Goodells’ adieu to Aubergine

Tim and Liza Goodell are in escrow to sell Aubergine, their signature French restaurant in Newport Beach, to an undisclosed local buyer who will be acquiring the restaurant’s name as well as its Newport Boulevard location.

“Selling the name didn’t matter to us,” says Liza Goodell. “There are Aubergines in London, Munich and everywhere else. And in Orange County, no one ever knew what it meant anyway.” (It means eggplant.)

Last February, the Goodells closed their 11-year-old flagship restaurant for renovations and repairs after storm damage.

But considering the costs of upgrading the building and factoring in the shortage of parking and the gradually declining business, they decided to sell the restaurant so they could focus on their new restaurants in Los Angeles -- Meson G and Dakota, which is in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Aubergine’s regulars were people who drove down from Los Angeles and Pasadena or were visiting from New York or Chicago. “We had only seven covers [or tables] on Tuesday nights. Fifty covers on a Saturday night was good,” Liza Goodell says.

The old Aubergine was a thing of the past anyway, she says. “It wasn’t the same -- like the days when Tim was in the kitchen and I worked the front -- and we realized we didn’t need it anymore.”

Aubergine’s wine cellar is another matter, however. The Goodells intend to start incorporating bottles from it onto the Meson G wine list.

The Goodells will also continue to operate their Pan-Asian restaurant, Red Pearl, in Huntington Beach, and Troquet in South Coast Plaza. They will be opening a second Red Pearl in San Diego later this year.

-- Corie Brown

Small bites

* Granita is closing at the end of September. “We’re finishing up the end of our lease,” says Jennifer Naylor, who has been executive chef at the Malibu restaurant for eight years. “Wolfgang [Puck] and Barbara [Lazaroff] determined it was the right time to move on. It’s been a really great 15-year run.”

Events planned this summer include a series of kids’ cooking classes on Saturdays starting July 30, the annual Labor Day clam bake and a trio of celebration dinners with chefs past and present on Sept. 7, 14 and 21. As for Naylor, she will continue to do private catering. Then, she says, “I’m going to see my next big thing that’s going to take me through the next 15 years. I’d love to stay out here but I’m looking at everything right now.”

Granita, 23725 W. Malibu Road, Malibu, (310) 456-0488.

* After 10 years in business, Pinot Hollywood has closed but is expected to reopen in the fall with a new name, new look and new concept. “We’ve talked about Asian influences but haven’t decided what yet,” says Patina Group spokeswoman Julie Priceman. “We’re still spinning with a million thoughts in our head.”

* Jamie DeRosa, formerly of the hastily closed Central restaurant on Sunset Strip, and before that a chef with the Spago Group, has resurfaced. He is now executive chef at Campanile, working alongside Mark Peel. On Wednesdays, DeRosa, Peel and pastry chef Dahlia Solomon hit the Santa Monica farmers market in the morning and create a five-course tasting menu ($75) for that evening.

Campanile, 624 S. La Brea Ave., L.A., (323) 938-1447.

* The Spanish Kitchen has debuted a Mariscos y Mezcals bar inspired by the fresh seafood stands in areas such as Merida and Veracruz in southern Mexico. Open Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, the kitchen-adjacent bar seats 12 and offers a menu of items such as peel-n-eat shrimp, oyster shooters and some two dozen different mezcals for sipping.

The Spanish Kitchen, 826 N. La Cienega Blvd., L.A., (310) 659-4794.

* Several weeks ago, we reported on the first Restaurant Design Awards sponsored by the American Institute of Architects’ Los Angeles chapter. Among the winners for excellence in design were two prominent L.A. restaurants, Geisha House and Patina.

-- Leslee Komaiko