After 5 Years, Champagne Loses Its Fizz

Patrick Healy has closed Champagne, the rustic California-French restaurant he opened on little Santa Monica Boulevard five years ago. “We’ve lost our lease,” says Healy, who hopes to open another restaurant as soon as he gets back on his feet. “For now I am going to be starting up a consulting and catering company called Pathe Foods.”

Healy says he’s already had several offers to become chef/partner in existing restaurants, but really wants to run and manage a place on his own. His next restaurant will be something along the same lines as Champagne, but a little less formal, less expensive and smaller. “I will not attempt another shoestring-financed restaurant,” says Healy. “My next restaurant will have solid backing.”

CRYING WOLF?: When employees showed up for work at Eureka on Tuesday, they were told the restaurant had closed. Wolfgang Puck of Spago, Chinois and Granita fame has not reopened his West L.A. restaurant and brewery since it closed during the recent civil unrest. “Eureka closed temporarily because of the riots,” says Tom Kaplan, manager and co-owner of Spago. “It was operating on a very thin margin and with losing four days’ business it was very difficult to reopen. It’s going through some financial restructuring, and there are definite plans to reopen.”

DELI DOLLARS: While many restaurants were tallying their revenue losses last week (one medium-size restaurant that didn’t want to be named estimated it lost between $15,000 and $20,000 last weekend), it was business as usual at Canter’s, the 24-hour deli in the Fairfax district. The family-run business, which is facing charges of unfair labor practices arising from a dispute over health insurance and unionization, was one of several restaurants that defied the curfew and stayed open during the riots.

Maria Elena Durazo, president of Local 11 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, expressed great concern over Canter’s curfew violation. Many of the workers, she says, live in South-Central Los Angeles. “Not only are you talking about the safety of the workers there,” Durazo says, “but what message is it to the community when a curfew is called for the safety of the whole city, to say, ‘We are going to keep our doors open so we can make some bucks,’ and to encourage people, who might otherwise stay home, to come out because you are open? It’s the wrong message.” Many Canter’s employees worked past their regular shifts and stayed at the restaurant through the night, rather than risk going back to their neighborhoods after the curfew.

Robin Urevich, field representative for Local 11 says that many workers showed up because they were afraid of losing their jobs. “Those people who are pro-union felt they had better not refuse to work,” she says.

In response, Terri Bloomgarden, chief financial officer and co-owner of Canter’s, says that the restaurant worked with a skeleton crew--10 employees rather than the normal 40 per shift. “Workers who felt threatened or felt they didn’t want to come were told to stay home,” she says. “Many felt more comfortable being here than in their own neighborhoods, because they knew we were protecting our property. We had the police, we had the highway patrol, we even had the border patrol in, and all of them said, ‘You don’t know what you are doing, you are saving this neighborhood.’ ”

AN OPEN-AND-SHUT CASE: The award for the shortest opening day in history goes to Maison et Cafe--Bread Only, which opened for an hour April 30 and then closed because of the riots. The joint venture between Bread Only, a wholesale restaurant bread supplier, and Maison et Cafe, the gourmet food store opened by the owners of American Rag et Cie, is now back in business with regular hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at its La Brea Avenue location. “Basically, what we do is use some of the Maison et Cafe space,” says co-owner Benoit Gateau-Cumin. “We produce all the food that will be served, and we use their wait staff.” The chef is Philippe Shapiro, formerly of Broadway Deli, and the pastry chef is Yvan Valentin, formerly of L’Orangerie. Besides over-the-counter bread sales, the French-style cafe will also serve coffees, pastries, sandwiches and salads.

CONGRATULATIONS: To California’s James Beard Award winners. Citrus chef/owner Michel Richard was named best regional chef in the California/Hawaii category, and Alice Waters and her Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse took Chef of the Year and Restaurant of the Year awards. The ceremony, held Monday at New York’s Lincoln Center, was hosted by the James Beard Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering the appreciation of fine food and beverage in America.