There’s Big Debate Over the Veal Thing

Veal is in the news these days. Animal rights activists condemn the conditions under which it is raised--veal calves are commonly brought up in darkness, in pens so tiny that they can’t lie down or groom themselves--and call for a boycott of veal consumption. (State Sen. Milton Marks (D-San Francisco) has recently introduced a bill that would mandate larger pens, but it won’t come to a vote until next year.) The FDA warns that one out of every 10 veal calves slaughtered contains illegal levels of antibiotic and other drug residue, potentially harmful to consumers. And now come reports that trend-setting local restaurateur Wolfgang Puck has banned veal from his menus--a move that at least some of his colleagues at other establishments seem likely to imitate.

The thing is, though, that the reports about Puck’s veal policy aren’t quite true. Veal may not appear on the menu at Puck’s Spago anymore (and it never appeared at his Chinois on Main), but he continues to offer it as an occasional special at both restaurants--and it is on the regular menu at his new Postrio in San Francisco, and will apparently stay there indefinitely.

But the veal Puck uses in Los Angeles is not inhumanely raised, nor is it dosed with antibiotics like so much other veal. His comes from Summerfield Farm in Charlottesville, Va. The proprietor, Jamie Nicolls, has pioneered humane and healthy commercial veal husbandry methods in this country. He keeps the calves in large open stalls where they are fed on whole cows’ milk (whole eggs are added to their diet during the last few weeks of life--an old French tradition). Then they are slaughtered as humanely as possible, and butchered by knife cutting, not sawing. The resulting veal is not only more healthful, and less offensive to animal lovers, but it seems to have somewhat more flavor than conventional “milk-fed” veal--which, anyway, is usually fed with formula, and not with real cows’ milk.

Several other veal producers around the country use similar methods--among them the English-based Quantock Corp. in Beaver Dam, Wis., and the nonprofit Food Animal Concerns Trust in Chicago, which produces Rambling Rose brand veal. At Postrio, says Puck, he uses mostly a brand of veal from Sonoma, raised similarly to Summerfield’s.

But, according to Puck, there is a problem with these kinds of veal. “You always have to explain to people that although it has a very good flavor,” he says, “it’s tougher than the veal they’re used to, and not as pale. It’s a sad thing, because this veal is more expensive than other kinds, and sometimes when we serve it to people they think it’s an inferior product.”

I asked Piero Selvaggio of Valentino in Santa Monica, a restaurant famous for its veal dishes (among other things), to comment on the veal question. (He buys veal from conventional high-quality sources.) “I have to say,” he answered, “that I’ve heard no negative reactions from our customers about eating veal. From time to time, it’s natural that people start looking at things in a new way--smoking vs. nonsmoking, the consumption of alcohol, pesticides on fruit. Veal is another one of those issues. It is a conversation piece now. But I don’t see how veal causes any danger to people. Veal is harmless, just like its flavor--and people who want this kind of lightness of flavor will go on eating it.”

PRICE CUT: Michael’s in Santa Monica is known in this town for its high prices--there’s the infamous $12 ice cream, for example. But in the recent edition of Michael’s Newsletter sent to its regular customers, there was shocking news: “On your next visit to Michael’s,” it read, “you can be on the lookout for a new summer menu and new prices !” And, no, that doesn’t mean prices have gone up.

Gone are the across-the-board $32 dinner entrees and $16 salads--an invention that proprietor Michael McCarty picked up from a restaurant in New York. “I was inspired by the way they do business at San Domenico,” McCarty says, “and thought I might try the same thing here.” San Domenico, an American branch of a well-known and pricey establishment of the same name in Italy, had set a standard price for each menu category: $18 for all pastas, $28 for all fish dishes, etc. “What we found out, though,” McCarty says, “is that people in L.A. really want more of a range of prices. It’s sort of a life style thing, the idea of having more of a choice.” Thus, appetizers and salads are now priced between $9 and $16, and main dishes between $26 and $32.

Michael’s has also lowered its controversial 18% obligatory service charge to 15%. Having opened additional restaurants (Adirondacks in Denver and Washington, D.C., and a forthcoming Michael’s in New York), McCarty says he has been able to consolidate management costs.

And in other restaurant price-cutting news, Caruso and Me in San Pedro--where you can get an entire six-course dinner for $24--has announced that it will offer a three percent discount (before tax) on any dinner check paid in cash.

RESTAURANT UPDATE: It was announced in this column several weeks ago that Henri Broussard, former owner of the old Broussard’s Patio Orleans on the Sunset Strip, was the chef at the new Piccola Alley in Beverly Hills. As it happens, Broussard’s tenure in that position was brief. He has been replaced by Mark Gonzales, who has cooked at Morton’s and Malibu Adobe, among other restaurants, and who was chef and co-owner of the regrettably short-lived Ashley’s in West Hollywood. . . . And an item published here two weeks ago described a new Enzo’s Talk O’ the Town as opening in La Canada. In fact, the original Enzo’s is in that community; the new one is in neighboring Pasadena

MORRONE MOVES ON: George Morrone, executive chef at the Bel-Air Hotel since October of 1987, has left the establishment. “It was a great experience,” he says, “and a lot of fun. But it was just time to move on.” Morrone, who had previously worked under Bradley Ogden at Campton Place Hotel in San Francisco, adds that he has no definite plans for the immediate future--but that he “might be doing something with someone up north” in a few months’ time.

EXPANSION: Roger Lambert, former chef at the late Michael’s Canoga Inn in Canoga Park, has opened La Concorde in Tarzana, featuring traditional French specialties. . . . India’s Cuisine, also in Tarzana, has doubled in size and added both a new wine list and a number of new menu items. More than 70 percent of the food served is now approved by the American Heart Association. . . . Pasadena’s Rose City Diner has opened a second unit--in downtown Honolulu. . . . And the Siamese Princess, also in West Hollywood, now offers a special to go and delivery menu, featuring dishes not served in the restaurant itself.