Pancakes as Usual but Silence on the Side

Perhaps it is just circumstantial evidence, but there is no question that Vasilyos (Bill) Marmaras appreciates fine art.

Folks who enter Pancake Heaven, Marmaras’ restaurant on Maclay Avenue in San Fernando, are greeted by a print of Monet’s “Landscape Near Zaandan.” This serene image--a home on the water, a sailboat approaching from the distance--is hung above the gum ball machines and little charity advertisements that urge passersby to devote their coins to the fights against world hunger and leukemia.

Elsewhere are more prints. There’s some Van Gogh, more Monet, a few less familiar names.

I sat in a vinyl booth Monday morning below a Kay Gallway still life titled “Yellow Lillies and Fruit in Studio” and decided to try the apple pancakes and coffee. My neighbors were Pat Mackaman and her husband, John. They are devoted regulars who drive seven miles up from Sun Valley because John likes the Country Breakfast--sausage, eggs, flapjacks--and they both like the company.

It’s hard to find waitresses who are as nice and friendly as Lisa and Esmeralda, they say. And Bill’s a nice guy too, though he understandably hasn’t been very talkative lately.

When the Mackamans offered to introduce me, I was a bit surprised. “He’s the guy with the ponytail,” John said. For some reason I didn’t expect Vasilyos (Bill) Marmaras to be here. I had figured he either hadn’t posted bail or was otherwise making himself scarce.

Instead, the man Los Angeles police arrested last Friday in connection with the theft and attempted sale of artworks valued at $9 million has been going about his business as usual.

This 36-year-old Greek immigrant, who police say attempted to fence paintings by Picasso, Chagall, Degas and Modigliani for $3.5 million, has presided over a neat little restaurant that has obviously benefited from a large investment in pride.

Marmaras is the third suspect in this crime that seems so unlikely that it has struck many people as amusing. His alleged comrades, after all, were an electrician who prefers motorcycles to Modigliani and a carpenter who happened to work at the Public Storage warehouse where the victim, an 85-year-old Van Nuys woman, had kept the paintings she had inherited from a sister.

Our conversation was brief. Marmaras offered neither a protestation of innocence nor a confession. He politely explained that his attorney had advised him not to discuss the case, and he obviously intended to follow that advice.

Marmaras is a stylish fellow. He wore a black knit shirt over slacks of a European cut. His jewelry was silver, at least in color. He would have looked more at home at the Polo Lounge than Pancake Heaven.

What was most striking, however, was the intensity of his brown eyes and the worry that they conveyed.

Marmaras excused himself, saying he had to attend a meeting. The Mackamans told me he had an appointment to go out for a bicycle ride with his 10-year-old son.

These regulars don’t want to believe that Marmaras was looking for a ticket out of Pancake Heaven. But there’s no avoiding the irony that only a year ago, Pancake Heaven’s decor spoke of simpler tastes. When Bill worked in the kitchen and his uncle John owned the restaurant, the walls were adorned with landscapes that were, closer inspection showed, jigsaw puzzles glued into place.

Then Uncle John died of a heart attack last year, and Bill borrowed some money from his mother to buy the business. He put up prints of the masters and tossed out the old puzzle pictures. Pat Mackaman said several customers wished Bill had given the old artwork to them.

The Mackamans haven’t asked Bill about the allegations.

“I didn’t say a word,” John said. “And he didn’t either. Like it never happened.”

So it was left to Lisa Torres, the waitress, to play the role of defense attorney. Lisa said that Bill has assured her of his innocence. And she believes him.

After all, she argued, a guilty man wouldn’t be showing up to work as if nothing happened. If Bill has really done something wrong, why isn’t he hiding out? In this country, Lisa pointed out, people are supposed to be innocent until proved guilty, but it doesn’t work that way.

And why, Lisa wondered, do the media make a such a big deal about some paintings when 14-year-old kids are getting blown away by each other on the street? “They know about it in his hometown in Greece,” she said. “It was on CNN.”

And another thing: Why didn’t that lady just sell one of the paintings and use the money to buy insurance for the others and store them in a safe place?

Esmeralda arrived to replace Lisa, and it brought a change of subjects.

Pat greeted her with a hug. Esmeralda had gotten married on Saturday and just got back from a two-day honeymoon in Las Vegas. People were laughing and smiling.

For a few minutes, at least, Pancake Heaven seemed to be back to business as usual.

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Readers may write Harris at The Times Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311.

Our conversation was brief. Marmaras offered neither a protestation of innocence nor a confession.