Patina Closes Doors for a Major Remodel

A Better Patina? Patina, the California cuisine landmark at 5955 Melrose Ave. in Hollywood, closed its doors Monday for extensive remodeling. Chef-owner Joachim Splichal has brought in architect Hagy Belzberg to oversee the redo. (Belzberg designed Splichal’s new downtown steakhouse Nick & Stef’s.) At Patina, he’ll add couches to the bar area, create a dining patio outside where the parking lot used to be and expand the kitchen. Inside the larger kitchen, he’ll install a chef’s table for dining. “After 10 years, it’s a dream come true,” says owner Christine Splichal. Patina is slated to reopen with its new look in late June.

From Italy to Mexico: The man who bought Primi from Piero Selvaggio, Pepe Ruiz, tended bar at Chasen’s from 1960 until its closure in 1995. “It was a lot of fun,” Ruiz says of his job. He used to serve a flaming martini he invented, the Flame of Love, to stars such as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Ruiz plans to rename Primi Las Tres Margaritas and turn it into an upscale, glamorous Mexican restaurant with high-end dishes such as at the top restaurants in Mexico City. To accomplish that task, he’s hired Martin Garcia as his chef. Conveniently, Garcia has spent the last three years cooking at fancy restaurants in Mexico City. Before that, Garcia was the chef at Michael’s here in L.A. Ruiz also tells us that he plans to remodel Primi to look more like a beautiful Mexican home with a large patio. Give him at least a couple of months to accomplish all this. Once his place is open, Ruiz will even tend bar there himself. Why? “Because everybody wants me to,” he says. Somebody has to revive the Flame of Love.

A Weekday Taste: Jean-Francois Meteigner has a new menu option at La Cachette that he’s calling the Whole Nine Yards. It’s nine courses of cuisine naturelle, which Meteigner defines as food based on the use of high-quality natural ingredients without an obscene amount of cream or butter added. We asked him whence came the inspiration for this menu, and he told us, “A month ago, I invited a friend for his 40th birthday, and that’s the menu I made for him.” Meteigner’s wife had been pushing him to add a tasting menu to the restaurant for years, so he came up with a cute name for this one, bought some whimsical plates to serve it on, and voila. Now, he says, “It’s fun for me, it’s fun for the customers, and it keeps the kitchen [staff] on their toes.” Dishes on this tasting menu include mint ravioli with fresh raspberry, a “martini” of chilled crab and lobster consomme, a farm-raised squab with a fricassee of English peas and organic baby carrots and a Grand Marnier souffle. The menu is available Monday through Thursday evenings at dinner time. The price is $110 per person plus tax and tip. A minimum of two people per table must order the menu.

* La Cachette, 10506 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City; (310) 470-4992.

Morning Fix: Jackson’s Village Bistro, the newly opened restaurant in Hermosa Beach, will begin serving breakfast and brunch on Sunday. On the menu: crab eggs Benedict, avocado and chili omelet, breakfast risotto with honey, ginger and dried figs and Belgian waffle with glazed pecans and applewood-smoked bacon. Breakfast and brunch are available Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. This particular Sunday, complimentary mimosas will be handed out from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 25% of all proceeds will be donated to a local youth charity.

* Jackson’s Village Bistro, 517 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach; (310) 376-6714

Big Benefit: UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center is holding a benefit called an Epicurean Evening. At 6 p.m. Saturday, seven chefs and restaurant owners will put together a five-course meal paired with Far Niente wines. On the roster to cook: Jean-Pierre Bosc and Silvio De Mori of Mimosa, Michael Mina of Aqua in San Francisco, Francois Payard of Payard Patisserie and Bistro in New York City, Charlie Trotter of Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago and Michael McCarty and Andrew Pastore of Michael’s in Santa Monica. Steven Seagal will act as master of ceremonies for the evening, and there will also be an auction of vacations, and wine and restaurant packages. The night takes place at a private hilltop home in the Pacific Palisades. Tickets begin at $1,000 per person. Proceeds benefit cancer research at UCLA. For tickets and information, call Polly Diaz at (310) 794-7643.

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