Hopefulness From Failed Ambition

Caught between the extravagance of the ‘80s and the recession-driven practicality of recent times, restaurateurs are struggling to maintain interesting, big-city dining. Most just want their places to stay in business.

Consider the closing of two of the city’s most ambitious restaurants: Tulipe, where two French chefs cooked terrific food at fair prices in a lousy-looking room, and Red Car Grill, where steaks and chops were served in a big-money bar-and-grill, a room built to last decades. Both tried to adjust to the market: Tulipe with its prices, Red Car with its sleek, populist menu. Both failed. In their places are two new hopeful restaurants.

Trigo, run by the people who used to own Babette in Marina del Rey, took over the Red Car Grill. Recognizing a good-looking room when they saw one, the owners moved in without changing more than the art on the walls. The menu is essentially ‘90s Continental cuisine with the usual French and Italian influences--blackened ahi tuna; penne with grilled chicken, goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes; grilled New York steak. The mood is more intimate supper club than bustling bar-and-grill, but that may change when more customers discover that Trigo is open.

The designers of Itameshi-ya, without spending a lot of money, have done an impressive job with a difficult space. Though a bit garish--Chinese paper lanterns, souvenir Japanese Kabuki masks, a smeary map-of-Italy wall mural splattered with the restaurant’s mottos (including the mysterious, “Please pass to the left”)--the room at least now has personality. If you’ve eaten Italian food in Tokyo or Gardena, Itameshi-ya’s Japanese-Italian style of cooking will be familiar. Pizza is topped with canned tuna and clams, pastas are topped with sauces that are sweeter than the Italian originals. Come with a lot of people--food is served family-style and portions are huge: a bowl of pasta easily serves four. One thing about ‘90s restaurants . . . value is important.

* Trigo, 8571 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 652-9263. Entrees $8.50 - $17.50. * Itameshi-ya, 8360 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 655-7400. Entrees $11.25 - $16.95.