New Azur Has a Touch of Le Bernardin

West Coast Bernardin: New York’s four-star Le Bernardin now has an outpost on the West Coast--sort of. Named Azur by Le Bernardin, it just opened in the 75-year-old La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta.

To catch you up on Le Bernardin’s history: Maguy Le Coze and her brother, Gilbert, opened their first Le Bernardin in Paris in 1972. In 1986 they opened the second in New York; shortly thereafter, the New York Times awarded it four stars. In 1996, after Gilbert Le Coze had died and the original Paris restaurant had been sold, Maguy made chef Eric Ripert her partner, and the two are consultants in the La Quinta place.

Ripert, who has cooked at La Tour d’Argent in Paris and the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., under Jean Louis Palladin, has chosen Jasper Schneider, the former executive sous-chef at the La Quinta Resort, to be his chef de cuisine at Azur. At least one member of the New York Le Bernardin staff (Ripert, Maguy, a sous-chef or a dining room manager) will spend one week per month at Azur.

The seafood-driven Mediterranean menu offers a three-course meal for $55 and a six-course tasting menu for $95 at dinner every night it’s open. Those menus might include fluke marinated in ginger and ponzu, bouillabaisse with aioli crab cake and poached skate wing with lemon brown butter and hazelnuts. Azur is open Tuesday through Saturday nights.

* Azur by Le Bernardin, La Quinta Resort & Club, 49-499 Eisenhower Drive, La Quinta; (760) 564-4111; www.laquintaresort.com.

Back to the Ritz: We mentioned earlier that Hans Prager is selling his renowned Continental restaurant, the Ritz, to Tim and Liza Goodell (of Aubergine in Newport Beach and Troquet in South Coast Plaza) and Fred Glusman (of Piero’s in Las Vegas) as of the new year. Goodell and Glusman say they have very few plans to mess with one of Orange County’s old favorites. Says Tim Goodell, “It’s one of the only places that has the scale of grandness.” Glusman adds: “I’ve wanted it for a long time because it’s a great restaurant, it’s a landmark.... I’ll keep [Prager’s] touch, my touch and Tim’s touch.” The new owners will tweak the menu, but without changing its overall concept.

* The Ritz Restaurant & Garden, 880 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach; (949) 720-1800.

R.I.P.: Many restaurants have been closing of late because of recent events and the sluggish economy.

Disney’s California Adventure lost two restaurants last month. Avalon Cove, Wolfgang Puck’s place, closed, and Robert Mondavi pulled out of the restaurant and mini-winery he built there.... Nick’s no longer serves its California cuisine under the sky on El Centro Street in South Pasadena.... Le Stelle’s Italian star has gone out after only a few months on Beverly Boulevard in Beverly Hills.... Nibblers coffee shop on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills is gone too.... Yujean Kang’s on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood has closed, but the Pasadena location is still open.

Beard Dinner: A number of chefs will be at the Saddle Peak Lodge’s fund-raising dinner Tuesday for the James Beard Foundation and its new Windows on the World culinary scholarship. Hors d’oeuvres and a five-course dinner of foie gras, lobster ceviche, Dover sole with caviar sauce and roasted caribou loin will be served with wine and cocktails. The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. and costs $150 plus tax and tip.

* Saddle Peak Lodge, 419 Cold Canyon Road, Calabasas; (818) 222-3888.

Angela Pettera can be reached at (310) 358-7647 or pettera@prodigy. net.