Trading Night Life for a Familiar Name

Ma Maison II: Brace yourself for another Ma Maison. No, Patrick Terrail is not reopening the famed restaurant that propelled Wolfgang Puck to fame in the ‘80s. But the name no longer has copyright protection, so Charles Glen snapped it up for his new French venture in Atwater Village with chef and partner Jacques Emery. Glen’s background is in owning nightclubs, but he told us, “Now I’m tired of night life.” When Emery, who most recently cooked at Pascal in Newport Beach, was introduced through a friend, the two decided to start a restaurant together.

The menu obviously will be French: Emery has worked at Les Ambassadeurs in the Crillon Hotel and at Lucas Carton, both in Paris. Prices, however, will be moderate. Fish dishes such as bouillabaisse or rainbow trout with almonds will run $15.50 to $22.50. Meat dishes--e.g., veal with morel mushrooms, rib-eye with pommes frites--will go from $15 to $20.50. A cheese course is listed at $12.50; desserts are $5.95 each. Glen went for a chic auberge look in his decorating with lots of booths, a pale yellow and beige color scheme and a fountain at the entrance. The main room seats about 100; a banquet room with crystal chandeliers seats 30 to 50. Ma Maison is scheduled to open in June at 3179 Los Feliz Blvd. in Atwater Village.

One Lucky Duck: Philip Chiang is offering another form of Asian food with the Lucky Duck. He’s taken over One’s old space at 672 S. La Brea Ave.in L.A. plus the space next door. Chiang sees it as an updated version of Mandarette (which he opened in 1984 and sold in 1989), an urban cafe specializing in small, inexpensive dishes from China, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand. Chiang calls them “very simple dishes that I’ve accumulated over the years.”

Don’t look for fusion food; the cuisines will be kept separate. He’ll stay open late to catch the after-concert crowd and will build casual seats for about 100. The Lucky Duck is scheduled to open in July.

Quick Change: Fabio Flagiello closed his Italian restaurant Fabio in Venice from Monday until Wednesday for a quick paint job and menu change. He plans to reopen today with a new sous chef from Milan, Davide Rossi. The retooled menu has an added section of stuzzichini--small plates with items such as goat cheese and zucchini rolls ($2) or shrimp marinated in garlic and olive oil ($2.50). The antipasti, pasta and main course selections have increased. Choose one salad or antipasto, one pasta or main course and one dessert from the regular menu, and pay only $24 for the prix-fixe meal. On Sunday nights, bring the family for a dinner of one type of antipasto, one pizza, two pastas, one chicken dish and two desserts to share. The price of this family-style meal works out to $18 a head.

* Fabio, 1025 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice; (310) 452-6364.

Menu Action: Roy Yamaguchi, owner of Roy’s restaurants, has created a special menu to go with the brand of sakes he and Grif Frost of SakeOne recently created. The Y Daiginjo Sake Collection consists of four super-premium rice wines named Wind, Sky, Snow and Rain, sold in tall blue 375- and 750-milliliter bottles. The five- course sake menu allows you to taste them all. Dishes include grilled salmon salad with baby greens and crisp salmon skin, miso-marinated Chilean whitefish and pork smoked in a wood-fired imu oven. The price, which includes sake, is $55 plus tax and tip. This special menu is available nightly. Roy’s, Fashion Island, 453 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach; (949) 640-7697 . . .

Chef Ludovic Lefebvre is offering a five-course asparagus menu nightly at L’Orangerie through July. It begins with green asparagus veloute, followed by green and white asparagus with morel mushrooms. After that comes a sweet and savory asparagus Charlotte, and asparagus sorbet and, for dessert, a vanilla-scented asparagus souffle. The tab is $55 plus tax and tip. L’Orangerie, 903 N. La Cienega Blvd., L.A.; (310) 652-9770 . . .

Chaya Brasserie’s French-Vietnamese menu, Feast from the Southeast, replaces the regular menu through June 4. Appetizers include an albacore millefeuille with hot mustard and mango ($12.75), soba noodles with steamed mussels, lemon grass and chile oil ($11.50) and a Dungeness crab spring roll ($13.50). Entrees include a crispy whole catfish ($22.50), Colorado lamb chops with pineapple chutney ($28) and grilled prawns with garlic ($24.50). Chaya Brasserie, 8741 Alden Drive, L.A.; (310) 859-8833.

Tea Breakfast: Instead of a wine dinner, why not try try a tea breakfast at Chadwick on May 24. Tea blender Tomislav Podreka of Serendipitea will bring a variety of teas to pour and discuss at this afternoon meal at 2 p.m. Pastry chef Angela Hunter is making breakfast-themed savory and sweet items (five to seven of each) to pair with the teas. The price is $30 plus tax and tip.

* Chadwick, 267 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 205-9424.

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