Calypso to Follow in Footsteps of Its Cha Cha Cha Roots

Norma and Lee Laine, who own Cha Cha Cha in Encino, are opening another Latin-Caribbean restaurant in West Los Angeles. Although the decor and menu will be pretty much the same as at the other Cha Cha Chas, this one will be called Calypso because, as Norma Laine puts it, “we don’t want to be involved in a chain.”

The couple’s Encino Cha Cha Cha is one of three in Southern California. The Long Beach restaurant and the original Los Angeles branch at Melrose and Virgil are owned by the chain’s co-founder Toribio Prado, who plans to open three more Cha Cha Chas this year including one next month in La Jolla. At one time Prado and the Laines were partners in the Encino restaurant, but the partnership ended two years ago.

Calypso, located in the former Velvet Turtle just off the San Diego Freeway on Sawtelle, is scheduled to open mid-July. In the meantime, the space is undergoing a face lift. The Velvet Turtle’s dark carpeting and walls, brass dividers and brown, tufted vinyl booths will be replaced with a lighter, brighter look. “This kind of restaurant was in 15-20 years ago,” said Laine, when reached at the former Velvet Turtle, “but the concept is gone--just like these ugly booths are going to be.”

*

Chef-Propelled: On the cover of “True Thai,” Victor Sodsook’s just-published cookbook, the chef-owner of the Siamese Princess is billed as “America’s most celebrated Thai chef and cooking teacher.” We thought that designation belonged to Tommy Tang. The book jacket also says, “[Sodsook] arrived in America more than 20 years ago, opening the first Siamese Princess in 1976. Success propelled him to his present location in Beverly Hills.”

Maybe Sodsook propels himself to Beverly Hills every now and then, but his Thai restaurant is most definitely located in Los Angeles. “I don’t know how this fell through the cracks,” responds a spokeswoman for the book’s publisher, William Morrow. “[Victor] brought it to our attention. It will be corrected in the next printing.” And how big was the first printing? “We don’t give out that information.”

Pie Hiatus: Fans of the tapioca pie at the Grill in Beverly Hills and all the little Daily Grills will be happy to know that the signature dessert will be back on the menu next week. According to owner Bob Spivak, all of a sudden the consistency was off and they removed it from the menu for a revamp. It took three months but now their outside baker has solved the problem and tapioca pie is back.

*

Chef Moves: Dale Payne once had his own French bistro on La Cienega. He then ran the kitchen for a short time at the semi-hip Olive on Fairfax until it closed. Now he’s turned up in Torrance cooking northern Italian food at Ristorante Fabio. . . . Carrie Nahabedian, who had been in charge of the kitchen at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara, is now executive chef at the hotel’s Los Angeles branch on South Doheny. . . . Mitchell Schwartz and Christopher Thomas have replaced opening chef Brian Keller at Sanctuary, the late-night Beverly Hills dining spot owned by “Baywatch’s” Pamela Anderson and Costas Mandylor of “Picket Fences,” among others. . . .

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