Higher Hopes, Lower Prices : Even in the bad economy, Southern California restaurateurs are continuing to open new establishments

Even in hard times, people go out to eat. They just spend less.

Last week Calendar surveyed Southern California’s changing restaurant landscape and found that everybody is playing it safe.

But despite the economy, restaurateurs are still optimistic. According to the California Restaurant Assn., restaurants are opening at a record pace--19,339 food sales and use permits were granted in Los Angeles County last year--up from 19,193 in 1990 and 19,131 in 1989.

In those times there were fewer new restaurants, but they were fancier. We were treated to fabulous designs, innovative food and enormous prices. Now things are drastically different. Our preview of coming restaurants proves that this is the year of the familiar, the comforting, the tried-and-true. Above all, it is the year of the affordable. Don’t look for food you’ve never tasted or designs you’ve never seen.

Yet some things don’t change. The restaurant business has always been risky. We can’t say for sure that all these restaurants will actually open. But we can say, with great certainty, that, within a year, half of those that do open will close.

This Week

The Royal, 7321 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood.

“What people really need in these recessionary times,” says Taylor Lumia, owner of Orso restaurant, “is value for money.” Lumia is giving them just that. He’s taken over the Jingo space--renamed it Royal--doing minor cosmetic construction, and is turning it into an American bistro, with entrees around $14.

The restaurant will open evenings (from 6 p.m. until 2 in the morning) and will have a full bar. Mary Ann Nasca, who once cooked at Mary’s Lamb in Studio City, will be in charge of the kitchen.

Andreas, 8115 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles.

Los Angeles diners, claims the former publisher of the Epicurean Rendezvous restaurant guide, have been neglected. “Restaurateurs have put millions of dollars into decor,” says Andreas Tessi, “but have been negligent on hospitality. I will be at my new restaurant every night to take care of my customers.”

So will chef Eric Cuenin, who is currently cooking for the royal family of Saudi Arabia. Andreas, occupying the former Popolos space, will offer a mix of Italian, French and Swiss regional food. Despite the pedigree, all this care comes with a comfortable price tag: A “struggling actor’s degustation menu” (three courses and a glass of red wine) will cost $12.

Bof, 8564 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles.

“You may not need a mink coat,” says Alain Der Gregorian, “but you always need to eat.” So the restaurateur, whose family owns restaurants in New Delhi and Stockholm, has come to Los Angeles to feed the masses.

His first project is the 55-seat Bof, built in a former dry-cleaning shop. The menu (entrees $10-$19) will be what Der Gregorian calls country European.

Der Gregorian has two more projects cooking. While he was putting the finishing touches on Bof, he quickly opened Kikin’, a healthy, fast-food place in West Hollywood. Now Der Gregorian is searching the Santa Monica/Malibu area for a location for a family fish restaurant.

November

Indigo Cafe, Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana.

“The catering was the deciding factor,” says David Wilhelm, Orange County’s busiest chef. “If they had just asked me to do the restaurant, I wouldn’t have been interested.” So the man who brought us Kachina, Zuni Grill, Barbacoa, Bistro 201, Cancun Cafe, Kachina Grill and Diva is in the process of designing his eighth venture, a 120-seat restaurant at the Bowers Museum.

Wilhelm says part of the intent of the Mission-style museum, which has recently undergone a $12-million expansion program, was to have a restaurant for museum-goers and the people of the city of Santa Ana. In return for that, the project was financed through the city.

Besides running the restaurant, which will be open for lunch (entrees, $7-$12) and afternoon tea, Wilhelm’s catering company has exclusivity on all catering at the facility.

Cinnabar, 933 S. Brand Ave., Glendale.

“We probably could have gotten a better deal,” says Alvin Simon, “by going into an existing restaurant. But my chef and partner, Hisashi Yoshiara, fell in love with the building, and so did I.”

