A Slow and Easy Kind of Dining

While we were lunching at Patrick Terrail’s Provencia restaurant in West Hollywood, the former luminary of Ma Maison proudly pointed out something that had nothing to do with Hollywood, who was who, or even the Hawaiian prawns grilled on fruitwood we were eating.

Several of his employees, including partner Jon Safier, are hearing-impaired, Terrail said, as are about 10% of the restaurant’s patrons. Consequently, one might notice that at night the lights are turned up higher than in many restaurants and waiters serve at a more relaxed pace.

“People are talking with their hands, so they have to be able to see and we have to slow the meal down. They enjoy the meal and have long conversations,” he said.

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Frantic Manners: Wondering why we hadn’t RSVP’d to last Monday’s reception honoring KNBC newscaster Kelly Lange on the publication of her first novel, “Trophy Wife,” the always-charming Linda Palmer of Warren Cowan Associates called. She left the following slightly frantic message on our machine, and though it doesn’t have the Emily Post seal of approval, we give it two thumbs up anyway: “I want to know if you received the invitation because in doing follow-up calls, some people did and some people didn’t. I don’t know whether to blame the Unabomber or our temporary office help here. Some invitations have gone astray.”

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To a Minute: “Do not go over eight minutes! Do not go over eight minutes!”

Can you imagine your trainer hollering those words during your entire daily cardiovascular and muscle-toning workout? The days when it took from one to 1 1/2 hours to do the same could be numbered--at least where the healthy, wealthy and equipment-happy are concerned.

A friend insisted we go see a new gizmo called Rom the Time Machine--a long, weird, winged thing selling for $10,400 at the Walking Center stores. The Center’s Abraham Zwick, while catching his breath after a demonstration, said, “Actually, it’s touted as a four-minute workout.”

That is, until you get up to eight.

* COMPILED BY THE SOCIAL CLIMES STAFF