Friendly Competition

Want to know why Paul’s Cafe, the new Sherman Oaks place run by Paul Lloyd and his partner, chef Darin Eckermann, feels familiar even to first-time visitors?

Lloyd and Eckermann make no secret of the fact that the model for their place is Cafe Bizou, opened four years ago by chef Neil Rogers and his partner Phillippe Gris six blocks west on Ventura Boulevard--and thereby hangs a tale about the restaurant business in the San Fernando Valley.

Up until a year and a half ago, Paul Lloyd worked the dining room at Cafe Bizou, and he liked the place so much that he decided that Ventura Boulevard could use another place like it.

So when he and Eckermann put Paul’s Cafe together and wrote their menu, they took their inspiration from Cafe Bizou, with its inventive food redolent of both Europe and California, offered at moderate prices.

They seem to have hit on a good idea. Paul’s Cafe opened only two weeks ago and already does a good business; Lloyd and Eckermann served 114 dinners their first Saturday night--a good sign.

What’s more, at Cafe Bizou, Rogers and Gris don’t mind the competition a bit. The San Fernando Valley, Gris says, holds room for all sorts of restaurants, even places that look and feel very much alike.

“We want to be a great neighborhood restaurant,” says Paul Lloyd. “We serve good food and we have a good wine list, too, and we offer people a corkage fee of only $2 to encourage our customers to bring their own wine--and to come more than once a week.

“We even give people soup or salad for only $1 extra when they order a regular entree.”

Fans of Cafe Bizou know where Lloyd and Eckermann got that idea. Gris and Rogers offer the same deals.

The big sellers at Paul’s Cafe:

* Crab cake appetizers with a lobster aioli and a green bean salad, for $7.95;

* A ravioli appetizer stuffed with salmon, shrimp and scallops, for $6.95;

* A pepper-crusted salmon entree with artichokes and wild mushrooms and a red wine sauce, for $12.95;

* A rack of lamb rubbed with garlic and served with goat cheese and a potato tart, for $14.95.

You can also get a roasted chicken breast with Yukon potatoes, for $10.95; and sea bass encrusted with porcini mushrooms and served with mashed potatoes, for $12.95; and a filet served with horseradish mashed potatoes, for $11.95.

Simpler versions of the same dishes are served for lunch, with prices maxing out at $8.95.

“I was manager for two years at Cafe Bizou, and those guys hit a vein of gold with that place,” Paul Lloyd says. “And you know, every restaurant can fill up at 7:30, but Bizou fills up at 5:30 and stays that way until 9:30. That’s what we want to do here.”

He and Eckermann painted the walls of their place a clean white trimmed with pink, and they carpeted the floor to deaden sound for folks who eat out often, including early-birders.

Paul’s Cafe seats 66, so reservations are a good idea. It is at 13456 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; (818) 789-3575.

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Meanwhile, at Cafe Bizou, Gris and Rogers just lost another employee to the lure of ambition-- headwaiter Benoit Lesure, who hopes to open his own place in downtown Los Angeles.

Like Paul Lloyd, Lesure intends to use Cafe Bizou as a model, and he, too, goes with the blessings of Gris and Rogers. Indeed, Rogers will run Lesure’s kitchen for the first week or so, to get things going.

Lesure’s place, the French Garden, will open later this month and will serve lunch only, at 1936 7th St. in downtown Los Angeles.

“We want every one of our employees to go and open their own restaurants,” Phillippe Gris says. “We have very loyal customers, so we don’t worry about that. And if we can help our employees . . . we are happy.”

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Otherwise not much is new at Cafe Bizou. Gris and Rogers opened new patio space in February, but their customers see the same basic menu the partners started with four years ago--10 entrees, half as many salads.

The partners keep things interesting with an ever-changing list of daily specials, recently including roasted lamb served with a potato gratin and minted lamb au jus, for $16.95; and a Maine lobster served out of the shell over pasta with asparagus and tomatoes and a lobster butter sauce, for $17.95.

Among the entrees:

* Sauteed sea bass with mashed potatoes, asparagus and a shiitake mushroom sauce, for $13.95;

* Penne pasta with chicken, asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes and a lemon cream sauce, for $10.95;

* Roast pork tenderloin rolled in garlic and herbs and served sliced over mashed potatoes, for $14.95.

Cafe Bizou is open for lunch weekdays, brunch weekends and dinner every night. It is at 14016 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; (818) 788-3536.

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* Juan Hovey writes about the restaurant scene in the San Fernando Valley and outlying points. He may be reached at (805) 492-7909 or fax (805) 492-5139 or via e-mail at jhovey@gte.net.