AUTOMOTIVE : Art at New Irvine Restaurant Will Put Customers in the Driver’s Seat

A new Irvine eatery, Restaurant Cassis, is about to become the permanent home to Phantom Racing’s collection of motor racing art.

The 300-piece collection, pulled together over the past 20 years by Long Beach-based Phantom Racing’s owner, Bill Cryan, includes paintings, photographs and sculptures of auto racing scenes, as well as Cryan’s collection of racing memorabilia.

Cryan, whose team races on the Indy Light circuit--the step below Indy Car racing--is a shareholder in the company that stages the Long Beach Grand Prix each year. He said that he has shown bits and pieces of his art collection at special events over the years and displays some pieces at a Long Beach restaurant, La Grotte, owned by the same restaurateur--George Fodai who recently opened Cassis.

“This will be our first permanent gallery,” Cryan said. The bulk of his collection, he said, will be displayed in a separate gallery next to the restaurant, with other pieces used to decorate the dining room.

After a private grand opening reception Oct. 2, the gallery will be open to the public daily.