Boheme, Night Life for the Smart Set

“The night life in this city insults your intelligence,” says real estate developer John Thomas. That, Thomas says, is why he’s opening a new two-story, 200-plus-seat combination restaurant and “lounge” (“I don’t like the word bar, “ he notes) in November in the old American Legion Hall on Robertson Boulevard just north of Wilshire. The name--”this week, anyway,” says Thomas--will be Boheme.

The designer of the restaurant? Thomas himself. “The exterior is inspired by the Viennese architect Otto Wagner,” he says, “and the interior by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, who did the interiors for the ship Ile de France.” I wanted something very classic, something warm and inviting.

Thomas plans to serve lunch, dinner, late supper, Sunday brunch, and probably late-afternoon tea. “We’re thinking of light cabaret use in the back room late in the evening,” he adds. The food? “Sort of California eclectic,” Thomas replies. And the chef? None other than the peripatetic Guy Leroy.

EAT WELL AND DO GOOD: Charity dinners by big-deal chefs have become commonplace. The chefs are all great. The causes are all worthy. The food is all wonderful.

This one, however, sounds so spectacular that although you may not be able to afford a ticket (they’re $350 per person), you can’t help wishing that you could.

“The idea,” says Mauro Vincenti, “is to have all sorts of artists cooperate with the ideas.”

In this case the artists are not only the chefs (10 of them), but a sculptor (Arnaldo Pomodoro), a painter (Charles Arnoldi), a filmmaker (Bob Rafelson), a dancer (Natalya Makarova), a composer (Henry Mancini), a writer (Sidney Sheldon), an architect (R. Scott Johnson) and a winemaker (Robert Mondavi). Each artist contributed ideas for a course. Two orchestras (including the Count Basie Band) will play, and Henry Winkler will emcee.

The dinner, called Art x 7, will be held at Rex Il Ristorante Saturday at 7 p.m. All of the proceeds go to United Friends of the Children, the primary support group of Maclaren Children’s Center. For information, call (213) 627-2300.