Going Off the Air to Take It Downtown

Two Busy Tamales: Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, chef-owners of Border Grill in Santa Monica, have decided to give up “Good Food,” the radio show that has aired on KCRW-FM (89.9) for the past three years. They need the time for a new project of theirs--a restaurant in the Union Bank Plaza downtown, the former site of a Sonora Cafe. Ironically, back in 1994, Sonora Cafe’s owner, Ron Salisbury, purchased the space that had housed City, Milliken and Feniger’s then-13-year-old restaurant on La Brea Avenue. In honor of their former restaurant, the new downtown place will be called Ciudad (Spanish for “city”). It will serve a blend of Latin American foods from Buenos Aires, Santiago, Havana, Veracruz and Oaxaca. Plans are to open in September.

The last “Good Food” show with Milliken and Feniger as hosts will air Saturday at 11 a.m. (KCRW plans to continue the show, but as yet has not named a new host.) But the ladies still have their “Too Hot Tamales” and “Tamales’ World Tour” cable television shows on the Food Network. They also plan to continue their cooking classes. The next class is set for next Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Border Grill. They will be demonstrating how to cook the food of coastal Mexico; the cost is $75.

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* Border Grill, 1445 4th St., Santa Monica; (310) 451-1655.

Valentino Vegas?: Although no papers have been signed yet, it looks as if Piero Selvaggio may open a Valentino in Las Vegas. If that happens, Posto chef Luciano Pellegrini will probably be tapped to open the new restaurant near the end of the year.

Chez Do-Over: You may remember the news a few weeks back about chef Gilles Epie leaving the former Chez Gilles (now Bistro K). He’s now gone to Chicago and Lionel Deniaud is at stoves. Also gone are sous-chef Didier Labbe (to San Francisco) and manager Albert Charbonneau (to Chateau Suneau, next to Edna’s Elderberry Inn in Oakhurst). Deniaud was the chef at Hollywood Canteen in L.A., then Ici Restaurant in New York. His French background and training will show at Bistro K--the new (actually less pricey) menu reflects French country cooking and the decor is more bistro-ish. So what’s up with the name? Owner Jean Denoyer (who also owns Le Colonial and La Goulue in NYC) explains it as an Americanized spelling of “bistroquet,” which is French for little bistro.

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* Bistro K, 267 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 276-1558.

Yabu, Yabu Two: If you liked the Japanese soba noodles at Yabu on Pico Boulevard in West L.A., you can get more of the same at the new Yabu on La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood. Owner Okyo Ikuno opened his new location on a very rainy Monday this week. The new place, in addition to having more tables inside, features a patio that seats about 20 and a long counter seating 15. Prices are low; just $4 to $5 for soba noodles, $10 for entrees. Sashimi is served and sometimes sushi. The new Yabu is open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and for dinner from 6 to 10:30 p.m.

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* Yabu, 521 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 854-0400.

Crab Legs Run Amok: Seeing the success of Gladstone’s Malibu crab specials, Sea View Restaurants, which also owns R.J.’s Beverly Hills, decided to run a crab deal at the latter place. For $9.95 you get three blue crabs on a pile of curly fries. Mustard sauce, crab cracker and shell bucket come on the side.

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* R.J.’s Beverly Hills, 252 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 274-7427.

The Table Change: There’s a new menu at the Table--at least at lunch, that is, when the restaurant (the small, less formal Coco Pazzo spinoff in the lobby of the Mondrian Hotel) has a menu that changes at the whim of chef Paolo Sari. (For breakfast and dinner, the Coco Pazzo menu applies.) Right now, lunch at the Table gives a choice of 13 varieties of thin-crust pizzas, $12 each--except the special-of-the-day pizza, enthusiastically named pizza di Lorenzo il Magnifico, which is $15. Also available are 10 desserts at $8 each, and a cheese, fruit and nut plate for $17. The Table doesn’t take reservations; just waltz in and sit down next to somebody who looks nice.

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* The Table at the Mondrian, 8440 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; (213) 848-6000.

The Buckaroo Banzai Band: Where else but Hollywood can you go to hear a couple of actors play jazz for you while you shovel down a pile of mashed potatoes? Lucky Seven, a new supper club on Vine Street (in the former Vine Street Bar & Grill space), offers cover-free musical entertainment and serves dinner until 1 a.m. The food is American and, on Monday nights, the guys playing keyboard and horns are, respectively, Jeff Goldblum and Peter Weller.

* Lucky Seven, 1610 Vine St., Hollywood; (213) 463-7777.