Gone, but Not Forgotten

It seems Ava’s, the chic club in the Beverly Center, has gone out of business in dramatic fashion.

It was raided Sept. 17 by a regional task force with a search warrant. The law enforcement groups included the California departments of Justice and Alcoholic Beverage Control, the LAPD and the U.S. Postal Service. A spokesman for the task force would not explain why the search was undertaken except to say “an investigation is still underway.” The contents of the warrant have been sealed by court order. The ABC said the club’s temporary liquor license has been revoked.

The spokesman also would not say whether the raid had any connection with the bribery case of John Scotto, who had been the master lessor for the premises on which Ava’s stood. He’s been in Central Jail since June on charges of bribery and parole violation.

Scotto is accused of acting “willfully and unlawfully and with intent to influence Dan Toomey of the Alcoholic Beverage Control.” This was allegedly done in September, 1992, when Scotto was attempting to open the club. His attorney in the bribery case, Marcia Morrissey, says Scotto has entered a plea of not guilty.

It’s not known if another club will open in the space, which was best known when it was used by Tramp in the mid-1980s. A series of less successful clubs have filled the space since then.

The most succinct comment about the locale’s future came from a valet parker who said, “No more Ava’s.”

Definitely Not Fast Food

The French and the Americans have always had different attitudes about what to eat. It seems they also have different ideas about when to eat it.

On Tuesday, the tourism board for France’s Rhone-Alps region had four three-star chefs prepare dinner at the Four Seasons. The proceeds from the event went to the Audrey Hepburn UNICEF Fund for Africa.

Guests said the food was spectacular. One even called it “divine.” However, it arrived, one guest said, “after you had six slices of bread, three glasses of water and two of wine.”

Though the call was for 7:30 p.m., after Dom Perignon was served on the terrace, a promotional film shown for Rhone-Alps tourism and speeches given, the first course was served at 9:40.

There were three main courses, two of fish, one of beef, plus a puffed pastry stuffed with truffles and duck liver. It was after the pastry that the Americans began to bail. One guest who made it until 11:20 without getting the salad or dessert courses used the it’s-a-school-night excuse and fled. Another left just before midnight, still waiting for dessert.

The French may still be there eating.

Them’s Fighting Words

On the literary front, there are comic book publishers in New York who’ve made a name for themselves by printing both sides of the story in controversial battles between the sexes.

He Said/She Said prints comics with two covers. Reading from one end is the male’s side of the argument, from the other is the female’s.

In the past, the firm has done the Woody Allen/Mia Farrow and Amy Fisher/Joey Buttafuoco stories. It’s now releasing a Bill Clinton/Gennifer Flowers edition even though it’s a dead issue to “highlight broken promises,” said co-owner Joseph Mauro.

Though the company has high hopes for the Clinton/Flowers book, as well as for a possible Burt/Loni issue, owners doubt either could attract the kind of interest Fisher/Buttafuoco generated. That sold 70,000 copies in two weeks.