Chasen’s, the Next Generation

(Grand) Son of Chasen’s: First there was Chasen’s. Then there was the spanking-new Beverly Hills re-creation of the 1930s chili shack that morphed into an elegant American restaurant. Now Chasen’s Hollywood Cafe is slated to open in the landmark Art Deco Max Factor Building on North Highland Avenue in August. Scott McKay, the grandson of Chasen’s founders David and Maude Chasen, is president of the proposed 150-seat restaurant, which will share the former cosmetics company headquarters with the Hollywood History Museum.

Easter Eats: In Ventura, 71 Palm Restaurant features its first Easter Sunday brunch on April 12 ($19.95 a head; kids $9.95). The meal begins with champagne or orange juice, salad and a choice of seven entrees (such as Norwegian salmon with dill sauce, brown sugar-rubbed ham or chicken basquaise),a followed by creme bru^lee or strawberry Melba. 71 N. Palm St., Ventura; (805) 653-7222. . . . On Easter Sunday night, Woodside chef Dean James Max cooks some special holiday items in addition to the regular menu. Look for asparagus salad with quail eggs and baby beet vinaigrette, leg of lamb with horseradish rosti potatoes, grilled red onions and fennel and strawberry Napoleon with fresh mint anglaise. Woodside, 11604 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood; (310) 571-3800.

The Soy of Seder: Jozu will host a Passover Seder dinner on April 10 that’s more Jozu than Jewish. In includes lemon grass consomme with shiitake mushrooms and matzo balls, Thai fish cake with pickled cucumbers and braised short ribs with kabocha squash. A rabbi will preside and all profits will benefit the scholarship fund of Temple Israel of Hollywood. It’s $100 per person, including wine, tax and tip; $35 for children under 10. Jozu, 8360 Melrose Ave., L.A.; (213) 655-5600.

Take It Away: The month-old Asakuma Sushi Delivery in West L.A. will drop off made-to-order sushi almost anywhere on the Westside. This Santa Monica Boulevard offshoot of Asakuma Restaurant on Wilshire delivers seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Delivery is free with a $25 minimum order within a three-mile radius ($3 to $5 for delivery to other Westside neighborhoods). Asakuma Sushi Delivery, (310) 473-8990 or fax 473-8420. . . . Also, opening April 15 in West Hollywood: Urban Epicuria and Gourmet Takeaway, geared for “today’s diner on-the-go” with freshly prepared oven-ready dishes, including not only main courses like meat loaf and grilled center-cut pork chops but also appetizers, breads and pastries, wine and beer--even flowers and candles, should you need a little romance in a hurry. (The latter come under the trademarked category “Meal Accessories.” Duh.) For those who suffer when they give a dinner party, the Food Concierge (also trademarked) offers soothing advice. Urban Epicuria, 8315 Santa Monica Blvd. (at Sweetzer Avenue); (213) 848-8411.

Cajuncue Split-Up: Mary Atkinson, who used to own the Cajun-inspired Orleans in Santa Monica, partnered up with Rick Royce of Rick Royce Premier Barbecue in October to form Royce’s Cafe Orleans in West L.A. Now the two have separated for, as Atkinson puts it, “legal reasons.” Atkinson is now looking to open her own place. Meanwhile, Royce will continue with the barbecue and Cajun menu. This week he brings on board a new chef, Augustine Contreras, who trained under New Orleans super chef Paul Prudhomme.

John Ash Brings His Own: Mendocino County chef John Ash will cook a wine dinner at Pangaea Restaurant & Bar in Hotel Nikko on April 7. Since Ash is the culinary director of Fetzer Vineyard, each of the five courses (which include a roasted breast of squab with confetti of wild mushrooms and pappardelle with braised oxtail and radicchio) will be paired with--natch--a Fetzer wine. The tab is $65 per person. Pangaea Restaurant & Bar, Hotel Nikko at Beverly Hills, 465 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 246-2100.

Classic Cocktails: Regal Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles celebrates its 75th anniversary with a “classic cocktail” happy hour Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Gallery Bar. The drink menu highlights cocktails from the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s, including the Black Dahlia, in memory of the lurid, unsolved 1947 L.A. homicide. (Supposedly, the murdered starlet, Elizabeth Ann Short, nicknamed “The Black Dahlia,” was last seen alive by a Biltmore bellhop.)

R.I.P.: Pane Caldo in West Hollywood, the fancy new Marouch on La Cienega and next-door neighbor Le Bistrot Chez Claude.

Stirrings in the North: After five years, Alain Rondelli, one of San Francisco’s most lauded chefs, has closed the doors of his French restaurant of the same name. Moving to L.A.? No such luck. Rondelli, who brought back the venerable Ernie’s from near-death in 1990 and once headed Marc Meneau’s three-star kitchen in Burgundy, has no plans to open another restaurant--at least at this time. Instead, he’s going into the specialty food products business. (Guess he enjoyed showing off his initial line of seven champagne vinegar-based sauces in flavors like Tangy Tomato, Ginger Orange, Honey Citrus Vanilla and Cracked Black Pepper.). . . .

Longtime Domaine Chandon chef Philippe Jeanty opens Bistro Jeanty April 2 in downtown Yountville in Napa Valley, where he will cook many of the dishes he made famous at the winery’s celebrated French restaurant, albeit in a more informal, moderately priced setting. The new bistro will also feature a communal table. So if you can’t get into the French Laundry, here’s another handy address. Bistro Jeanty, 6510 Washington St., Yountville; (707) 944-0103.