Now Throwing Burgers on the Barbie

Aussie America: The Melange Group of restaurants adds another notch in its belt with Mackey’s American Grill, now open in Palos Verdes Estates. Chef Peter Carpenter came from Misto Caffe & Bakery in Torrance. Although he’s an Australian, at Mackey’s he’s turning out American food: cheeseburgers, meatloaf, steamed clam buckets, Southern fried chicken, chocolate sundaes. “I’m very into the menu,” he told us. So much for his Australian food heritage. The menu prices are low, entrees topping out at $14.95 for the chile- and lime-rubbed tiger shrimp skewers. Mackey’s American Grill is open every day serving dinner nightly, lunch on the weekdays, and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.

* Mackey’s American Grill, 2325 Palos Verdes Drive West, Palos Verdes Estates; (310) 265-8677.

Conny Steps In for Carrie: The Four Seasons Hotel has found a chef to replace the departing Carrie Nahabedian. It’s pulled Conny Andersson from the Four Seasons resort on the isle of Nevis (part of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean). He’s been with the Four Seasons for 10 years, but he has L.A. restaurant experience previous to joining the hotel chain. Andersson, who is Swedish, married an American, and in 1985 they moved to L.A., where Andersson joined Jean-Francois Meteigner’s cooking team at L’Orangerie. Three years later he had a newborn son and a job offer to work on a tropical island; he jumped at the chance to raise his child there. Now that his son is older, he’s happy to be back. At the Four Seasons, he’ll bring a few tropical touches to the Mediterranean menu, one dish at a time. The menu will evolve slowly, with all the dishes being reworked over the next two months or so.

* The Gardens Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel, 300 S. Doheny Drive, L.A.; (310) 273-2222.

New Blue: The owners of the House of Blues have reworked its restaurant concept. The restaurant now is a separate entity, where diners can come for a meal without listening to the concert (though a three-piece blues band will sometimes play in the dining section). A soundproof wall has been put up between the dining areas and the concert stage; some seats are located outside the wall on the mezzanine for dinner theater packages. The dining venue is now called the Porch, and it serves Mississippi Delta food by chef James O’Donnell. Waiters have been versed in tenets of Southern hospitality now too. The place reopens, after this renovation, on Wednesday. Parking is more accessible for diners and there’s a new phone number that connects directly to the restaurant. The Porch will be open for lunch daily, Gospel brunches on Sunday, dinner nightly and after-concert noshing on appetizers and desserts nightly.

* The Porch Restaurant at House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; (323) 848-5123.

Bats, Balls and Puck’s (Food): Wolfgang Puck and Levy Restaurants have teamed up to provide food for some areas of Dodger Stadium in the 2000 season. The ballpark was recently renovated to include 33 luxury suites and Dugout Club seats. Members of the Stadium Club, the luxury suite holders and those people sitting in the Dugout Club seats will have the option to eat Puck’s cuisine. According to a press release from the Dodgers, Puck said, “We hope that our food will propel them [the Dodgers] to many pennants and World Series.” We’re not even touching that one. Of course, if you still want a Dodger Dog, Aramark will continue to provide those, as well as food for the rest of the stadium.

Food as Medicine: Something is going on at the French Country Cafe the third Sunday of every month, though it’s been rather quiet until now. A Japanese chef named Sanae Suzuki and her Canadian partner, Eric Lechasseur, have been hosting Sanae’s Dinner Club. The pair use organic vegetables, grains and soy products, prepared according to the principles of the Macrobiotic Diet. Suzuki and Lechasseur both credit their macrobiotic diet, free of animal products and refined sugar, for healing them of ailments. They’ve been cooking together for the past five years, combining Suzuki’s Japanese methods with Lechasseur’s French technique (he’s the chef of Venice’s Rose Cafe). They’ve been hosting Sanae’s Dinner Club at the French Country Cafe (which is closed on Sunday nights) for the past eight months. This month the dinner takes place March 19 at 6 p.m. The four-course menu consists of barley soup, leek tart, millet cake with rapini, herb-baked tofu, strawberry almond shortcake and tea. The price is $40 per person. You must prepay and make reservations with Suzuki by calling her at (310) 450-6383.

* French Country Cafe, 231 Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 273-4332.

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