Impresario Fills Music Center Bill of Fare

Impresario, the new restaurant that replaces Pavilion in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, debuts Sept. 8. Restaurant Associates, a New York-based firm that provides food service at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, among others, convinced Valentino owner Piero Selvaggio to consult on the concept and contemporary Italian menu. The chef is Eddy Marroquin, who worked as sous-chef at Valentino for 14 years. George Skorka, formerly at the restaurant One Pico in Shutters Hotel, is maitre d’.

“We’ll serve a pre-theater menu in the early evening and then after 7:30, when the curtain goes up at the Music Center, we’ll offer a more relaxed dining experience,” Selvaggio says. In addition to the regular menu, “we’ll offer a six-course ‘extravaganza’ menu for two where we can pamper you with a freddo [cold course], caldo [warm course], a taste of pasta, fish or meat and dessert. It also includes Champagne and wines.”

The wine list includes a few older bottles from Valentino’s celebrated cellar. He also plans to offer 20 wines by the glass, both at Impresario, and at the adjoining bar. Selvaggio adds, “If opera or symphony-goers feel like coming back at intermission, we’ll have a bottle of wine or Champagne on ice, and either a little snack or a dessert waiting for them at the bar.”

Impresario will be open for pre-theater, intermission and regular dining Tuesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Brunch will also be offered before matinee performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Ahmanson Theatre.

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Opening Bell: New on Beverly Boulevard between Fairfax and La Brea: Boxer Restaurant, a 40-seat cafe serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. Owner Steven Arroyo is 26. So is the chef, Neal Fraser, who has cooked at Scarlatti, Rox and Cafe Pinot. Appetizers run $4.50 to $9; entrees range from $10.75 for whole roasted tomato--described as “summer starches and vegetables, red wine reduction”--to $17 for grilled filet of beef with garlic potato, truffled mushrooms and Port.

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Tee Time: After 61 years at the same location, Ernie’s, the beloved San Franciso landmark, will close its doors at the end of September. Opened by partners Ernie Carlesso and Ambrogio Gotti in 1931 as a family-style trattoria, after the war the Montgomery Street restaurant evolved into one of San Francisco’s most elegant dining spots. Alfred Hitchcock re-created the Ambrosia room’s famous red silk walls and Victorian decor for his 1958 film, “Vertigo,” which starred Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. Ernie’s wine list kept pace with California winemaking, and the cellar was famous for its library of older vintages. But now Victor and Roland Gotti, who have been running the place for 50 years, want some time off to see the world--and play more golf. The Gottis say they are negotiating with an owner of Roxbury on Sunset Strip, who plans to open a San Francisco branch in the fall.

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Aperitifs: Pier Avenue Bakery in Hermosa Beach is now offering afternoon tea from 3 to 5 p.m. daily. The English-style tea includes a glass of sherry, a choice of loose leaf teas, finger sandwiches, whole wheat raisin scones and assorted pastries for $7.95 per person. . . . Now through mid-October, Lunaria Restaurant & Jazz Club in Century City pays tribute to California wines with a special promotion. For $10 per person (minimum of four), guests can choose two wines from a list that includes bottles from over 30 California producers. Participants include Qupe, Saintsbury, Scharffenberger and Stag’s Leap Winery.

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