Bay Area Doesn’t Swallow Abiquiu’s Eclecticism, Prices

“T he beauty of San Francisco is that it’s very concentrated with hotels and businesses. . . . At lunchtime in Los Angeles you need to have secretary’s prices, but in San Francisco you can have banker’s prices.”

When John Sedlar said this a year ago, he had just launched Abiquiu in San Francisco’s Monticello Inn. Now, he’s eating those words.

The eclectic Southwestern restaurant, a collaboration between Sedlar and the Kimpton Group--a San Francisco-based hotel and restaurant management company--has closed.

“It’s hard to run a restaurant 400 miles away,” Sedlar says. “My cuisine is so complex, it needs more hands-on attention than I was able to give it. Looking back, it seems a silly idea to hire a celebrity chef to consult. People expect to see you when they dine at the restaurant.”

“Abiquiu was the wrong concept for the location,” says Kimpton spokeswoman Sara Ledoux, adding that the restaurant wasn’t performing up to the company’s expectations. “It’s a very touristy neighborhood. [The customers] wanted something more approachable.”

And now they’re going to get it. Kimpton will reopen the space this summer as an Italian American grill and bar where the average dinner check will be about $20 compared to Abiquiu’s $35.

As for Sedlar, who had no financial stake in Abiquiu up north, he continues to own and operate the Santa Monica Abiquiu, which opened less than a year ago. Sedlar is also working on two books about tamales, a tamale poster and some new Southwestern food products. “Medium-priced Latin concepts,” he predicts, “are about to explode.”

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Taps for Tapas: The owners of Critixx tried to revive the tapas concept when they opened 10 months ago in the space adjoining the Pasadena Playhouse. Unfortunately, theater-goers never took to the pricey little portions and now Critixx is dark. Its nearby sister restaurant, the long-running Roxxi, is still going strong.

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Openings: David Wilhelm (remember him? Kachina, Bistro 201, Diva, Cafe Topaz), Orange County’s peripatetic Southwestern chef/restaurateur, dropped out of the dining scene two years ago to consult for Taco Bell. Now he’s resurfaced, opening Chimayo Grill, a 150-seat restaurant at Fashion Island in Newport Beach in partnership with the fast-food taco chain. Wilhelm’s American/Southwestern menu features dishes like chile charred ahi steak with poblano chile mole sauce, honey mustard and pecan crusted rainbow trout, and barbecued salmon with corn salsa. . . . Woo Bar-B-Q chain, famous for its barbecued meat and hot pots, has opened a Valley branch in Van Nuys. . . . Fans of Rick Royce Premier Bar-B-Que will be happy to know that the caterer now has a small restaurant/takeout shop on Pico Boulevard in Westwood.