Go ahead, get what you want

Music and laughter leak from behind a hedge as a friend points the nose of his car down into an underground Santa Monica parking structure. That’s got to be it, surely: Hidden, but in plain sight.

Though the awning out front still reads “Schatzi’s,” the governator’s former restaurant has been defunct for some time. In its place is a new spot named Hidden Restaurant. No more tough guys puffing Monte Cristo lookalikes. No more sorry veal schnitzel. Now the space has a pulsing, late-night lounge vibe. That’s not unusual on a weekend, but this joint is rocking on a weeknight too.

On the night in question, the garden dotted with cherry red chairs is full up. That’s OK because the music from the weaving and bouncing outdoor DJ verges on the earsplitting and we’re thinking maybe we’d like to talk.

Inside, behind the bar, past the sushi bar section, is a long, spacious dining room with tables lined up against the banquettes and vaulted brick ceilings painted white. Nobody else is here and my group can’t decide whether to wait for a table in the garden or sit all alone inside. The hostess assures us there are reservations for the room this evening, so we sit down.

Now comes the tough -- or the interesting -- part: ordering the food. Instead of going for northern Italian or contemporary California cuisine, say, the owners (who are the partners behind Via Veneto) propose four different cuisines for your delectation. There’s that sushi bar , pizza from a pizzaiola fresh off the Milan express, tapas (is there anybody left who doesn’t know that these are small Spanish tidbits?) and Vietnamese cuisine -- each with its own chef.

Think of it as a trendy, high-end food court where Santa Monica night owls can nibble on chicken oysters in a Marsala reduction, langoustine pizza with curry and Dom Perignon (label alert!) or jamón serrano and goat cheese from Sardinia, and Spanish mackerel tataki.

Put all that in a blender and you get this dizzy newcomer.

We skip the sushi, as we are sushi-ed out, and head straight to the long list of thin-crusted pizzas with some intriguing variations. Wood-burning ovens are tricky, and the pizza chefs are still working out the kinks. The dough is a little tough, but that can be fixed. However, our escarole, anchovy and olive pizza arrives without the escarole and no explanation. That doesn’t bother me so much. What does is the quality of the ingredients: cheap, extremely salty anchovies will never a great pizza make.

Tapas seem more genuinely Spanish than we’re used to seeing in L.A. And they are small: lipstick red pimentos stuffed with tuna and fennel or zucchini flowers filled with anchovies and mozzarella, for example. You can get octopus and potato salad or baby cuttlefish in a spicy tomato broth too. Feeling peckish? How about a trio of mini vegetable frittatas or some new potatoes with crème fraîche, caviar and chives. The vegetarian arena they have covered.

The menu is mind-boggling in its scope, and daunting to pull off effectively. At this point, the Vietnamese side seems most appealing. For late-night refueling, there’s a respectable pho made with sirloin and served with fresh herbs and sprouts, short ribs on a lemon grass skewer with hoisin peanut sauce, and spice-rubbed lamb chops with a delicious parsnip puree and a curry jus.

By the time our food begins to arrive, the long banquette has filled up with an assortment of partygoers. Italian, Spanish, French flies across the tables.

The manager or owner -- I don’t know which -- passes out cards, telling everyone, “Call me, I’ll take care of you.” After all the venues I’ve been recently where nobody seems to be at home, I find it kind of endearing.

That hidden garden does have a great appeal. Add in a menu where noshers can pick and choose from four different cuisines and maybe -- just maybe -- friends won’t get into mash-ups over deciding where to eat. At Hidden, everybody can have what they want.

virbila@latimes.com

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Hidden Restaurant

Where: 3110 Main St.,

Santa Monica

When: 6 p.m. to midnight; lunch, noon

to 3 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking.

Price: Pizza, $10 to $18; tapas, $6 to $15; charcuterie and cheese selections, $12 to $26; sushi and sashimi plates, $15 to $22; Vietnamese dishes, $9 to $28.

Info: (310) 399-4800