A Fast-Food La Serenata for the Westside

Westsiders soon won’t have to go all the way to Boyle Heights to feast on the wonderful fish tacos at La Serenata de Garibaldi. Chef-owner Jose Rodriguez is opening Taqueria Serenata, a fast-food branch of his Mexican seafood restaurant, near Pico and Westwood just down from the Westside Pavilion. Featuring tacos, burritos, tostadas, gorditas, sopas and other Mexican street food, the taqueria will open in July; prices will be in the $5- to $10-range. “We are trying to establish a new fast-food concept,” says Rodriguez. “We are going to use quality ingredients, quality seasonings, quality sauces. We want to serve upscale fast food.”

Rodriguez eventually wants to open more taquerias. “We need to make this one the best possible,” he says, “then we’ll see if it’s possible to continue to open others.”

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Bizou Bounces Back: Ready or not, Sherman Oaks is getting a larger Cafe Bizou. On Monday, chef Neil Rogers and maitre d’ Philippe Gris packed up their pots and pans and moved into new digs just three blocks west of their dinky 5-month-old Ventura Boulevard bistro. Packed every night, the restaurant was more loved by customers than by neighbors, who complained that Bizou was taking all the parking. “They sent everybody here,” says Rogers. “The city planners, the fire department, the health department, the ABC--you name it--have all paid us a visit.”

The unwanted attention (and the restaurant’s success) was partly due to Bizou’s policy of letting customers bring their own wine without being charged a corkage fee, despite the fact that the bistro had no liquor license. “We thought we just weren’t allowed to sell any alcohol,” says Rogers, who found out differently when the ABC paid a surprise visit. “The ABC are like the police, you don’t mess with them. They were nice enough to give us a warning; they knew we really didn’t know the law.”

According Ed Mimiaga, a district administrator for the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the law says that a restaurant must be licensed in order for customers to bring in their own beer and wine. Normally, first offenders get a friendly warning. And second-time offenders? “At this point,” says Mimiaga, “we show our teeth.”

Rogers and Gris have taken great pains to ensure that everything will run smoothly at the new locale. The new, improved Bizou has a liquor license, twice the seating capacity, valet parking--and a $2-a-bottle corkage fee. “We encourage people to bring their own wine,” says Rogers. “They enjoy themselves so much more. When your food bill is $50 and your wine bill is also $50, it doesn’t make sense.”

For those who forget or can’t be bothered to bring their own, Bizou now offers a small list of wines sold at retail prices. Says Rogers: “People are fed up with paying $40 for a bottle of Acacia Chardonnay that costs $12 at Ralphs.”

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Pavarotti & Pasta: Luciano Pavarotti--world-famous opera singer, painter, lip-syncer--can now add one more role to his repertoire: restaurateur. A big fan of Tony May’s refined New York Italian restaurant, San Domenico, the tenor has put his money where his mouth is. He now owns a piece of May’s latest venture, Hostaria, a mid-priced pasta and pizza place a half-hour from New York City in Westchester County. “Yes, he’s a partner,” confirms May. “[Pavarotti] is a good customer at San Domenico--that’s how I met him. He loves food, enjoys life, and now he comes to Hostaria any time he’s in town.”

Pavarotti’s longtime manager Herbert Breslin, however, denies Pavarotti is an investor. “It’s not true,” he says. “Just leave it alone.”

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Close Encounters: Glenn Close, nominated for a Tony for best leading actress in “Sunset Boulevard,” was inducted last week into the Stage Deli of New York’s Sandwich Hall of Fame. The ingredients of the Glenn Close celebrity sandwich include smoked turkey, Muenster cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado and sprouts on seven-grain bread. The sandwich kudos has got to be right up on her list of accomplishments next to being chosen to sing and tour in the ‘70s with Up With People, the sunny-dispositioned folk group.

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Openings: Noah Alper has opened a branch of his Berkeley-based bagel chain on Main Street in Santa Monica. He has plans to open nine more Noah’s Bagels in Southern California, including one soon on San Vicente Boulevard in Brentwood. . . . Trattoria Maradona, an Italian and Argentine spot featuring what the owners refer to as “the true taste of homemade cooking,” has opened in Studio City.

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