Even before the Sierra Madre Earthquake struck,...

Even before the Sierra Madre Earthquake struck, two L.A. weeklies were running ads that warned, “The Big One Is Coming.”

What they were referring to was the still-unannounced opening of Epicentre, L.A.’s (and, most likely, the world’s) first earthquake-themed restaurant.

“We’ve been playing it low-key (since the quake),” said manager A.L. Wehmeyer. “In fact, we even plan to have a benefit for earthquake victims. But we also feel that this concept is pure Los Angeles. And we want to have some fun with it.”

The building, at 2nd and Hill streets, will offer such seismological visual delights as windows that “have a cracked effect,” an interior wall whose top seems to have been broken off, and a painting that depicts City Hall after it has been destroyed by an earthquake.

We recommend the chicken a la shake-and-bake.

Next to the Big One, the greatest disaster that could befall City Hall employees might be the new ethics ordinance--as the small print in the accompanying invitation illustrates.

Drinking on the job:

When it came time to consider a proposed contract to advertise a nonalcoholic beer on lifeguard towers, conscientious L.A. County supervisors decided to give the brew a taste test.

“I’ll pass this around,” said Supervisor Gloria Molina, who brought in a bottle of O’Douls, an Anheuser-Busch product. Actually, Molina had brought in the brew to complain that advertising ersatz suds would still encourage youngsters to thirst for the real thing.

But Supervisor Kenneth Hahn said, “Let’s all have a toast to Gloria.” He and colleague Ed Edelman did just that.

After the supes’ sips, they knew when to say when and voted down the contract.

Reading Playboy on the job:

America’s most famous skin magazine is one of the materials being perused by the Christopher Commission, but there’s a good reason. The members, who are investigating charges of brutality by L.A. police, were given clipped-out copies of a Playboy interview with Police Chief Daryl F. Gates that appears in an issue hitting the stands this week.

L.A. has the reputation of being a town that cares only about winners. So it should come as no surprise that an appropriation of $7,066.50 for a “Laker Day” celebration honoring the not-quite world champs was vetoed by Mayor Tom Bradley. The City Council upheld the veto Tuesday. There goes their tickets to next year’s finals.

Another tradition dried up by the drought:

Remember when an unwashed car was an invitation for a passerby to scrawl “Wash me” in the dirt? The other day, a filthy white truck was observed on the Glendale Freeway with this message etched in its dirt:

“Saving water.”

miscelLAny:

Charlotte and David Knutzen of Whittier won a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1983 by growing what was believed to be the world’s largest lemon, an 8 1/2-pounder with a circumference of 29 1/2 inches.