Amicable Partings at Dickenson/West : Executive chef leaves after disagreement over food costs; pastry chef departs too.

Two Bid D/W Adieu: Executive chef Claud Beltran has left Dickenson/West, Pasadena’s celebrated catering firm/jewel box restaurant, after a disagreement with co-owner Derek Dickenson over food costs. Both parties portray the split as ultra-amicable.

Dickenson won’t utter a negative word about Beltran: “He’s a creative, wonderful, lovely person. [Telling him to leave] was the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life.” And Beltran, who says he harbors no ill will, merely expresses a wish to thank all the patrons who supported him at Dickenson/West.

Beltran is now looking for a place of his own, and pastry chef Alexandra Poer has left D/W to join him in the new venture. “We were a cooking team; our food intertwined,” says Beltran of Poer. “We hope to be business partners in the future.” At Dickenson/West, assistant chef Smith Roberts has stepped into the chef position, at least for the time being.

Adieu Too: In other splitsville news, chef Pedro Deona and Xiomara proprietor Ardolina Xiomara have parted ways after a mere two weeks. Xiomara is looking for a new maestro of Nuevo Latino cuisine.

Bruce’s Burden: Restaurant mogul Bruce Marder (Rebecca’s, Broadway Deli, DC3) has been struggling to open a new restaurant for 2 1/2 years. It hasn’t been easy, with all the Santa Monica licensing battles. “It required a tremendous amount of effort,” says Marder, who has teamed with Steve Wallace (of Wally’s Liquor) and his old Broadway Deli partners, Marvin and Judy Zeidler, on this project at 1810 Ocean Ave., to be named Capo. Some of the conditions the partners have agreed to in order to appease the city are pretty elaborate. For instance, neighbors at the surf-adjacent location demanded that the restaurant have patrons’ cars fetched for them while they pay their bills so there will be no standing around and chatting on the sidewalk. (Consequently, all patrons will have to valet park their cars.) On the upside, Marder finally got his go-ahead last week, so construction will begin in November.

Capo will have a fireplace, wood ceilings and seating for 70. The food will be in the Marder style: Italian with French underpinnings. And the wine list, under Wallace’s tutelage, will boast about 150 selections. Capo is expected to open by February or March.

Splash in the Pan?: Splash, a restaurant featuring a 1,000-square-foot cigar lounge complete with rental humidors, recently opened on Harbor Drive in Redondo Beach. Bad timing, considering that an ordinance may soon be passed banning smoking indoors, even in bars and lounges. So what will Splash do? Floor supervisor Jeremy Crandall tells us the place is exploring every possible avenue to keep the newly built cigar lounge open. If all else fails, it could be turned into a wine cellar. So if you have ever enjoyed smoking a great stogie in a comfortable indoor lounge, get all you can now.

As for Splash’s food, it’s under chef Serge Burckel, who spent three years at the Belvedere Restaurant in the Grand Stanford Hotel, Hong Kong, plus work in his native France before that. Some of his more eye-catching menu items include a meatloaf--pan-fried, then poached, then fried again--in the shape of a baseball. (This spot used to be a sports bar, after all.) Once upon a time, Burckel prepared veal shank in the shape of a baseball, too, but it was too difficult for anyone else in the kitchen to pull off, so he now calls it a veal shank in the shape of a hockey puck. We’re waiting for the lamb chop in the shape of a basketball.

The Fooz: Brentwood has a new gourmet deli of a sort you usually find on the East Coast. The concept is simple: Invite your friends over for lunch or dinner at your place, then run in to Foozi for chicken, leg of lamb, fish, partly baked pizza or handmade pasta and a container of sauce; whatever. Then heat it up before your friends arrive and pretend you made the whole thing. Deny everything. You never heard of Foozi. You’ve just suddenly become a much better cook. Owner Richard Heyman is perfectly happy with this idea, which he based on the Dean and Deluca stores in New York City. As for the name Foozi, he made it up.

* Foozi, 11662 San Vicente Blvd., L.A.; (310) 447-2782.

Snack Facts: Le Chardonnay is open for lunch Tuesdays through Fridays, noon to 2 p.m. Le Chardonnay, 8284 Melrose Ave., L.A.; (213) 655-8880.

Rix in Santa Monica is also open for lunch on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 11:30 to 2:30 p.m. Rix, 1413 5th St., Santa Monica; (310) 656-9690.

Patinette at MOCA, downtown, now boasts a glass canopy overhead, so it can offer full table service outside and inside as well as expanded takeout service. Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and until 8 p.m. on Thursdays. Patinette at MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave., L.A. (213) 626-1178.

Oops: Our apologies to Tim and Liza Goodell. The name of their soon-to-open restaurant in South Coast Plaza will not be Aubergine II; it will be Troquet.