Kitchen is closed, let’s party!

AH, the holiday office party: small talk with the boss, hanging out with people you see every day -- but hey, at least you’re not in your cubicle, you’re in a restaurant enjoying a meal at the company’s expense.

But what happens if your “office” is a restaurant?

As it turns out, restaurant people party at restaurants too -- though usually on a Sunday or a Monday, when their own places are closed or can close early. And they do it with panache, selecting spots that offer staffs a real change of scene.

Last Sunday night, the entire back- and front-of-the-house staffs from Opus gathered at Cobras & Matadors on Beverly Boulevard. Opus chef Josef Centeno explains that restaurant parties are relaxing for pros. “I rarely ever sit to eat,” he says. “Ninety percent of my existence I eat standing in my kitchen.”

The other Cobras (on Hollywood Boulevard) was the setting of the holiday party for the staff of the Italian restaurant Dominick’s. More than 100 employees, investors and landlords of Dominick’s and its sister restaurant, the 101 Coffee Shop in Hollywood, took over the Spanish tapas bar. As in every business, connections matter. Warner Ebbink, an owner of Dominick’s and 101, is buddies with Cobras owner Steven Arroyo.

Arroyo had been flirting with inviting his employees to a catered backyard affair. But when he saw the Dominick’s folks having such fun, he decided to do a switcheroo. On Monday night, the staffs of his two restaurants enjoyed a cocktail party on the patio of Dominick’s.

Sal Marino, chef-owner of Il Grano, chose Father’s Office for his staff’s holiday party because it offers “lots of food that’s different from what Il Grano does and great wines.”

The fine-dining workers at Lucques, AOC and Hungry Cat set aside serious food for their holiday fete this year and got jiggy at a party spot: Falcon. “Our staff loves to dance,” says Lucques and AOC chef-owner Suzanne Goin. And Corina Weibel, chef at Canele in Atwater Village, is planning a holiday party for her crew at Lucky Strike, the bowling alley and eatery at Hollywood & Highland.

When the principals of Innovative Dining Group (Sushi Roku, BOA, Katana) were planning a holiday dinner for 40 directors of operation and managers, they thought of La Boheme in West Hollywood because the owner is a friend. IDG took another group to Lawry’s, however, for very different reasons.

IDG’s Lee Maen explains that they knew Lawry’s did a lot of big parties and they wanted a private room. Plus, he says, “We heard they do great holiday decorations. And none of us had been there since we were kids.”

-- Leslee Komaiko

Small bites

* After multiple delays, Royale, located in the Wilshire Royale Hotel in the once-glamorous Wilshire Corridor west of downtown, opened Saturday night. The chef is Eric Ernest, formerly of BOA Steakhouse and the departed Citrine. Designer John Sofio has gone for Old Hollywood echoes with lounges on two levels, a white-columned, high-ceilinged dining room and a landscaped patio.

Royale, 2619 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., (213) 388-8488.