So the two have hired architect Winston Roberts to transform Glendale’s grand old Bekins building into Cinnabar, a California/Asian restaurant. The focal point of the 50-seat space will be the antique, hand-carved bar Simon bought when Chinatown’s Yee Mee Loo closed.

Simon, who owned the former Cafe Jacoulet in Pasadena (Yoshiara was his cook), says he is not worried about opening a restaurant while the economy is bad. “After all,” he says, “we are building a small restaurant with reasonable prices.” Yet he’s covering his bases all the same: Every item on the menu can be ordered in large or small portions.

Broadway Deli, 17401 Ventura Blvd., Encino.

When Michel Richard, Bruce Marder and Marvin Zeidler opened their international deli in Santa Monica, it elevated grocery shopping from a chore into an event. Now the partners are about to open another branch in the new Courtyard shopping center in Encino.

They got an offer they couldn’t refuse. Their landlord (Security Pacific Bank) gave them the money to open. Still Marder and partners worry about keeping costs down. “Right now my thing is to spend less money rather than more,” says Marder.

December

Crocodile Cafe, 101 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica.

“It’s a very good time to make deals,” says Gregg Smith. “There are some choice locations out there for players. “

Smith and his player brother own Reflections in La Canada Flintridge and Pasadena’s Parkway Grill. But it’s their Crocodile Cafes--which feature fresh pastas, pizzas and salads and an average dinner check of $10.25--that are really taking off. The first one opened in Pasadena in 1987; since then another Crocodile Cafe has opened in Brea and a Crocodile Cantina in Glendale. The Santa Monica Crocodile will open on the site of Santa Monica’s Belle-Vue restaurant. And that’s just for starters: In 1993 Crocodiles will open in Pasadena, Burbank and Palm Desert. Four more Crocodiles will open in 1994. In 1995 there will be six more. “We have been doing this for 21 years,” Smith says, “and we feel that now it’s our turn.”

Cafe B, 8615 Sunset Plaza, West Hollywood.

The Beverly Hills branch of Bice, designed by Adam Tihany, is Italian, serious and expensive. Now owner Roberto Ruggieri moves west to open Cafe B, a 150-seat offshoot of his Milan-based restaurant chain. The new place will be casual, lively . . . and cheaper. “The whole point of Cafe B,” says Bice’s Bridget Morin, “is to have a place that’s more accessible to everyone. A place where someone doesn’t have to be loaded to the hilt to afford our food.”

Babylon, 1616 Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles.

“In a business venture,” says Brent Bolthouse, “if your rent is reasonable, even if you’re down a month or so, you can survive.” Bolthouse and his partner, Elie Samaha (Roxbury Club, Kachina), want to stay in business for a long time, so they’ve negotiated a very good deal for their 100-seat restaurant.

David Wilhelm (see above) will consult on the menu (expect Roxbury food). Bolthouse, an impresario, wants his place to be a clubhouse for friends. “Everyone will be treated like family,” he says, “and we’ll remember their names.”

January

Tatou, 235 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills.

Mark Fleischman spent a year and a half trying to buy the lonely space that once housed Max au Triangle. Just as he was coming to terms with its owner, the Bank of Beverly Hills, the bank was seized by the FBI.

“All of a sudden,” he says, “we were negotiating with the federal government.” In the end, Fleischman and his partner-chef, Dezi Szonntagh, made a deal to buy the entire shopping center.

Fleischman is finally bringing a branch of Tatou, his lavish, ‘30s-style New York supper club to Los Angeles. The huge space (13,000 square feet) has been modeled after the Cocoanut Grove, the legendary ‘30s nightspot.

But this place has one thing most supper clubs don’t--a serious chef. Szonntagh is the former sous-chef of New York’s Le Cirque. His menu isn’t set yet, Fleischman says, but will basically be “American food cooked French Provencal style, modified from New York to reflect a lighter, Los Angeles style.” Whatever that means. And for all this glitz, the price will be reasonable. “A couple could come and have a bottle of wine, drinks, dinner and dancing,” he says, “and still not spend $100.”

