Roy’s Lands on Rim, but Not in L.A.

Roy Returns, Almost: Roy Yamaguchi, chef and owner of 14 Roy’s restaurants worldwide, is credited with creating Pacific Rim cooking here in L.A. in the mid-’80s at his La Cienega Boulevard restaurant, 385 North. Thereafter, he moved to Hawaii where he opened his first Roy’s, the nucleus of the chain. He plans to open his 15th in Newport Beach in July. The Fashion Island location will be the first Roy’s in California, and you might wonder how it is that Yamaguchi has not opened in L.A. “At this point in time, I’m not interested in opening a restaurant in L.A.,” Yamaguchi said in a phone interview; he likes to put Roy’s in areas surrounding major cities, not inside city limits, he said. But nostalgia is a strong feeling, and Yamaguchi can’t dismiss his old stamping grounds entirely. “I think that one day I will do a restaurant in L.A.,” he said.

Roy’s Newport Beach will be serving Yamaguchi’s Euro-Asian cuisine (as he likes to call it), which is Pacific Rim with a little Hawaiian flair. But the menu will also be “regionalized” for Newport Beach under the direction of chef Pacifico Mata, who comes here from Roy’s in Scottsdale, Ariz. Guests will have the opportunity to order from the set menu or from a menu of specials that will change daily. They’ll dine at blond hardwood tables set around a fully open display kitchen. The look is clean and modern lines, elemental earth tones. Look for a July 5 opening date, with dinner being served nightly thereafter.

* Roy’s Newport Beach, Fashion Island, 453 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach; (949) 640-7697.

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Ye Old Chef Shuffle: Cyrano, the French-Mediterranean spot on the second floor of the Antiquarian Center in West Hollywood (that’s at 8840 Beverly Blvd.), now has Jacob La Tray swirling the saute pan. La Tray was a partner (with Thomas Munoz and James Dresser) in Joe Joe’s in Sherman Oaks before being downed by a motorcycle accident. After his recovery, the three partners decided “two owners were enough” (La Tray’s words) for the tiny restaurant. At Cyrano, La Tray will keep to the French-Med theme, but Asian touches are bound to sneak in, thanks to his time at Joe’s in Venice and at Stars San Francisco in Singapore. La Tray calls the menu “an ongoing work” (hint: “We’ve moved somewhat toward some seafood”). For reservations call (310) 271-4193.

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Funky Room, Frenchy Food: A little restaurant with blue walls and antique chairs has just opened on Franklin Avenue in L.A. As for its name, Le Petit Marche, owner Bradley Warden tells us, “It means the little market, because it doubles as an art gallery.” The art on the walls changes monthly and is for sale. Japanese-born chef Shuji Kimura cooks mostly French food with Asian inflections. Le Petit Marche serves lunch Monday-Friday, brunch Saturday and Sunday, and dinner nightly.

* Le Petit Marche, 5917 Franklin Ave., L.A.; (323) 468-9026.

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Napoleon’s New Cafe: Studio City recently saw the addition of a new bakery and deli in what used to be Weby’s Bakery on Ventura Boulevard. Locals soon figured out that Napoleon offered imported meats and cheeses as well as fresh breads, muffins, bagels and pastries. Now Napoleon does all that and can seat you for lunch and dinner, too, in its new full-service dining room. (Of course, if you enter through the back where the parking lot is, you might not notice the cafe; likewise, if you stroll in off Ventura Boulevard, you could miss the bakery and deli at the back.) The cafe serves all manner of pizzas from a wood-burning oven and fish and meat from a wood-burning grill. You’ll also see salads, sandwiches and pastas on a menu that seems vaguely Mediterranean, mostly Californian. Open daily for lunch and dinner.

* Napoleon Cafe, 12131 Ventura Blvd., Studio City; (818) 769-6062.

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Thanks for the Taste, Dude: Inspired by his local farmers market, Rix chef Neal Fraser got the idea for a whole new tasting menu: He’s going to serve dishes laced with the seeds and healthful oil of the hemp plant June 7-9. Needless to say, they’ll be free of the intoxicating chemical THC and therefore legal to serve, but Fraser couldn’t assure us that you’d be able to pass a drug test afterward. And exactly what does hemp taste like? “It’s got a nice flavor, it’s really nutty,” says Fraser, who insists he first tasted it after ordering the product from his Canadian supplier. The five-course menu ($55) includes hemp-crusted scallops, Moroccan-spiced rack of lamb with curried hemp oil and a banana-walnut filo tower with hemp seed ice cream and burnt caramel.

* Rix, 1413 5th St., Santa Monica; (310) 656-9688.