cuisine Giacomo Pettinari, just as in the main dining room.

“This is a whole new fresh idea for Valentino,” Selvaggio says. “It will always be Valentino because I cannot just turn it into a trattoria, but this is something that lets us offer food that is a little more casual and a little more affordable.”

The C Bar is scheduled to open within a couple of months; also debuting will be several other cosmetic changes Selvaggio is making to the facade and interior of the building.

“It’s just time for a little freshening up,” he says. “And there is such a proliferation of wine bars. I just figured, you know, who better than us -- with all the wines and the many little things we know about Italian food -- should take advantage of it?”

-- Russ Parsons

Small bites

* Gonpachi, the massive Japanese temple-like structure on La Cienega that has been under construction seemingly forever, quietly opened March 19 and is accepting reservations. It features a sushi bar as well as a sumiyaki bar where skewered meats and vegetables are cooked over imported binchotan charcoal. Soba noodles are made on the premises.

Gonpachi, 134 N. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 659-8887.

* After selling her Cafe Atlantic in Pasadena about a year ago, Xiomara Ardolina is now selling her 16-year-old Xiomara Pasadena.

“Very slowly I’m shrinking,” says Ardolina.

Diners hankering for Ardolina’s modern Cuban fare can still get their fix at Xiomara Melrose.

Xiomara Melrose, 6101 W. Melrose Ave., L.A., (323) 461-0601.

* A wine-tasting room called Eno (short for enology), offering nearly 50 wines by the glass as well as cheese and chocolate flights, has opened in the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel. Holly Smith, formerly of the Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey, is wine director.

Eno, 1 Ritz-Carlton Drive, Dana Point, (949) 240-2000.

* A second location of the Stand, the stylish hot dog joint that arrived in Encino in 2004, has opened in Century City in the park area behind the new building housing Creative Artists Agency. In addition to dogs, burgers, salads and knishes, the new location serves breakfast weekdays. Choices include chili cheese omelets and citrus pancakes.

The Stand, 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, (310) 785-0400.

-- Leslee Komaiko