RESTAURANT NEWS : Toasting the Godfather Who Made L.A. Dining What It Is

Back in the ‘50s when Debbie and Eddie were still married and the Soviets were racing to launch Sputnik, Joseph Broulard, a native of Jura, France, was the reigning chef in Los Angeles. He was not only a wonderful cook, he was a lot of fun and was adored by his peers. Even after he retired, L.A.’s French chefs made pilgrimages to his home in the Hollywood Hills for advice from the master.

“For decades,” says chef Ken Frank, “when you wanted a job or needed a chef, you called Joseph Broulard because Joe knew everybody. He was the dean of French chefs and he was everybody’s best friend.”

“It was Broulard who found me my first job at the Center Club in Westwood when I arrived here 28 years ago,” says Christian Desmet, chef-owner of the Seashell in Woodland Hills. “He was the father of our business.”

Broulard, who died earlier this month at age 84, hailed from the time when all the top restaurants in Los Angeles were French and chefs actually stayed in the kitchen. And even though he shunned the limelight, Broulard was a major star. He was executive chef at the bygone Sunset Strip glamour spots, the Mocambo and Dino’s, and opening chef at Au Petit Jean, the gem of a restaurant that spawned a whole new generation of French chefs. Then, until his retirement 19 years ago, Broulard was chef-owner of La Grange in Westwood.

But his biggest contribution to L.A.’s restaurant scene may have been that he was responsible for bringing Jean Bertranou to town, putting him to work at Au Petit Jean. Later, when Bertranou opened L’Ermitage, Broulard put money into his protege’s restaurant. Bertranou died in 1980, at age 50, from a brain tumor.

“Jean was considered godfather to younger chefs,” Hollywood restaurateur Susan Fine says of the late Bertranou. “But Broulard was the godfather’s godfather. Jean always referred to him very endearingly as ‘the old chef.’ And he was one of those old-style chefs, sort of hands on, who did everything. He grew mache in his back yard and would bring Jean bags of it.”

While he was still a waiter at Perino’s back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, Daniel Forge, now owner of Beaurivage in Malibu, used to hang out at a restaurant called Cafe de Paris at the corner of Sunset and La Brea. “Almost all the top restaurants in town at that time were French,” Forge explains, “and all the waiters and cooks used to meet after work at the Cafe de Paris because it was Broulard’s headquarters. He was there every night, vibrant and full of life and full of advice.”

“It was a good chance to meet people from the French community and have a drink or two,” says Claude Alrivy, chef-owner of Le Chardonnay. Broulard hired Alrivy at Dino’s when Alrivy was new in town. “At that time all the chefs were still cooking classical French. And Broulard was the best.”

“Joe was a bible in the culinary heaven,” says Jean Rouard, chef-owner of the former La Polonaise in Beverly Hills. “He never cooked the same dish the same way twice. He always tried to do a variation. Joe was one of the greatest chefs alive, yet he was very humble. Even when he ran his own restaurant, he wouldn’t come out into the dining room. He’d say the place for the chef is in the kitchen where he has much to do.”

Ken Frank, chef at Fenix in the Argyle Hotel slated to open next month on the Sunset Strip, was still in high school, working nights as a pantry man at Chez Paul in Pasadena, when he met Broulard. “Whenever I wanted advice about a job or something, I’d call him,” says Frank. “He encouraged young people. Joe was the guy you called, even in retirement.”

There is no shortage of gifted chefs today. But the series of circumstances that produced a Joseph Broulard no longer really exist. Few chefs are as intensively trained as he was. And even fewer will ever bring such passion into the kitchen.

For all his devotion to fine dining, Broulard could appreciate the simple pleasures of life also. “His idea of a good day,” says Frank, “was to drive down to San Pedro, get on a boat, and go fishing.”

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Extra, Extra: “I think Robertson Boulevard is becoming the Madison Avenue of Los Angeles,” says Mark Geller. “All the high-end shops are moving in and the decorator furniture places are moving out.” And Geller, who opened the Newsroom Cafe in Santa Monica a year ago, feels many of those very people who shop the neighborhood near Beverly and Robertson need a place to grab a bite to eat. So that’s where he and his chef-partner Ed Caraeff plan to open their next newspaper-themed cafe. They’ve taken over the former Manhattan Coolers, completely remodeled the space, and are turning it into what Geller calls “the mother of all newsrooms.” They hope to have the place open by the end of February.

The menu (nothing over $9.95) will feature an assortment of soups, salads, sandwiches and chef’s specials such as grilled salmon with wasabi mashed potatoes, all with a healthy edge. “The first thing we did when we got this space,” says Geller, “is throw out all of Manhattan Coolers’ fryers.”

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More Openings: Cafe Pinot, Joachim Splichal’s new 180-seat California-French bistro located adjacent to the L.A. Public Library, will open Feb. 8. Splichal has installed a giant rotisserie in the kitchen and plans to open a takeout window, too. Dinner entrees, which range from $12 to $20, include dishes such as duck leg confit, grilled calf’s liver and seared peppered tuna. “It’s what Pinot Bistro in Studio City was originally supposed to be,” says one insider, “but the Valley wanted more.” . . . Branches of Mani’s Bakery, where owner Mani Nial features desserts made without refined sugar and minimum amounts of fats and oils, will open soon in Studio City at Laurel Canyon near Ventura Boulevard and in West Hollywood, next to Big Chill Yogurt. . . . Chatter, a charming tea room/gift shop, has opened in Studio City on Ventura Boulevard near Whitsett.

For more restaurant coverage see Thursday’s Food Section and Sunday’s Los Angeles Times Magazine.