A New Flair for Italian on Its Way to Dining Room

A Little Touch of Italian: The Regent Beverly Wilshire has found a chef to replace J.P. Amateau, who defected from the hotel’s Dining Room to the Parkway Grill in Pasadena in May. The new guy is Fabrizio Schenardi. He’s Italian-born and has just moved from Maui, where he worked at the Four Seasons Hotel. Before that he was at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. “It’s my first time on the West Coast,” Schenardi tells us, “so I’m a little bit lost. . . . The way people think and eat [here] is different, but that’s good.” We left-coasters might appreciate Schenardi’s disdain for chicken stock--he uses a lot of vegetable stocks in his Italian dishes. He likes to add French and Asian touches. His dinner menu will be ready by late July.

* The Dining Room, Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, 9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 274-8179.

Pause, Stop, Start: Xiomara, the Nuevo Latino restaurant in Pasadena, has been without a chef for months. Owner Xiomora Ardolina has been handling the menu herself, but she prefers to have a chef in the kitchen to collaborate with. She found that chef recently in Steven Herrmann. A few weeks ago, Herrmann had been abruptly relieved of his duties with the closing of Pause restaurant in Pasadena. At Xiomara, he’s finally working in a cuisine he’s been in love with since a child, when his mother, an experimental bohemian type, made him Peruvian-style dishes. Since then he’s cooked at Campanile under Mark Peel and L’Ermitage under Serge Falesitch. His new menu at Xiomara will be ready in about a week.

* Xiomara, 69 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena; (626) 796-2520.

Brunch, Brunch, Tea: The romantic restaurant Il Cielo has thrown its hat into the brunch ring. Served every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., brunch is $29.50 per person. The three-course meal has such dishes as a smoked salmon, green lentil and mache salad; stuffed rigatoni with eggplant gratin and buffalo mozzarella fondue; vegetable frittata; and hazelnut panna cotta. Il Cielo is at 9018 Burton Way, Beverly Hills; (310) 276-9990. . . . Felt gets into the act by adding a daytime brunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. (The place already has a midnight brunch menu, served Thursday through Sunday from midnight until 2 a.m.) Daytime brunch dishes include a salad of frisee, anchovies, potatoes and eggs ($9); gazpacho ($5); and black bean chilaquiles with fried egg and jicama salad ($13). Felt is at 8279 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood; (323) 822-3888. . . . Chef Katsuo Sugiura has reworked afternoon tea at the Beverly Hills Hotel. He now offers finger sandwiches such as asparagus with Boursin cheese, various scones (e.g., almond-cinnamon, black currant) and new pastries, including a lemon curd eclair. To wash it down, the hotel pours teas from Ridgeways, an English tea company. Tea is served daily from 2 to 6 p.m. in the Sunset Lounge; $18 per person. The Beverly Hills Hotel is at 9641 Sunset Blvd.; (310) 276-2251.

Allons, Enfants: Bastille Day is July 14. All over town, French chefs are making ready to hail the storming of those infamous prison gates with good food and wine.

La Cachette is rolling out a three-course dinner. Appetizer choices include petits gris escargots and lobster and rock shrimp crepes. Main course choices include baby rack of lamb and seared fillet of Alaskan turbot with gnocchi. The price is $68.

* La Cachette, 10506 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City; (310) 470-4992.

Le Petit Bistro waves the rouge, blanc and bleu at dinner with decorations and a la carte menu specials such as chilled cream of corn soup with truffle ($5.95); baked Brie with champagne sauce ($7.50); bouillabaisse ($8.95); oven-roasted squab with cider glaze ($17.95); lobster with noodle salad ($18.50); and chocolate marquise with pistachio sauce ($6.50).

* Le Petit Bistro, 631 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 289-9797.

71 Palm will have live music and a three-course dinner menu for $40 plus tax and tip. Dinner includes an appetizer; either steak au poivre, grilled salmon bearnaise or fettuccine with spinach, goat cheese and garlic.

* 71 Palm, 71 N. Palm St., Ventura; (805) 653-7222.

Vermont will salute the French spirit (and its French chef Jacques Chahinian) with French wines, French music, foie gras, escargots and other French menu specials.

* Vermont, 1714 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz; (323) 661-6163.

*

Angela Pettera can be reached at (213) 237-3153 or at [email protected]