Officer Does a Slow Burn

Some Beverly Hills restaurateurs complain that their trade has never really rebounded from the sharp drop-off many experienced when the city briefly banned all smoking in restaurants last summer.

But if business is off, it hasn’t resulted in better service for Lt. Bill Hunt, spokesman for the Beverly Hills Police Department, which had the job of enforcing the short-lived prohibition. “I went to a place where I read in the local paper that their business was off 30% at lunch time,” Hunt said. “And I didn’t see any marked change. People were waiting, and the tables were full.”