For Those With Arty Appetite

Some time back, art on restaurant walls was strictly for the paint-by-numbers crowd--all black velvet canvases and encrusted orange sunsets.

Those gems are still around at your favorite ethnic dive or no-frills coffee shop, but at a growing number of Valley eateries, restaurant art has gone haute.

We’re not talking Jackson Pollock here, but serious art nonetheless. By recognized artists. And it’s for sale. If you can afford it, that is.

“It’s not like buying a cheap litho,” sniffs Ellen Gannon, manager of Prezzo in Sherman Oaks. Prezzo features “contemporary artists,” and current offerings include a Bruce Dean painting for $1,300 and a set of two paintings by Hoon Kwak for $3,000, Gannon says.

“There’s no question that it makes a restaurant more interesting,” says Bill Kincheloe, part owner of Stanley’s in Sherman Oaks who is enthusiastic about his art-and-dine setup.

Kincheloe said Stanley’s originally bought its own art to hang on the walls, but that it got boring to stare at the same prints all the time. Today, he showcases artists from the Martin Lawrence Gallery and changes exhibits every two months.

Featuring artwork in restaurants “seems to be more and more in vogue,” he says. “The combination of changing food along with changing art makes the place new constantly.”

On the trendy West Side, the quasi-art galleries are widespread--from the chic West Beach Cafe in Venice to L.A. Nicola in Silverlake. In the Valley, it seems that they cluster on the Valley’s own Champs Elysees, Ventura Boulevard.

Lalo and Brothers on Ventura Boulevard in Encino, for instance, serves up art originals by Marco Sassone and Mercedes Lasarte along with California cuisine.

Yeah, but is there a demand for this stuff?

Kincheloe, of Stanley’s, says he sells one or two pieces a month.

Lalo Durazo said his restaurant has sold “a few” in two years of business. However, “It’s more to keep our clientele entertained, and for the decor.”