New Year Begins Sadly for the Bistro and Tra Fiori

After 30 years and zillions of air kisses, the Bistro in Beverly Hills closed on New Year’s Day. According to co-owner Christopher Niklas, son of founder Kurt Niklas, who opened the restaurant in 1963, it closed as a result of landlord and labor disputes. He says he expects the dispute with the new landlord to be resolved in court in March. But a new union contract could not be settled, and the employees picketed in protest.

“Our patrons saw the picketing and it was not fun to look at,” says Christopher Niklas. “It was becoming more of a hassle than it was worth.”

Closing the restaurant effectively shut down negotiations. Niklas says that he and his father plan to reopen in May with a new name and a new format, but he won’t say what the new format will be. “It will just be something different ,” says Niklas, “a different look, a different menu, and a different staff.”

According one source, the Bistro still has another five years left on its lease: “Kurt would never give up that place--he pays practically no rent. The place is a gold mine.”

The Bistro Garden in Beverly Hills and the Bistro Garden at Coldwater in Studio City remain open.

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ANOTHER NEW YEAR’S CASUALTY: The same day Pasadena celebrated the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl, it lost one of its restaurants, Tra Fiori. (The name, ironically, means “among the flowers.”) Located in the former Cafe Jacoulet space, the romantic Northern Italian restaurant was known as a local jazz spot during its 3 1/2 years in existence.

“It was a great place and there was a great feeling there, but feelings don’t translate into dollars,” says Marie Moretti, one of the owners of the restaurant along with a number of Hollywood celebrities and stars from the horse racing world. The general partner was veterinary surgeon Greg Ferraro.

“We must have signed the lease the day before the recession started,” says Moretti. “The dollars out there are limited and so someone is going to get squeezed out. Middle-quality food seems to be what’s carrying people on right now.”

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CON FUSION: Chef David Sharp, who cooked at the old Rosebud on Larchmont, is now fusing French-Mex cuisine at Tampico & Tilly’s Restaurant & Club in Santa Moncia. Formerly known as Tampico Tilly’s, Tampico is the restaurant, Tilly’s the club. Dishes include a brie-and-basil quesadilla with mint and radish salsa, Roquefort tacos and tempeh fajitas.

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FRIENDLY COMPETITION: For a time, Charles Glenn was in the nightclub business--Wall Street on Wilshire, Viola in the Beverly Center and Montego in Encino are some of the places he opened. Then he went in the bistro business and opened Le Pirate on La Cienega. But Glenn and his backer soon had a falling out, and the restaurant closed.

Now, Glenn is backer-less but back on Restaurant Row. He’s recently opened Le Bistro de Paris, down the street from the another French bistro, Cafe Maurice. “Maurice is my best friend,” says Glenn. “I helped him start Cafe Maurice.”

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MORE OPENINGS: Amedeo Costantino, who owns the Italian Fisherman Restaurant in Old Pasadena, has now taken over Talk O’ the Town Restaurant on Foothill in Pasadena. The newly remodeled restaurant, which seats 120, is open for lunch and dinner daily. The regional Italian menu will feature everything from Cornish hens with wild rice to rack of lamb to pizzas and pastas.

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DINING DEALS: Deduct 15% from all dine-in food items ordered between 3 and 6 p.m. at Encino City Wok, through Saturday. . . . In celebration of its 66th anniversary, Taix French Restaurant offers two meals for the price of one Monday through Saturday. Reservations are required and must be made before 5 p.m. . . . The Derby--the ‘30s-style supperclub adjoining Louise’s Trattoria in the Los Feliz space opened in 1929 by Cecil B. DeMille as Willard’s Chicken Inn--now offers gospel brunches on the first Sunday of each month between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Five prix-fixe ($16) brunch menus include grilled rosemary chicken, Italian frittata and chicken hash.