One bite, and we’re stuffed

HEY, doesn’t anybody order entrees anymore?

Tapas-style restaurants have been popping up all over town the last few years, and now three of the city’s top restaurateurs are bite-sizing.

Last week, David Rosoff opened Opaline, a minimalist place on Beverly Boulevard where Red once stood (but with a green color scheme). Opaline has a special “small plates” menu in the lounge, with nibbles like fried Chetti olives, chanterelle toast or braised clams with artichoke. Prices hover around $6.

Also on Wilshire, Steven Arroyo will open a Spanish wine bar this Friday, Cobra Lily. It’s an intimate, dimly lit place of red walls and Spanish tile serving the sort of tapas (wild mushroom plate, spiced olives, anchovies) familiar from Arroyo’s Cobras & Matadors, at $3 to $7.

And finally, the long-awaited “small plates” restaurant from Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne of Lucques will open Dec. 9. The wine-oriented place, to be called A.O.C., will feature unusual cheeses and its own charcuterie, such as country duck pate and pork rillettes.

Opaline, 7450 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 857-6725.

Cobra Lily, 8442 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. For information, (213) 617-0546.

A.O.C., 8022 W. 3rd. St., Los Angeles; (323) 653-6359.

-- Jessica Strand

*

Keller names his N.Y. chef, and begins boot camp

Thomas Keller still hasn’t figured out what he’s going to call his restaurant in New York City, but he has decided who is going to be the chef. Jonathan Benno, one of the opening crew at the French Laundry in Napa Valley, will head up the operation, Keller says. Benno, who has also worked at Manhattan restaurants including Daniel and Craft, is back in Yountville for the next year, absorbing the fine points of Keller’s intricate style.

The new restaurant, which is supposed to open next fall, is a $6-million operation that will be in the AOL Time Warner tower going up on Columbus Circle. The building will also house other high-end restaurants, including the transplanted Beverly Hills Ginza Sushi-Ko.

Keller says he’ll put in a lot of time in New York at first, but “I’m definitely not going to be bi-coastal,” he says. “I will be going back and forth when I’m needed. And I’ll be there a lot in the initial effort, the first six months, eight months or a year.”

While Keller is in New York, the French Laundry will be run by executive chef Eric Zorn.

As for the name, Keller says he’s looking for one word that will connect with New York tradition. “It’s definitely not going to be the French Laundry.”

-- Russ Parsons

*

Small bites

Menemshaw, the latest venture from Brad Johnson (Georgia, Roxbury, Sunset Room), opened last week. Named after a Martha’s Vineyard town, it’s a casual spot offering New England fare from lobster rolls and fried clams to Yankee pot roast.

Menemshaw, 822 Washington Blvd., Venice, (310) 822-2550.

Brooke Williamson has left the kitchen at Zax to begin catering. Mario Perez, of Cafe Melisse in Valencia, has replaced her. “I want to cater dinner parties and small cocktail parties,” Williamson says, “no weddings.” For information, (310) 821-8991.