Jackson’s, 8910 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood.

When Alan Jackson and chef-partner Lionel Deniaud set out to raise money to open Jackson’s, they had two choices: Raise the bare minimum to squeeze by, or ask for the max and be really comfortable. “We asked just for what we needed,” says Jackson. “We didn’t budget for marble and terrazzo and brass.”

So the 100-seat restaurant, located in a former Quonset hut, will be an homage to the quintessential American lodge. There will be plastered walls, big beams, tall ceilings. The food will be rustic, too. Deniaud, opening chef at Hollywood Canteen, plans hearty, healthy salads, salt-crusted fish, roasted game birds.

February

Zenzero, 1535 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica.

“I don’t even want to think about all the money we are spending,” says Kazuto Matsusaka, who is opening Zenzero on the site of the former Fennel in Santa Monica. But then money is no worry for the one-time chef at Chinois; his backer reportedly has deep pockets.

Matsusaka is anxious to get started. “I have been sitting on my butt for too long,” says the chef, who left Chinois in January.

Now that the permits have been obtained and the building demolition completed, most of Matsusaka’s energy is focused on his menu. He’s hired Tony D’Onofrio (who worked at Citrus and Chinois) to be his chef. “I am Japanese, he’s American,” Matsusaka says, “and combined together, that’s California cuisine.”

But while the owners are spending a lot of money on the restaurant, Matsusaka says his customers won’t have to do the same for the food. Lunch will run $20 to $25; dinner, $20-$40. The food will be served family style.

Nicola, Sanwa Bank Building, Figueroa St., Los Angeles.

After spending years trying to open a restaurant in Union Station, Larry and Melisa Nicola finally realized they would never be able to make that project happen. But the couple decided to come downtown anyway.

Last month they closed their 12-year-old Silver Lake restaurant and started work on a new place in a high-rise.

Their plans include a 110-seat fine dining area with entrees around $15, and outside seating for an additional 120, where they’ll do fast food--things with prices under $5. “There will be 4,000 people in that building,” Melisa Nicola says, “and we are hoping we can get everybody. “

March and Beyond

Universal Citywalk, Universal City. Projected opening: March.

“No one here is worried about the economy,” says Joy Novie, spokeswoman for MCA Development Co., which is building the $100-million shopping and entertainment complex.

By next spring, the 5 million tourists who flock to Universal Studios each year will have plenty of restaurants to choose from: an affordable Wolfgang Puck pizzeria (the pizzas will start at less than $10); Gladstone’s 4 Fish, (seafood with a genuine sandy beach and seating for 750); Wizard’s Magic Theater; Camacho’s Cantina; KWGB (that’s radio station call letters for World’s Greatest Burger); Tony Roma’s ribs, plus minor specialty stands serving Jody Maroni sausages, frozen yogurt, ice cream and gourmet coffees.

Mario’s Cooking for Friends, Grand Central Market, Los Angeles. Projected opening: March.

Mario’s at the Bradbury, 4th and Broadway, Los Angeles. Projected opening: June, 1994.

“You can sit and do absolutely nothing but groan about how bad the economy is,” says Mario Martinoli, “or you can roll up your sleeves and go out there and get the business.”

Martinoli, the chef-owner of Mario’s Cooking for Friends, a restaurant-deli specializing in Italian food, is doing the latter. He will open two downtown branches of his Beverly Boulevard restaurant: a 40-seat counter and takeout place in Grand Central Market, and a 5,000-square-foot restaurant in the historic Bradbury Building.

“When I started talking to Ira Yellin (whose company manages both spaces) about my ideas,” Martinoli says, “I said the tail does not wag the dog; the dog wags the tail.” In other words, keep the rent low. Martinoli believes that price is all-important, so an entree, salad and beverage will be under $10 at Grand Central Market; lunch will be $12 to $18 in the Bradbury Building. “I don’t want,” he says, “to open places that are going to fail.”