Neighbors Support Permit for Posh Restaurant

Convinced that a classy restaurant with alcohol would be better for the neighborhood than something less tony without it, a Studio City homeowners group has endorsed a limited liquor license for a proposed Bistro Garden restaurant.

Members of the Studio City Residents Assn. voted 100 to 1 Tuesday night in an informal show of support for the license, which is being sought from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control by operators of the Beverly Hills-based restaurant.

Last month, an ABC official said he was considering recommending denial of the application because of complaints from residents who live near the proposed restaurant site.

Tuesday night, ABC district administrator F. J. (Jim) Smith told homeowners that restaurant planners have offered to restrict beverage sales in hopes of changing his mind about recommending rejection of the application.

The Bistro Garden will halt sale of alcoholic beverages at midnight, control noise from the restaurant, impose strict nighttime parking controls on customers and avoid outdoor advertising of beverages, Smith told Studio City residents.

“I think those conditions are reasonable and enforceable,” Smith said.

Smith, who last month told homeowners in Sherman Oaks that he intended to recommend denial of the liquor permit, said he is reviewing the restaurant’s list of voluntary restrictions.

He said strong support for the restaurant’s liquor application has come from the public, including “a call from a state senator--not his aide--but the senator himself.”

“I’m not going to tell you which one,” he told the homeowners.

That news was welcomed by developer Herbert Piken, who has warned that the Bistro Garden would not open a Studio City branch without a liquor license. Piken said he would be forced to put in a less-exclusive restaurant at his $15-million “Center at Coldwater” shopping center site if the Bistro Gardens pulled out.

He has stressed that the Bistro Gardens is expected to anchor what he envisions as an upscale shopping center on the southwest corner of Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Ventura Boulevard.