HEARD OF THAT PLACE ON THE <i> OTHER</i> SIDE OF L.A.?

Most of the major new restaurants whose impending existence that this column announces have one thing in common: They are, or will soon be, on the west side of Los Angeles--within an area bound by Sunset Boulevard on the north, Venice Boulevard on the south, Beverly Hills on the east and the Pacific on the west. It is a pleasure, then, to be able to announce a spectacular-sounding new project to be located--hold on to your preconceptions!--at 5300 E. Olympic Blvd., just west of Atlantic Boulevard, and quite firmly in East Los Angeles.

Tamayo, for reasons that will be explained below, is a joint venture between the nonprofit Telacu Group (which promotes economic development in predominantly Latino neighborhoods) and Los Angeles dentist Dr. Stanley Kandel--also a partner in Spago and 385 North. The site of the new place is a large, free-standing, 1927-vintage building originally built as a restaurant but used for many years as a warehouse. The structure has hand-painted wood ceilings, richly textured old-style stucco walls and tile floors.

The food at Tamayo, which is scheduled to open in early October, will include recipes from all over Mexico--with the focus on a huge open pit in the middle of the restaurant in which lambs, chickens, and other gastronomically pleasing creatures will be spit-roasted.

Oh yes, the name. Tamayo is named for master Mexican muralist and painter Rufino Tamayo. The idea at first was to have the 87-year-old artist paint an original fresco on one wall of the restaurant. His age, alas, forbids that. He has given permission for the use of his name, though, and in the place of a new Tamayo work there will be two large paintings of his and a series of seven oversized tapestries woven in Oaxaca after other Tamayo works.

‘CUE: Just in case you plan to be in or near Memphis, Tenn., on May 15 and 16, you might be interested to hear that the 10th annual Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest will take place in Tom Lee Park on the banks of the Mississippi, on those very days. Among the teams participating will be the Pig Iron Porkers (barbecue in this part of the world is mostly porcine in nature--not that wimpy beef stuff they call barbecue in Texas), the Land o’ Cotton Hawg Cookers, the Super Swine Swizzlers, the Be Bop Bar-B-Quers, the Crispy Critters, and, somewhat less contentious-sounding than the others, the Nice Cookers.

SAUCE ON THE SIDE: Arc en Ciel, its French moniker notwithstanding, is a new Mandarin/Sichuan restaurant across the street from the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard--on the second floor, as it happens, of the Brown Derby Plaza, which itself rests on the bones (the brim?) of the original Brown Derby. . . . Gaylord India Restaurant in Beverly Hills celebrates a “Festival of Indian Breads” throughout the month of May, with numerous varieties of chapati , paratha , poori and such, offered free with lunch or dinner. . . . The Studio Grill in Hollywood has introduced four prix fixe dinners, to be served on a rotating basis--four courses for $14.95 per person. But somebody should stop the restaurant--or its PR firm--from claiming that the place “originated California cuisine more than 17 years ago.” That sort of thing is just plain silly. . . . Bistango, meanwhile, has opened for Sunday brunch, including both a la carte selections and a prix fixe menu (with French Champagne included) at $12.50 per person. . . . T. Bones in Beverly Hills offers a wine dinner this Tuesday featuring vintages from the Robert Mondavi Winery--including the pricey 1983 Opus One. Five courses, none of them T-bones (though one of them a filet mignon), will cost $40 a head. . . . And a new UCLA Extension course called “Inside Los Angeles Restaurants” will visit the kitchens at 400 North Canon, Pane Caldo, Sofi’s, Popolo’s and the Grill, on Saturdays from May 9 through June 13--with lunch included. The course fee is $225. Information: (213) 206-8120.