‘The Special Tonight Is the T-Shirt, $9.99’

First, the owners of some of Southern California’ trendiest restaurants drastically cut prices to bring in customers. Now they have resorted to other means to keep their restaurants alive. And some don’t even include food.

Nearly every restaurant in town now hawks its own T-shirts, baseball hats and private-labeled extra-virgin olive oil and vinegar. Hard Rock Cafe, of course, sells a whole line of fashion separates and practically pioneered the restaurant merchandising movement. But at John Sedlar’s Santa Monica restaurant, Bikini--where the scrambled duck eggs come with duck confit--customers can now pick up an after-dinner custom-designed, suede bomber jacket for $900. Sedlar also still sells his controversial plates that depict the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe for a hefty $100 a piece.

Over at Citrus on Melrose, there are stacks of chef/owner Michel Richard’s cookbooks for sale. Richard also offers other stocking stuffers such as a quartz watch with the Citrus logo for $25.

Down the street at Patina, celebrity chef Joachim Splichal has become celebrity tour guide. In the new extravagant Patina/Pinot holiday gift catalogue--where coffee sells for more than $17 a pound, and imported German 20-quart stockpots sell for $649, without the lid--Splichal and his partner/wife are now selling themselves. For $2,500, you can buy a trip for two to the Napa Valley with your hosts, Splichal and partner/wife Christine Splichal. The three-day weekend includes air fare, lodging at the Meadowood Resort, visits to seven wineries, lunch at Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Cafe in Berkeley, plus a cooking demonstration/dinner prepared by Splichal.

OPENINGS: Russell’s Restaurant on La Cienega has been blessed by the Rev. Cecil Murray of First AME Church and is now open for business. Chef-owner is Russell Jackson, who cooked at Trinity, Rebecca’s and before that at Citrus. Dishes include things like Jack Daniel’s duck with asparagus risotto and open-faced fish ravioli. . . . Moca Cafe, a coffee lounge, is now open in Beverly Hills serving something called “liquid mistletoe, a closely guarded family recipe.” . . . Another Columbia Bar & Grill has opened in Pasadena.

GOING: Last year, Diana and Jacques Toulet, co-owners of Les Pyrenees in Santa Monica, sent out notices saying they were going to close their 17-year-old French restaurant. Two weeks later they changed their minds. The notices on the restaurant’s impending closure brought back lots of old customers. When the prospective buyer backed out, the Toulets looked at their newly busy restaurant and decided to stick it out. But now the Toulets have sent out closing cards again . Les Pyrenees will close New Year’s day and then reopen as Raymunds, a Mexican restaurant.

“This time it’s for real,” says Jacques Toulet. “The place is in escrow.”