Local News in Brief : Puck Brewery Approved

Chef-to-the-chic Wolfgang Puck, hoping to expand his culinary ventures yet again, won City Council approval Wednesday to open a brewery restaurant in West Los Angeles despite strong objections from nearby residents.

The epicurean entrepreneur and his partners in the Los Angeles Brewery Co. served up a healthy portion of lobbying to secure the approval, overcoming opposition from Councilman Marvin Braude, who represents the neighborhood, and his slow-growth allies. The proposal still must be approved by Mayor Tom Bradley.

Plans for Puck’s new restaurant--he founded trend-setter Spago in West Hollywood and Chinois in Santa Monica--call for brewing a Bavarian-style lager on the premises for sale to patrons. The menu would feature an international cuisine that “goes well with beer,” Puck said, such as barbecued ribs, Mexican food and hamburgers.

About 50 residents showed up to protest the proposed restaurant, which would be located in the 1800 block of South Bundy Drive near an integrated neighborhood that is an enclave of Japanese-American families.