There is no pasta and no pizza...

There is no pasta and no pizza on the menu at Fenix, the new restaurant opened by John Strobel. There is, in fact, no Italian food at all. This is significant because for the past six years Strobel ran the often-copied Angeli restaurants (with chef Evan Kleiman), where much of Los Angeles discovered the pleasures of simple Italian cooking.

Recently, though, Strobel and Kleiman dissolved their partnership (she kept the restaurants). And so, at Fenix, set in the space that Yanks last occupied in Beverly Hills, Strobel has turned to food from an entirely different culture--or rather, several different cultures. There is no country where Fenix’s food would be considered indigenous.

Mexico, the American Southwest, and the island cooking of the Caribbean each figure in the Fenix mix. In the kitchen this time, is Karen Norbe. She’s worked at Border Grill and City, which means she’s had some practice at the eclectic thing.

There are yam and bacalao cakes (sort of a salt cod version of crab cakes); mussels in coconut broth; crab, carnitas, chicken and steak soft tacos; seafood posole and duck quesadillas. Mango and guava sauces might show up just about anywhere.

With this, you might drink a Kalin Semillon with some age on it, or another good wine from Strobel’s list. After just two weeks, the list is already among the city’s most interesting.

Fenix, 262 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, (213) 859-2902. Entrees $7.50-$16.