‘Sexiest Man’ Will Give Cooking a Try

People magazine’s 1991 choice for sexiest man alive is branching out: Actor Patrick Swayze (“Ghost,” “Dirty Dancing”) is going into the restaurant business. Independent restaurant broker Ira Spilky says that Swayze and restaurateur Bobby Ochs plan to open a Southern California branch of the New York-based Mulholland Drive Cafe. The spot they have in mind is the new Water Garden complex in Santa Monica; if their bid is accepted they will become neighbors of another former New Yorker, Eberhard Mueller, former chef at Le Bernardin, who is opening a fish restaurant.

But that’s just the beginning of the westward movement. Eric Stapelman, chef-owner of Luma, a New York natural food restaurant famous for catering to celebrities, is set to move into the space at 385 North La Cienega in West Hollywood. The building is now in escrow.

Stapelman is quick to say that Luma doesn’t serve “health food,” but rather international food with a healthy emphasis. “We use only fresh seasonal foods, we use no sugar, no dairy products and we change our menu four times a year with the seasons,” he says. “No nutburgers, no tofu cheesecake.”

As for the rumor that A&M; Records’ Jerry Moss is a big investor, Stapelman declined to say, but Ken Austin at the New York restaurant did confirm it. “It’s true,” said Austin, “but I don’t know if (Moss) wants it publicized.”

So who are Luma’s celebrity customers? Stapelman wouldn’t say. “We try to keep things low profile. Let’s just say a good portion of our clientele is bi-coastal because they are in fashion, art, the music industry or the entertainment industry. So we respect their privacy and give them a place where they can come and get good food. See what happened with Asylum?” he adds. “All the stars went there. Then all the people went to see the stars. Now I hear Asylum’s business is off.”

Meanwhile the owners of Sfuzzi, the New York-based chain of Northern Italian-style bistros with branches in Texas, Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia , Denver and Cleveland, have signed a lease in San Diego. “We hope to be open by the end of the year but I won’t swear to that,” says Rolando Ramos, General Manager of the New York property. “The San Diego location has been delayed at least a month for construction reasons.” And Los Angeles hasn’t been ruled out as a possible location. “There are certainly conversations about it,” Ramos says, “but at this point I just don’t know when.”

SAME TREE, NEW FRUIT: Pomegranate, the post-modernish restaurant and bakery on Melrose has a new chef, a new menu and an expanded bakery menu. The rumor was that the entire staff walked out on owner Allan Feker. But a restaurant spokeswoman says it was Feker who did the firing. “What Feker had in mind was a neighborhood gathering spot,” the spokeswoman told The Times, “not hip, slick and cool, but something more in the spirit of Canter’s where you see the same people all the time and wave at them, where you share tables and stuff.” So Feker fired his chef and sous chef, took out the uncomfortable but fashionable motorcycle-seat stools, and brought in Guillaume Burlion, a young French chef to simplify the menu. Burlion will only cook crepes and salads at lunch, and at dinner time, simple French dishes, pastas and soups.

GONE FISHIN’: Joachim Splichal is successful in more ways than one. Splichal, who closed his restaurant Patina for a week-long vacation in July, has been trying to persuade other Los Angeles restaurateurs to follow the European model. Now John Thomas, owner-designer of Asylum, says he will close his restaurant August 25 through September 3.

“Taking a cue from our European counterparts who have exercised this practice of closing during August for years,” Thomas says, “we thought we would try it here for the first time.” While the restaurant is closed the floors will be resurfaced, the reservation system reorganized and the menu reworked. “Next year they want to close for two weeks in August, “ a spokesman says. “A lot of these restaurants--thank God, knock wood, not Asylum as much--but some places are so empty you can shoot a cannon through them.”

CHANGES: L’Opera Ristorante in Long Beach recently bought the former Gianni’s at Crystal Court, South Coast Plaza, and will open Trattoria Spiga. Chef Roberto Saracino, brought over from L’Opera, will cook such dishes as seafood salad, deep-fried calamari with marinara sauce, meat tortellini in chicken broth, along with plenty of pastas and pizzas. . . . This is the last week to get in on the Carnegie Deli’s drawings for free trips around the country. First-prize winner receives a weekend for two at The Little Nell Hotel in Aspen, Colo. Winners will be announced September 5.