Drago Exits Celestino, Ditto Patrick Terrail at Ma Maison

There’s something missing from the popular Celestino in Beverly Hills these days: chef/co-owner Celestino Drago himself. In a dispute with his partner, investor Art Vella, Drago quit the restaurant as of Feb. 13. He retains his 50% interest in the establishment, and the place will keep the Celestino name--but he says he has no further involvement with it either as a chef or a manager. “I hope Art will do very well with the place,” Drago says. “For the time being, my kitchen staff is staying on, but I’m not sure what will happen in the future.” Drago is looking at several possible locations for a new place of his own, he adds.

MORE RESTAURANT NEWS: Patrick Terrail is no longer running the reconstituted Ma Maison at the Ma Maison Sofitel Hotel. Though he is himself unavailable for comment at the moment--he is said to be on vacation in the South of France--Terrail is reported to have retained a consultancy relationship with the restaurant. It has also been reported that the Ma Maison name will be removed from the hotel itself, though the restaurant will continue to operate under that appellation. . . . Joseph Miller, formerly chef at Cafe Katsu and the Brentwood Bar & Grill, both in West Los Angeles, will join the kitchen staff at Patina, working with executive chef Traci des Jardins and chef-owner Joachim Splichal. Splichal also reports that he has a new project in the works, details of which will be forthcoming.

STILL IN THE FOOD CHAIN: Chez Jay, which was scheduled to close in its original Santa Monica location on or about the first of the year, and to reopen elsewhere in the area, remains in business in the old place for now. Owner Jay Fiondello is meeting with his landlord--the RAND Corp., which apparently needs the space for expansion--just about now, and promises to report to this column when there is news of his fate one way or the other. . . . And Madame Wu’s, also in Santa Monica, which announced in 1989 that it was going to close temporarily and rebuild as a smaller restaurant, remains open in its original form as well. The rebuilding project is still in the works, says Madame Wu herself, but for now it’s business as usual.

NEW TABLES IN TOWN: Yujean Kang’s Gourmet Chinese Cuisine has just opened in Pasadena, a Southern California spin-off of Yujean’s Modern Cuisine of China in Albany, next door to Berkeley. How modern is it? One of the dishes is described as Chinese polenta with assorted spices. . . . Never on Sunday is new in North Hollywood, featuring--what else?--Greek food. . . . And the Fisherman’s Cove Seafood Restaurant has been launched in West Los Angeles by the proprietors of three well-known Baltimore-area seafood eateries--the Fisherman’s Wharf restaurants in Towson and the Inner Harbor district and Fishermans Exchange in Parkville. Fisherman’s Cove chef is Kaz Nematpour, formerly in the kitchens at MaBe and Primi. The restaurant will take delivery of fresh seafood flown in from Baltimore twice weekly.