Waiter, There’s a Message in My Soup

Last spring, Catholic parishioners picketed John Sedlar’s Bikini restaurant in Santa Monica when he refused to stop serving tamales on plates that depict the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico. One man from Ohio even sent a letter comparing Sedlar to Salman Rushdie, whose “Satanic Verses” offended Iran’s Muslims.

Things calmed down for a while, but now Sedlar has started using plain white plates to send messages to his customers. Stenciled in curry powder on a dish of Thai shrimp wrapped in soba noodles is the word narcissism . A veal chop with hash browns and chipotle chiles lies beneath the words drive by , emblazoned in hot paprika and made to look bullet-riddled. At the top of another dish, D.O.A. is stenciled in cracked black pepper. Other messages include lust, ozone, the melting pot is full and bar code .

“As a chef and business owner, these issues affect my clientele, my staff and the neighborhood I am in,” says Sedlar, “and I can’t help but comment on what is going on around me. Like, we get tons of people with plastic surgery in here. You look at someone and you know their nose has been fixed. It’s very evocative of life in Los Angeles. People are even starting to send me ideas.”

And, he adds, “I have the largest plates in the United States.”

CANYON COUNTRY: Since George Santo Pietro (he’s married to “Wheel of Fortune” letter-turner Vanna White) sold his Studio City restaurant a year ago, new owners Steven Sukman and Frank Monteleone (they own Chopstix on Melrose and in Pasadena) have continued operating the place as Santo Pietro and haven’t changed a thing. Now the restaurant is looking a bit dated, and the partners are planning some big changes, including bringing in David Slay, chef/owner of La Veranda in Beverly Hills, to change the menu.

“I am doing the menu and am going to be a small partner,” says Slay, “but the owners know my situation--I work (at La Veranda). The restaurant is going to be very moderate-priced so people aren’t going to expect David Slay to be hand-holding. As long as I can deliver a nice menu and great food costs, they are happy.”

On New Year’s Day, Sukman and Monteleone will close Santo Pietro for a complete make-over and reopen in mid-January as Canyon, serving rustic American cuisine. Entrees will be between $10 and $15 at dinner and will include several pastas and dishes like whole roasted leg of lamb with lentils and whole red snapper stuffed with garlic slices. Canyon will offer appetizers in the $3.95 to $5.50 range to attract a bar crowd, because, says Slay, “they want to get away from the Monday Night Football and the karaoke.”

CHANGES: Matrixx, the restaurant in the Hotel Nikko that featured a menu laid out on a grid (you picked a pasta and matched with a topping from another column) has evolved into Pangaea, featuring Pacific Rim dishes such as hibachi-style Chilean sea bass with field greens, seared salmon over soba noodles and hoisin-crusted rack of lamb. . . . Thomas Thompkins has been appointed executive chef at Pavilion Restaurant at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles. The new chef plans to change the menu often, using seasonal products. . . . The Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey has a new menu and a new chef. Stephane Becht’s contemporary Mediterranean menu includes such dishes as salmon terra-cotta with oatmeal pancakes, veal osso buco with fava beans and rack of lamb in a sesame crust. . . . Chef William Hufferd, who has cooked at DC 3 in Santa Monica since it opened five years ago, has left to become executive chef at the River Horse Cafe in Park City, Utah. Sous-chef Byrnes Vogel replaces Hufferd.

OPENINGS: Delmonico’s Seafood Grill on Pico is opening a second location in Encino-target date is February. . . . Kenny Rogers Roasters, founded two years ago by the entertainer and by John Y. Brown, former governor of Kentucky and former co-owner of Kentucky Fried Chicken, is expanding into California. By 2004 the fast-food chain plans to have 185 stores open in California, including one in Northridge due to open in February.

SUSHI DEAL: All-you-can-eat sushi--California rolls, sea urchins, tuna, shellfish, yellowtail and mackerel--for $19.95 at Restaurant Horikawa in South Coast Plaza Village this month only.