McCarty to Auction, Then Buy, Michael’s

“It’s all financial maneuvering,” says Michael McCarty, who is putting his restaurants on the auction block. The restaurateur, whose restaurants in Santa Monica, New York and Washington have filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code, says one of his own companies will be the buyer.

“You don’t close the restaurants; they never really get auctioned off,” he explains. McCarty says part of the process of getting out of Chapter 11 is ascertaining the value of the restaurants, selling them and paying off the creditors. “The auction money gets distributed to the purveyors, and then you go about your business.” McCarty says most restaurants don’t go through this process because most are owned by a group of limited partners. “They don’t give a damn when business goes sour,” he says. “They just close them and walk away.”

Michael’s New York restaurant will be first; the auction is scheduled for May 4. Adirondacks in Washington is next, and then Michael’s in Santa Monica. “The hotel I don’t have to worry about,” McCarty says, “and me, by the time they get around to dealing with old Mike, I’ll be . . . hamburger meat.”

OPENING: La Serenata de Isabel, an offshoot of La Serenata de Garibaldi in Boyle Heights, will open on Saturday in the Grand Central Market downtown. Co-owners are Antonio Rodriguez, an immigration lawyer and community activist, and Liz Chavez, a programming manager for KCBS-TV. The restaurant was originally going to be called La Serenata on Broadway but was renamed to honor Rodriguez’s mother. “She is the head of the Rodriguez family,” Chavez says, “and we will be featuring some of her recipes.”

The owner of La Serenata de Garibaldi, Jose Rodriguez, told The Times that his brother’s restaurant is not connected to his own. Chavez says the brothers have still not resolved their differences, as reported in an earlier column.

THE ITALIAN CHRONICLES: And in more downtown news, a great Italian restaurant is scheduled to go into the historic Bradbury Building. Watch this space.

Meanwhile, the pricey Continental/California Ravel at the Sheraton Grande just became the pricey Italian Scarlatti.

“We’ve gone from French composers to Italian composers,” a spokeswoman says. “L.A. needs another Italian restaurant like it needs another brand of bottled water, but we did extensive research with our clients, and Italian was their No. 1 choice.”

The decision to continue to name the restaurant after a composer was made because of its proximity to the Music Center.

THE SAINT GOES MARCHING ON: St. Marks, the Venice Beach restaurant and jazz club, hasn’t changed its name, but it does have a new chef, Pascal Dropsy, and menu. “The owner wants to revitalize the place and really make it happen,” a spokesman says.

CLOSING: Her “Civil Wars” television series is going strong, but Mariel Hemingway’s first California branch of Sam’s Cafe in Westlake Village has been canceled.

MENUS: Le Meridien Hotel’s Jean- Pierre Lemanissier is celebrating spring with a five-course artichoke menu in Restaurant Antoine. The Newport Beach chef’s $48 prix fixe menu, available through May, even includes an artichoke dessert: artichoke souffle with coconut-and-fresh-mint sauce. . . . La Toque will again celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a five-course, $30 prix fixe Mexican dinner. “This tradition started when we bragged about the great Mexican food that we made for ourselves in the kitchen,” says chef-owner Ken Frank. “Now the dinner’s popularity has grown until last year we served more Mexican food than French for the night.” . . . Get your auto hot-waxed, and while you’re at it pick up a couple of fresh fish tacos at the California Taco Bar on Ventura Boulevard (at Tarzana Car Wash). . . . Raja has added Indian-style pizza and pasta dishes. And, if you visit the Indian restaurant on Pico Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., they’ll throw in a free astrology reading.