Those Selvaggio Rumors: Now They’re True

There have been frequent rumors (and even a few published reports) over the past three or four years that Piero Selvaggio, proprietor of the top-rated Valentino in Santa Monica and Primi in West Los Angeles, was about to open a third local restaurant. These rumors (and reports) have repeatedly turned out to be incorrect. Now, though, Selvaggio tells me that he definitely has a new place in the works--and that Primi is in for a makeover.

Primi first: Beginning next month, Selvaggio says: “We’re going to trim the menu somewhat, cutting down on the number of truly sophisticated dishes. In the space that is left over from this trimming, we are going to add certain hearty, traditional Italian dishes. We won’t serve just antipasto and pasta any longer.”

Some of these dishes might surprise those who know the alternately innovative and authentic regional Italian food Selvaggio has traditionally served: “You know,” he says, “we all secretly love sausage and peppers, veal parmigiana , pasta with ragu. I want to include things like that. I don’t want the restaurant to be seen as just a cheaper version of Valentino.” He adds that Primi also is due for a slight name change,--to Primi +, or Primi Plus--or, as he prefers it, in Italian, Primi Piu.

Meanwhile, in Sherman Oaks, Selvaggio plans to take over the site of the old Fiore d’Italia on Ventura Boulevard, where he will install a restaurant called Posto (“Place” in Italian). “We’re still thinking about everything we can do,” he answers, “but I want to have a little box on the menu with three or four kinds of lasagna, and another box with maybe several pastas with different kinds of meatballs. And the heart of the restaurant, what it will be designed around, is a large grill, which will have people on both sides, grilling everything --meat, fish, vegetables. It will be very straightforward, very simple.” Selvaggio hopes to open Posto early next year.

It might be seen as more than a little ironic that Selvaggio, who has been a critic of L.A.’s recent restaurant-opening mania, and who freely refers to “all the unfilled seats in Italian restaurants” hereabouts, is adding to this town’s (Italian) restaurant population.

“But what else can I do?” he asks. “This is the business I know, and after five years of Primi, I’ve learned that it is possible to have more than one restaurant without eclipsing the first one. And I have so many talented employees who will eventually leave me if I don’t give them room to grow.” He adds, “Wolfgang Puck, who himself is now involved in five restaurants, has been a great inspiration to me in this idea.”

GLADSTONE’S 4 PESCE?: Both Bob Morris (Gladstone’s 4 Fish, R.J.’s the Rib Joint) and Silvio De Mori (Tuttobene) told me they were shocked last week to see an item in Bruce David Colen’s “Dining Out” column in this month’s Los Angeles Magazine, revealing that the two had “just inked papers” to combine their talents on a chain of half-a-dozen restaurants up and down the California coast. “I don’t know how he got the news,” they said in virtually the same words. “Silvio and I are in very sensitive negotiations,” Morris continued, “but nothing has yet been signed.” Nevertheless, De Mori confirms that the story is--barring the signatures--true. If the deal is completed, he says, the first restaurant (no name has yet been chosen) will indeed be in Marina del Rey, as Colen reported. And more are indeed planned. “What we are looking for with these places,” De Mori adds, “is good food, real Italian, very Italian. And big. Marina del Rey will have about 280 seats. I’m taking care of the basic concept, training the chefs, the menu. I will use my skills, Bob will use his. It’s very stimulating to work with him. He and his organization are the first really, really professional people I’ve ever met in this business.”

NEW TABLES IN TOWN: Somi Rehil, proprietor of India’s Cuisine in Tarzana, has opened a second restaurant, Sheesh Mahal (Crystal Palace) on Pico Boulevard just east of La Cienega. . . . Roger Lee, former executive chef at Peng Yuan in Monterey Park and the Mandarin in Beverly Hills and then chef and co-owner of Abacus in West Los Angeles, has opened a new place of his own, Hunan Garden, in Lomita. . . . And Ernie Criezis, proprietor of the Great Greek Cafe and the Moonlight Tango Cafe, both in Sherman Oaks, has opened Cafe Athens, on the site of the former 1000 Wilshire and (very briefly) Mille Ristorante in Santa Monica.

ARTY EATS: Supporters of the so-called ‘Big Green’ initiative on the November ballot will have a chance to help the cause, win good art by top-name artists, and enjoy food supplied by DC-3, Rebecca’s, the West Beach Cafe, Citrus, and the Broadway Deli, at an event entitled ‘Artists United for Big Green’--to be held next Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m., at DC-3 in Santa Monica. Works by Lita Albuquerque, Charles Arnoldi, Don Bachardy, John Baldessari, Sam Francis, Frank Gehry, Robert Graham, David Hockney, Ed Moses, Ed Ruscha, DeWain Valentine, and more than 20 other artists will be raffled off (tickets are $100 apiece, and the art may be previewed at the West Beach Cafe through Friday). Celebrities attending the event include Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden (though presumably not together), Martin Short, and Ed Begley, Jr. Admission tickets are $75 each. Call (213) 395-1990 for further information.

RESTAURANT MISCELLANY: Axel Dikkers, longtime sous-chef at the Regency Club in Westwood and more recently executive chef at Camelions in Santa Monica, has taken over the kitchen at the once-acclaimed Tower in downtown Los Angeles. . . . Hiroo Iimura is the new executive chef at Mikado in North Hollywood, replacing ex-Imperial Gardens chef Shinozaki Ayao, who had joined the restaurant with some fanfare in March. . . . Victor Sodsook, executive chef and co-owner of the Siamese Princess in West Hollywood, has published his own cookbook, “I Love Thai Food.” The book, produced for Sodsook in Thailand, includes color photographs and recipes from top Bangkok restaurants, as well as Sodsook’s own recipes. It is available at the restaurant, or may be ordered by mail (call the Siamese Princess for further information). . .