Culinary Academy for L.A.

The world may or may not need more chefs, but it certainly needs more trained chefs. One way that chefs (or would-be chefs) get training, for better or for worse, is through culinary academies. The most famous of these is the ominously initialed CIA--in fact the CulinaryInstitute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. A far smaller, younger school is our own state’s California Culinary Academy on Polk Street in San Francisco. Founded in 1977, the CCA has a current enrollment of about 425 students and runs, in addition to extensive teaching facilities, a retail shop and three on-site restaurants where students’ talents are showcased.

Now the CCA is coming to Los Angeles. Academy president Thomas A. Bloom (previously an executive at both the Cal Poly hotel school in Pomona and at the aforementioned CIA) and board chairman Theodore G. Crocker (of the Crocker bank family) are seeking a Westside location for the school and a master chef with proven administrative abilities to head up the new institution. They hope to open in early 1990, and expect an eventual enrollment of some 1,000 students.

Graduates of the original CCA, which will remain open, now cook in a number of top Bay Area restaurants--among them Masa’s, Stars and Campton Place in San Francisco, and Auberge du Soleil in the Napa Valley. It would seem likely that the presence here of a branch to the academy will enrich the Los Angeles restaurant scene as well.

What’s New?

The Grill’s long-awaited offshoot (which promises to be less expensive and a bit more casual than the Beverly Hills original) is scheduled to open this week on San Vicente in Brentwood. Called the Daily Grill, it will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, er, daily. . . . Frantrecote, featuring a single prix-fixe meal of salad, steak (with match-stick potatoes and a 27-ingredient sauce) and homemade pastry, has opened in Sherman Oaks on the site the old Aux Delices. . . . Ciro’s Pomodoro opens this week on Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood. . . . And Gorky’s, everybody’s favorite semi-Russian downtown cafeteria-cum-bistro, will open a second restaurant later this year in Hollywood, where the Tick-Tock used to be.

AIDS and Profits

The Women’s Culinary Alliance, in conjunction with AIDS Project L.A., has organized a “Dining For Dollars” day, Friday, Oct. 7. On the night of the 7th, at least 45 Southern California restaurants will devote a percentage of their profits (anywhere from 5% to 35%, depending on the restaurant) to the Project. Restaurants open for lunch only will donate a portion of lunch profits. The group hopes to raise $50,000 in order to hire a full-time case manager for women with AIDS and a pediatric specialist for children afflicted with the disease. Among the restaurants that will participate are Spago and Chinois on Main (Barbara Lazaroff, co-owner of the two establishments, is honorary chairperson for the event), 72 Market Street, Tamayo, Il Forno, Tumbleweed, Caioti, Kate Mantilini and both Angelis, plus Robin Rose in Venice, which will contribute a percentage of ice cream sales profits for the entire day. For a complete list of participating restaurants, call (213) 380-2000, Ext. 254.

EVENTS: Knoll’s Black Forest in Santa Monica celebrates Oktoberfest from 5 p.m. on Oct. 1 and from 3 p.m. Oct. 2. Entertainment, a special menu and beer galore will be featured. . . . The 4th annual Taste of the South Bay food and wine festival is scheduled for Oct. 3 at the Torrance Holiday Inn, from 6 to 9 p.m. Food from 25 area restaurants will be served, and tickets are $20 per person. Cheer for Children, the Redondo Beach Salvation Army Meals on Wheels and the Volunteer Center will benefit from the event. Call (213) 540-2494 for details. . . . Cal State University, Northridge Extension presents a four-session course called “A Taste Of Italy: Exploring Regional Specialties,” beginning Oct. 3. Dominic DiNichilo, owner of Da Vinci in Beverly Hills, is the instructor, and the course costs $175. Call (818) 885-2644 for further information. . . . The Let’s Get Cookin’ school in Westlake Village launches a Professional Chefs Training Program, also on Oct. 3, to be taught by Cecilia De Castro. The number to call is (818) 991-3940. . . . And the New Otani Hotel & Garden, downtown, serves a special 11-course matsutake mushroom dinner, for $80 per person, through Oct. 15. Matsutake mushrooms are said to be to the Japanese what black truffles are to the French.