A table at midnight--or later

Los Angeles has never been a late-night town. For a long time, if you wanted to have dinner after the show, there was, well, Canter’s. The Fairfax Avenue deli was the wee-hours place for a bowl of soup, a chopped liver sandwich, maybe a bear claw.

Thankfully, now there are actually some appealing choices for those who want to eat late. Several new and newish restaurants now welcome diners after the usual 10 or 10:30 p.m. cutoff time. It’s reason enough to burn the midnight oil.

Zero One, a stylish new progressive Japanese spot in Hollywood, offers its entire menu until 2 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday and until 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Which means you can drop in after midnight for a seared ahi steak with citrus soy or something more snacky such as cornmeal-crusted calamari. There’s no liquor license yet, though.

The original plan at the 2-week-old cafe was to stay open until 4 a.m. every day, says partner Reo Kobayashi. The cafe doesn’t have enough of a crowd to justify that schedule so far, though Kobayashi believes there’s room in the early, early morning niche.

“Fred 62 is open all night and they’re always crowded,” he points out.

Most restaurants testing the late-night dining waters offer abbreviated versions of their regular menus or special lounge menus.

Although dinner service ends at from 11 p.m. at West Hollywood’s O-Bar for instance, orders for four of the most popular menu items -- a Caesar salad, a dry-aged steak burger, roasted salmon and roasted chicken -- can be placed until 1:30 a.m. The restaurant closes at 2 a.m.

At Table 8, a lounge menu featuring grilled duck tenders with Swiss chard and hazelnuts, and little risotto balls with drunken goat and basil pesto, is also served 11 p.m. to midnight in the restaurant.

“It’s more the tapas concept,” says owner Chris Heyman. “Los Angeles is still not a late-night dining town. So it doesn’t make sense to serve our full menu until midnight or 1 a.m. It makes sense to have something more relaxed.”

Sona’s kappo service, named for a Japanese small-plates dining tradition, is offered from 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturday nights.

The menu “changes vastly” from week to week, says chef David Myers, but might include items such as seared Hawaiian opah with dried-fruit chutney and curry emulsion or geoduck clam with passion fruit juice and sesame seeds.

“There are no reservations for kappo,” says Myers. “People just come in. We want it to be as casual as possible.”

Bring your slippers.

-- Leslee Komaiko

Small bites

* Beverly Hills’ Cafe Blanc, the tiny box of a restaurant beloved by foodies, will serve its last meal tonight. “The lease is expiring and we don’t have a new location yet,” says manager Yukari Nakamura. “The chef [Tomihisa Harase] is looking but he has no idea when or where.”

* Rouge is the new restaurant in the former Brasserie des Artistes space. Owner Alex Etesse calls the food “a fusion of South American and Caribbean with a French touch.” Corey Francis, who previously cooked at Vermont (on Vermont) and Bouchon on Melrose (now Table 8), is heading the kitchen.

Rouge, 8300 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (323) 651-1433.

* There’s a new chef at Jimmy’s Tavern. Tokay Rogers most recently cooked at Alize in the Palms hotel in Las Vegas. His plan here is to streamline and simplify the menu.

Jimmy’s Tavern, 10543 W. Pico Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 446-8808.

* Avenue in Beverly Hills is no longer, but a new spot called Luce has opened in its place. The heavy suede draperies that made the restaurant look permanently shuttered are gone. The executive chef is Rich Earle, late of Towne in Manhattan Beach.

Luce, 301 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, (310) 275-2900.

* If you thought the Atkins craziness applied only to what’s on the plate, think again. The latest “carbs are evil” development comes in the form of four low-carb cocktails being served at Lot 1224, including a Green TeaNo, a green tea martini, and an EggNOg made with soy milk and brandy. Whatever.

Lot 1224 in the Loews Beverly Hills Hotel, 1224 S. Beverwil Drive, Los Angeles, (310) 772-2999.