Pub Ambience on a Patio : Cat & Fiddle draws a club crowd with its British-American conviviality--and a slight turn left on Sundays

Kim Gardner knew a good thing when he saw one.

In early 1985, because of licensing problems and complaints of excessive noise, Gardner’s Cat & Fiddle Pub and Restaurant--then in Laurel Canyon--closed, and he was looking for a new location. “I looked at three or four places, but when I saw this one, I got very excited.” he recalled.

Gardner, a 41-year-old native of London, speaking over a pint of Harp lager and holding a Marlboro, dropped his voice to a conspiratorial tone. His eyes twinkled as he quietly sang, “It’s got a nice patio .” He had uttered the same words to his wife, Paula, when he made the decision to sign a long-term lease on property that sits cater-corner across Sunset Boulevard from Club Lingerie in Hollywood.

That patio is the Cat & Fiddle’s main drawing card. It is an open flagstone space enhanced by a border of palms, eucalyptuses and various ferns. Near one corner is a large olive tree, near another a ficus. A small circular fountain splashes with a discreet babble. A dozen yards off the street, it provides a sheltered, garden-like refuge from the roar of the busy boulevard.

Even on a Monday night, the Cat & Fiddle’s patio is full. Most patrons are in their 20s or 30s. Gardner guesses that the crowd is “about 50% British, 50% the rest.” The patrons, some solo, others in twos, threes or more, stand or sit at tables, on wooden benches, on the rim of the fountain and on the wide concrete basins that surround the larger trees--sharing food, drink and conversation. On weekends, the place is often really jammed, even when Gardner institutes a $5 cover charge. “But that’s only on Fridays,” he added quickly.

A bar, dining room and darts area are inside. Though Gardner has music only once a week--a hard-swinging jazz quintet led by alto saxophonist Pat Britt and tenor saxophonist Wilbur Brown that plays Sunday nights from 6:30 to 10:30--the establishment’s conviviality seems to be the central reason for its success.

At least Rinda, 24, an interior designer from Hollywood, thought so one recent Sunday. “It’s a great place to come to because it’s not like a bar, and you can be outside, and everybody knows everybody else,” she said. A split second later, she shrieked gaily, reached out and hugged a young man who had walked up.

“How are you? I haven’t seen you for a long time!” Rinda said. Her friend, T-Rick, who described himself as a magician, said he too enjoyed the ambience of the Cat & Fiddle, “especially on Sunday, when they have the jazz.” He nodded toward the Britt-Brown aggregation.

The band--with guest tenor saxophonist Red Holloway sitting in, was roaring at full steam on Cole Porter’s “I Love You” as drummer Clarence Johnson, bassist Pat Senatore and pianist Dwight Dickerson provided Holloway with vibrant support.

Gardner, a bassist with a background in rock who has made 27 LPs and played with Ronnie Wood, Carmine Appice, Seals & Crofts and his own group--Ashton, Gardner and Dyke--didn’t want to turn his pub into a rock club because “then people come by based on who you’ve got performing that night. So, instead, I’ve made this a place to get away to from all the music clubs. Except for taking a left on Sundays,” he added with a sly smile.

Left, indeed. So why does a rock bassist feature a jazz band? Four years ago, he said, “everyone thought I was totally nuts when I brought the band in because a lot of people didn’t, and don’t, like jazz,” Gardner said. “A lot of people don’t get it, but I like it. I love it.”

Britt, who acts as emcee for the Sunday evening sessions spotlighting Brown, dubs Gardner “the mystery bassist” when he sits in on an occasional rendition of Miles Davis’ “All Blues.” The leader said the gig has its share of yea’s and nay’s.

“It started out to be a pure jazz gig, and now it’s more an entertainment thing,” Britt said, referring to the variety of people who make unscheduled appearances, such as Peter Fletcher, a doorman at the pub and a guitarist with Pygmy Love Circus. On that recent Sunday, Fletcher sang “Rock Me, Baby,” another romping blues, with Gardner standing in for Senatore on bass.

“Still, it’s nice to play outside, where you get a lot closer to people than you would at a place like Catalina’s,” Britt said. “But it’s definitely not a jazz crowd. It’s a different kind of experience for me.”

Brown--a potent improviser with a rousing, robust tone who played with trumpet great Kenny Dorham and the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra in the 1960s and ‘70s, said, “This is the best gig in town.”

Gardner, who toured the United States regularly before settling in the Southland in 1973, had just left a band led by Billy Burnette, Dorsey Burnette’s son, when he bought the original Cat & Fiddle in Laurel Canyon from friends in 1982. Though he had never run a restaurant or any other kind of business, for that matter, a British pub seemed like a good idea.

“There was nothing of its kind, no British establishment, on this side of town then, so I wanted to try it,” said Gardner, sitting in his club’s patio. “It was a great place for a pub. Actually, I originally wanted to open up for a couple of years and then sell it. Seven years later, I’m still on the floor, living in my own created prison,” he said with a chuckle.

He has a 20-year lease at the site, over the years occupied by such eateries as the Gourmet Restaurant, Moo Ling’s and, in its last incarnation, Sunset Gardens. Before Gardner opened, he redesigned the space and supervised extensive remodeling. “I had to level off some of the flagstones on the patio,” he said, taking a hit off his cigarette, “and I ended up jack-hammering the whole floor inside, so that you walked down to the bar.” Little by little he decorated, putting up everything from antique prints of Queen Victoria to contemporary lithographs.

The pub’s menu has traditional English fare and other varied dishes. On the English side, there are, it goes without saying, fish (fresh) and chips, bangers (British-style sausages made on the premises) and mash, steak and kidney pie, and plowman’s lunch (an assortment of Cheddar and Stilton cheeses with salad, relish and fruit).

“We used my mother’s recipes to start with, and then moved on from there,” Gardner said.

Also available are an array of daily specials as well as steaks, hamburgers and fresh soups. Beef, pork and lamb roasts are on Sundays only. Prices for dinners range from $7 to $15. The bar is fully stocked. The pub also serves Harp lager, Bass ale, Guinness stout, Henry Weinhard’s on draft and a dozen or so other well-known and arcane beers, ales and stouts in bottles. Draft pints average $2.75, bottles $3.

Asked why he thinks the establishment is a success, Gardner replied tongue in cheek: “I don’t have any idea what I’m doing. I was bluffing when I started, and I’m bluffing now.”