They’ll Seat You in September

AND POSTO MAKES THREE: Piero Selvaggio, owner of Valentino in Santa Monica and Primi in West Los Angeles, has finally broken ground for his new Sherman Oaks restaurant. Posto will be located on Ventura Boulevard, on the site of the old Fiore d’Italia restaurant. “If everything goes well, and we don’t run into any problems, we should be open for business by the middle of September,” says Selvaggio. “Right now, we are planning on serving Italian food for the ‘90s--a very simple, healthy kind of food. We will be doing a lot of grilling and keeping things simple, serving a lot of condiments instead of sauces.”

HOLLYWOOD, THE SEQUEL: Planet Hollywood, the mega-restaurant and entertainment complex, is scheduled to premiere Sept. 1 in the heart of New York’s movie and theater district. It has been designed by Academy Award-winning production designer Anton Furst (“Batman”), who is spending more than $12 million to recreate the glamour of Hollywood. In addition to the 200-seat restaurant, the 20,000-square-foot complex will include a state-of-the art screening room with adjoining private rooms capable of accommodating 600 people. The blockbuster cast of investors include producer Joel Silver’s golden boys Bruce Willis (the “Diehard” movies and “Hudson Hawk,” to be released in May) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (“Predator”). The menu will include California classics--pizzas, salads, turkey burgers, and grilled fish and meats.

THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE: This year’s nominations for the Oscars of food, the James Beard Foundation Awards (if they’re not yet being called the Jimmy’s, they will be), are a bit puzzling. Nominees for the restaurant of the year--Le Bernardin, Bouley, and Union Square Cafe--are all New York City restaurants while the chef of the year nominees--Wolfgang Puck, Michel Richard and Joachim Splichal--all own Los Angeles restaurants. Winners will be announced on May 6 at the Foundation’s Beard Townhouse on West 12th Street in New York City.

CHANGES: Asylum, which is fast becoming the trendiest restaurant in town, will start serving lunch April 22. Stringfellows is now open at 5 p.m. for drinks and will soon introduce a new bar menu. Bistro Garden at Coldwater in Studio City is now open for dinner on Sundays.