Food Radio Shows Have Tasty Menus

Radio Restaurant Rappers: A lot of radio shows have popped up on which people chat about restaurants. Some of them have been around for years. Merrill Shindler has been doling out his reviews for 14 years, first at KABC-AM (790) and for the past two years on the “Feed Your Face” show, Saturdays and Sundays from 5 to 7 p.m. on KLSX-FM (97.1). Ask him about his show and he’ll tell you, “I’m the hippest guy on the air.”

Elmer Dills, the doyen of inexpensive dining, has been on the radio for 22 years, most of them on KABC. For the last two and a half, he’s been on KIEV-AM (870) with his “Good Life Report,” heard Saturdays and Sundays from 3 to 5 p.m. He and his correspondents cover restaurants from Santa Barbara to San Diego.

The new (or at least newer) guard include Mario Martinoli and Amy Strong, the husband and wife team who host “The Restaurant Show” Saturdays from 8 to 10 a.m. on KABC. They’ve been there for two years; before that, Martinoli spent two years on KYPA-FM. “I come at the restaurant topic from the chef’s perspective,” says Martinoli, who used to own the cooking school turned restaurant Mario’s Cooking for Friends. His call-in format show includes short reviews, restaurant news snippets and interviews with chefs, restaurant owners and sommeliers.

Evan Kleiman has only been on KCRW-FM (89.9) for a year as host of the “Good Food” program, Saturdays from 11 a.m. to noon, but the show itself has been around for almost six years. Border Grill chefs and owners Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger previously hosted the show. Kleiman, another restaurateur (owner of Angeli Caffe on Melrose Avenue), talks with food producers, chefs, home cooks, cookbook authors and other restaurant owners. When asked about the broad format of her show, she said, “We describe it as culture seen through food.”

The newest take on restaurant talk to hit the airwaves is produced by Peter Dills (Elmer’s son) and Stephanie Edwards. Dills the Younger visits Edwards’ “Midday Magazine” show every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to noon on KIEV. His segment, “The Spice of Life Report,” handles calls from listeners, offers a food quiz and interviews fellow foodies. His signature is a nonconfrontational style (“We make our guests feel comfortable”).

You Can Be a Big Pig Too: Daly and Liz Thompson, the husband and wife chef team who opened Victor Hodd’s in West Hollywood in mid-1998 (and sold it to their partner some months later), will be opening a Memphis-style barbecue joint at 612 N. La Brea Ave. soon. Daly Thompson has been a barbecue aficionado for years, specializing in the Tennessee-style, which is mustard-based. The Pig, as the new restaurant will lovingly be called, will serve barbecued meats, Gulf seafood, and Creole dishes. The decor will be diner, complete with lunch counter, vinyl booths, Formica tables, and a jukebox. The price will be kept moderate, and take-out will be available. The Pig will be open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. Look for it in mid-March.

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Of Chefs and Gangsters: The Formosa Cafe in Hollywood has a new chef. Or maybe we should say it has a chef, period. The focus of this famous watering hole has long been the drinks and the star-gazing, not the food. You might have seen it prominently featured in the movie “L.A. Confidential.” Opened in 1939, it originally housed an office occupied by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. Seven years later, Bugsy Siegel took over the office. Since then, the restaurant has had a Pacific Electric Red Car trolley grafted onto its side and two new patios added (one off the parking lot and one on the roof).

The new manager, Vincent Jung, grandson of the original owner, used to tell his friends not to eat the food at Formosa. Now he’s installed new kitchen equipment and hired Hugo Vasquez to produce an Asian menu. Vasquez used to work at Patina Catering as a junior sous chef. His new menu should debut in a month or so. In the meantime, you might hear some buzz about a safe in the floor of Formosa that belonged to Siegel. Vincent Jung found it when he had the old carpeting ripped up. Vincent’s grandfather knew it existed but wanted nothing to do with the gangster or his friends, so he kept quiet about it. Vincent Jung plans to open it publicly sometime in the next month.

* Formosa, 7156 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; (323) 850-9050.

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Fun With Lunch: Chef Mako Antonishek has brought the bento box concept to Le Colonial. Those are the lacquered wood boxes traditionally used in Japan to hold individual lunches. A box is divided into compartments that hold the salad, the rice, the spring roll and the main course. At Le Colonial, the salad is lotus root, cucumber and jicama or spicy Asian greens. Your choice of spring rolls includes vegetarian and classic Vietnamese. The main course is either chicken, salmon or filet mignon. Lunches range from $12 to $15 and are available Monday through Friday, noon to 3 p.m.

* Le Colonial, 8783 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 289-0660.

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Angela Pettera can be reached at (213) 237-3153 or at pettera@prodigy.net.