All Things to All Diners

A Whole New Legacy: After sitting empty for a decade, the Sunset Strip space that used to house Scandia is coming back to life. Three and a half years ago, the Rennick family, which owns the building, hooked up with Danna Moore, who pitched the idea of a restaurant with six dining venues and brought in partners Christopher Moore and Katherine Howard. Legacy, as the new place is called, is scheduled to open in about a week.

On the main floor there’ll be a cabaret-bar with live entertainment and a casual all-day menu. At the more formal Dining Room, lunch and dinner will be served in an elegant, dressy atmosphere. Next door is a garden area, consisting of the indoor Trellis Room and the outdoor Verandah. Here you will be able to dine on light spa-like food. Oh, and there’s a gift shop on the main floor, too.

The downstairs rooms won’t be open for another few months, but once they are, you’ll be able to sip brandy in big easy chairs in the Club Room or enjoy a quiet meal in the private dining room. The wine cellar, which will hold about 14,000 bottles, will host special tasting dinners. The chef overseeing all this is David McMillan, formerly of the Peninsula Hotel. Other members of the staff hail from the now-defunct restaurants Jimmy’s, Drai’s and Eclipse.

Legacy will be open from noon until well past midnight seven days a week. (P.S.: If you own an electric car, you can have it recharged while you dine in one of two special parking places in back.)

* Legacy, 9040 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 550-6299.

G Is for Steak: A brand-new steak house, Charlie G’s, has opened in Tarzana. Owner Charlie Gallo requested a gargantuan menu of his chef Kaz Nematpour (formerly of Drai’s and the Peninsula, most recently of the Reefs resort in Bermuda) including aged Prime steaks and veal, lamb and pork dishes, accompanied by no fewer than seven potato choices. For seafood, you have broiled fish, blue crab, steamed lobster and a special fried Australian lobster tail. Next to the main dining room--done in dark wood with oil paintings--is the horse-racing-themed martini bar and lounge, serving oversized drinks. You can also dine on the canopied patio out front. Charlie G’s serves dinner only, with the bar remaining open until about 2 a.m. on the weekends.

* Charlie G’s, 18663 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana; (818) 344-1191.

To Chew On: Bistro 829, the newest venture from La Cachette team Allie Ko and Jean Francois Meteigner, is closed for the moment. The casual La Cienega Boulevard bistro opened as Bistrot Provencal, changed its name to Bistro 829 in July and added live entertainment in an attempt to reinvent itself. The outgoing phone message first said they were on vacation; now it says they’re remodeling. . . . Le Colonial, the Vietnamese restaurant on Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood, has a new chef. Gordon Naccarato is the former chef-owner of Gordon’s in Aspen. He’s also worked at Michael’s, Campanile, the Monkey Bar and the Shed. . . . The stork has paid a visit to the Daily Grill family. The newest member is located in Burbank at the Airport Hilton, 2500 Hollywood Way. Baby’s phone is (818) 840-6464. . . . Gladstone’s in Malibu is undergoing a $2-million renovation. It should be ready to roll out the red carpet in a few months. It’s also just snagged chef Tony Hipp away from the Daily Grill chain.

Truffle Me: Granita’s third annual black truffle dinner takes place next Thursday. Wolfgang Puck, Jennifer Naylor and pastry chef Gustavo Escalante have put together a seven-course meal for $95 (tax and tip not included) for the Malibu hangout. On the menu: an antipasto of spiny lobster crepe with veal sweetbreads and black truffles and a bufala ricotta soup with artichoke lasagna and black truffles, not to mention truffle-bedecked appetizer, fish, meat and cheese courses. Dessert is baba au rhum--with not a single truffle.

* Granita, 23725 W. Malibu Road, Malibu; (310) 456-0488.

Early Valentine: A special dinner and swing dance is being held Feb. 11 at the El Rey Theatre on Wilshire Boulevard to raise money for the Amie Karen Cancer Fund for Children, which supports the pediatric hematology and oncology department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Joe Miller of Joe’s Restaurant in Venice, three chefs from Spago Beverly Hills (Lee Hefter, Matt Bencivenga and Sherry Yard), Josiah Citrin of JiRaffe, Josie LeBalch of the Beach House (Santa Monica) and Michael Cimarusti of the downtown Water Grill will be preparing the meal. And if the 10-piece swing band doesn’t get you on your feet, maybe the swing dance instructor will. The evening begins at 6:30; tickets start at $99 per person. Official dress code is “to the nines.” For more information, to make donations or to purchase tickets, call the office of the Amie Karen Cancer Fund at (323) 655-5977.

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