Matsusaka Exits Santa Monica’s Zenzero

<p>Kazuto Matsusaka has walked out of Zenzero, the Asian-inflected family-style restaurant he opened in Santa Monica almost two years ago.

What? Leave your own restaurant? As it turns out, Zenzero isn’t actually his. The owner lives in Japan and Matsusaka had no stake in the place. “He used my name and my ideas,” Matsusaka says. “It felt like my restaurant.” But he and the owner couldn’t agree on how the business should be run. “Too many coaches,” says Matsusaka. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to walk out.”

Matsusaka, who cooked at Wolfgang Puck’s Chinois on Main for 10 years before opening Zenzero, will take some time to consider his options. Meanwhile, resident chef Tony Donofrio, who once cooked at Citrus, has taken over the helm.

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Don’t Cry for Mi Piace: Although Puck protege Francois Kwaku-Dongo supposedly improved Mi Piace’s menu since he signed on as chef 18 months ago, no one seems to be shedding any tears now that the relationship has ended. Kwaku-Dongo left the popular Pasadena trattoria a week ago, coincidentally the same day Matsusaka walked out of Zenzero, and is apparently returning to Spago. “It was a mutual parting of the ways,” says Mi Piace co-owner Arman Shirvanian. “He was a little uncomfortable here and we weren’t comfortable with his being uncomfortable. We decided to part as friends.” Kwaku-Dongo could not be reached for comment.

Shirvanian has been searching for a replacement since October and will make a decision by next week. “We plan to open three more restaurants in the next five years,” he says, “and we need a chef who has experience in administration as well as cooking.”

Todd Humphries of Campton Place in San Francisco was approached about the job, but he turned it down. “I’m not an Italian chef,” Humphries says. “And I’ve put in a lot of hard work here. It wouldn’t make sense to go anyplace else, especially to an Italian restaurant.”

Meanwhile, Shirvanian and his partner are negotiating a lease for another Mi Piace site. And they are also interested in going into the shopping center that developer Ira Smedra plans to build on the Chasen’s property at the corner of Beverly Boulevard and Doheny Drive. “We’d be happy to be in there,” says Shirvanian. “I’ve talked to Ira and Ira’s talked to me.”

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Going Out of Business Sale: Butterfield’s is closing at the end of March and, as a thank you to supporters, is offering some of its best wines at bargain prices. Drastic reductions from the 22-year-old Sunset Boulevard restaurant’s wine list include a 1978 Beaulieu Vineyard Private Reserve, 1977 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard and a 1981 Ridge Monte Bello at $50 a bottle.