Meat-Free, Fat-Free, Chemical-Free, Customer-Free

After a 14-month run, Luma in Santa Monica has called it quits. The restaurant on Montana closed its doors last Sunday. “We had the fires and the floods and the riots and the rains and the worst economic climate California has seen it 25 years,” says executive chef/co-owner Eric Stapelman. “It all put us into the red.”

When Luma opened, the elegant restaurant with the politically correct menu (no red meat, no refined sugar and only chemical-free produce) was filled with movie stars and the aerobics crowd. It even had its own celebrity backer, Jerry Moss, the “M” in A&M; Records. Luma seemed destined to become a hot spot just like its successful sister, Luma in Manhattan.

But it never happened. Although the Luma property, owned by Moss, will be sold, Stapelman hasn’t given up on Los Angeles. He plans to look for a smaller space.

“What we have is a product of the future,” says Stapelman of the food he served. “And I’m not going to sit back and let somebody else capitalize on the work that I’ve been doing for so long. Robert Redford has been here twice just this past week and (screenwriter) Robert Towne has been here three times. These people have become regular clients here and now we’re closing--it’s a shame.”

It hasn’t been a very good week for Luma’s chef de cuisine, Roland Gibert, either. In June he closed his critically acclaimed restaurant Tulipe for financial reasons. Two months ago Gibert began cooking the haute health cuisine at Luma. “I just started getting comfortable with the idea,” says Gibert, who is famous for his meaty dishes. “I have a lot of friends who were supposed to come for dinner this week. I don’t know what to tell them.”

CHECK, PLEASE: Amy Jacobs’ week hasn’t been so hot either. Last Monday the waitress and the rest of the staff at Cafe Morpheus and Asylum were asked for their keys and shown to the door.

“We worked so hard for that restaurant,” Jacobs says, “and we are still waiting for our checks. It’s devastating. They won’t answer the phones, they won’t let anyone in the restaurant. And right before Christmas, too.”

Jerry Prendergast, the Morpheus manager who got his walking papers along with the rest of the staff, said he thought the restaurant was “doing well.”

The closing also left Craig T. Nelson, Jerry Van Dyke, Shelley Fabares and the rest of the “Coach” crew in the lurch. The show’s production company had booked the back room, Asylum, for its Christmas party Saturday night.

EVERYTHING COMING UP ROSES: Four months ago, chef Ken Barnoski walked out of the tiny, exotic Bof, claiming that owner Alain Der Gregorian not only owed him back wages but also neglected to pay his purveyors. At the time, Der Gregorian had this to say about Barnoski: “The bottom line is I am here and he’s not.” Now, Der Gregorian is gone too, and so is his short-lived Bof. The restaurant on 3rd near San Vicente recently closed its doors.

Meanwhile, Barnoski, who has been chef/owner of Rosebud on Larchmont and also chef at Rose Tatoo on Robertson, is now cooking at the Purple Rose, a giant California cafe scheduled to open in two weeks in Redondo Beach. Guess he likes roses.

MUSICAL CHAIRS: When Tribeca City Pizza opened on the south side of Sunset Plaza earlier this year, customers had trouble distinguishing the patio from that of its neighbor, Chin Chin. Now it’s no longer a problem. Tribeca City Pizza has closed. As for Chin Chin, owner Bob Mandler, who was forced to lease the sidewalks in front of most of the retailers at night for extra seating, is expanding and will take over the Tribeca space.

THE WHITE ZONE IS FOR THE IMMEDIATE . . . : Dohyo Sumo Steak & Polynesian Bar doesn’t want its customers to have to drive. So the Orange-based giant Japanese restaurant is offering door-to-door shuttle service daily to customers located within a three mile radius of the restaurant. That includes businesses and hotels located within the Disneyland and Anaheim Convention Center areas. Beats valet parking.

OPENINGS: Another Cool Sam’s California Chicken, featuring rotisserie chicken and salads, has opened on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. . . . For those tired of waiting in line at Da’ Pasquale in Beverly Hills for great pasta and authentic pizza, there’s now Da’ Pasquale II in West Hollywood.*