Here’s a Really Novel Idea for a Bistro

There are no books at the Book Soup Bistro, but it does have one of the city’s best-reading menus, a mix-and-match list of greatest hits inspired by the best urban rustic restaurants in California. Consider Tuscan bread soup with roasted peppers, tomatoes, garlic and basil; or a grilled Vermont white cheddar sandwich with fresh basil on cracked black pepper bread; or a smoky, herbed flatbread (think pizza) with caramelized red onions, thyme and goat cheese; or grilled pork tenderloin marinated in achiote and served with black mission figs and port.

Unfortunately, what looks so good on paper doesn’t always translate on the plate. But with its neo-Mission lampshades and coolly architectured decor, it’s a good-looking place to sit--though not at all like the bookstore cafe you might expect from its name and proximity to its parent, the excellent Book Soup bookstore.

Last week, the sophisticated surroundings didn’t bother one bohemia-damaged couple who took turns interviewing each other with a hand-held video camera. Call it exhibitionist intimacy. As the Henry Jaglom wanna-be nodded sagely, the Isabella Rossellini look- and talk-alike, her eyes deep with the experience of 100 foreign films, pronounced, “I’m disengaging from him sexually.” Later, he confessed, “I’d like to negotiate a physical understanding with you.” With talk like this, who needs books?

* Book Soup Bistro, 8800 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 657-1072. Pastas, flatbreads and entrees, $6.50-$16.