Audrey Saunders on the Tar Pit: cocktail flights, housemade sodas, Sunday brunch (served all day because Saturday nights can be long)

Now that New York bartender extraordinaire Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club has teamed with Mark Peel and Jay Perrin of Campanile to open the Tar Pit, what's in store? Cocktail flights, food-and-drink pairings, Sunday brunch, housemade sodas and more.

And if you thought the name Tar Pit made it sound, well, dumpy, there's a reason (besides the reference to the La Brea Tar Pits).

"We drew inspiration from the old black-and- white movie 'My Man Godfrey,'" said Saunders. "William Powell is homeless and living on the city dump. He goes to work for Carole Lombard’s crazy family as the butler, rebuilds his fortune, then returns to the city dump to open the Dump -- a nightclub. When someone enters the Tar Pit for the first time, they'll be able to connect the irony in what the name represents, as opposed to the actual feel of the space." This place is no pit.

"The beverage program is neoclassical and tips its hat to the 1940s Hollywood bar scene," she  said. "It will encompass everything from old classics to new creations. We will also be developing an in-house carbonation program for housemade sodas." 

Cocktail flights also will be offered, in which you pick any three drinks from the cocktail menu and create your own flight (each is half the volume of a standard drink).

And get this:

Hatfield's update: An end-of-December opening is planned (and yes, the former Red Pearl space gets a new paint job very soon)

"It's all anyone ever asks about on Twitter," chef Quinn Hatfield says. "When's the red paint going away? When are you going to paint? What color are you going to paint? It's a real touch-point for people."

Well, people, the space on Melrose Avenue that Quinn and Karen Hatfield are moving into (once Citrus, Alex, Meson G and most recently Red Pearl Kitchen) gets a new coat -- er, several coats? -- of paint as early as the end of this week (it will be off-white). The Hatfields expect their new incarnation of Hatfield's to open by the last week of December.

Having outgrown their former 40-seat restaurant on Beverly Boulevard, the couple is readying for a debut in a storied location (Michel Richard's Citrus was there for 11 years, but others haven't had such a great run).  The new Hatfield's seats 70 in the main dining room, 20 on the patio, 20 more in the private dining room, and at least that many in the bar and lounge. "It was pretty claustrophobic" in the old space, says Karen Hatfield. "And we were tired of having to tell people no, not being able to accommodate their requests. ...

Cafe Habana: Why Malibu?

The 'Bu seems an unlikely spot for a new branch of Cafe Habana -- a New York-based mini-chain of hip Cuban cafes located in Manhattan's Nolita and Brooklyn's Fort Greene. But the way partner and bar impresario Rande Gerber (Whiskey Blue, Stone Rose) sees it, he and his family -- including wife Cindy Crawford -- needed a place to eat besides Giorgio Baldi.

"I live in Malibu and have always wanted to open a restaurant here in the neighborhood for my friends and family," says Gerber. "Something casual, family-friendly, a place you can go on a date, or with the kids at 6 o'clock, or for a late-night meal.

"I think there are a few good restaurants in Malibu, very few. You can have a great Italian meal, there are a few places for sushi, but no place you'd really want to go more than once a week."

So Gerber approached Cafe Habana owner Sean Meenan, who says he jumped at the opportunity. "Rande had been to the restaurant and dug it, and he found the space," Meenan says. "There had been a few other offers, I'd been thinking about the Country Mart in Brentwood. I wasn't in the right mindset. But I'm so excited to be opening up in Malibu."  The Malibu Cafe Habana, at the Malibu Lumber Yard shopping center, is set to open "at the very beginning of the year," he says.

Meenan has a place in Venice and calls the drive from Venice to Malibu "one of the best drives in the whole world, especially for a New York guy; it's like 'Wow, this is God's country.' " Expect a Venice Cafe Habana to follow.   

-- Betty Hallock

Photo credit: Cafe Habana

Small Bite: Market Bar coming to the Pacific Electric Lofts?

Downtown update: The corner retail space in the Pacific Electric building at the corner of 6th and Main streets downtown has been unoccupied, but the building's owner along with potential partner Richard Drapkin (Grace, BLD) are floating a plan for Market Bar -- a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, bar, market and wine shop. Already located in the building are Cole's, Blu L.A. Cafe and the Association. Vegan cupcakery Babycakes also has been slated to move into the building.

Photo credit: Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times

Riva turns into Fraiche II; chef Jason Travi says he is working "on a consulting basis"

As of Wednesday, Riva in Santa Monica will become the second outpost of Fraiche, the Culver City restaurant that chef/pastry chef duo Jason and Miho Travi opened in 2007. But the Travis won't be around to usher in the changeover; the couple, currently in Boston, are also traveling to Japan and won't return to Los Angeles until the beginning of December.  

"I knew I needed to get away," said Jason Travi, via phone from Boston. The Travis, who were helming the kitchens at both Fraiche and its year-old sister restaurant Riva, recently became parents. "Every day when I woke up and went to work, the baby was asleep, and she was asleep when I got home. It just wasn't good. I knew I needed to figure out a way to do things differently."

As for whether or not he and Miho will return to the kitchens at Fraiche, he says: "We’re just not really sure yet. We’re basically waiting until we get back in December" to make a decision. "As is it is right now I’m working on a consulting basis. I went over the menus before I left and tried to get everything as organized as I could and it’s up to my sous chefs to do the rest."

Fraiche II will open on Wednesday with a menu similar to the Culver City original's, plus some new twists from Elderoy Arendse and Sydney Hunter III, says Amir Ohebsion, president of Fraiche Management Group. Arendse and Hunter have been steering the Fraiche/Riva kitchens in Jason Travi's absence. John Park, formerly of the Water Grill, has stepped in as pastry chef.

Fraiche in Santa Monica is located at 312 Wilshire Blvd., (310) 451-7482. 

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Riva. Credit: Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times

Sona management company exits; David Myers plans to open new restaurant [Updated]

Is Sona restaurant closing? A Sona representative said the West Hollywood restaurant's "management company has exited the fine dining business resulting in a public sale of their assets," scheduled for Wednesday. All inventory, furniture, fixtures, equipment and any other assets of Sona LLC will be sold, according to a notice of public sale.  

Sona chef-partner David Myers has formed a new management company, David Myers Group LLC. The new company includes "a team of professionals currently involved with his restaurants." David Myers Group plans to announce the opening of a new restaurant this fall.

Meanwhile, Sona is still open and is operating as usual.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: David Myers at Sona. Credit: Christine House / For The Times

[Updated 6:08 p.m.: An earlier version of this post omitted that Sona is still open.]

Clouds part and angels sing: Grace restaurant reveals plans for St. Vibiana Cathedral

What better name than Grace for a restaurant moving into the former rectory of 133-year-old St. Vibiana Cathedral downtown?

If all goes as scheduled, the 6-year-old restaurant currently on Beverly Boulevard will have moved into its new Spanish Baroque home, formerly occupied by parish priests, by the end of next year. Owners Neal Fraser and Amy Knoll Fraser have big plans for the space, what might be the most stunning location for a restaurant in L.A.

The restaurant will include: a 100-seat main dining room; a dining courtyard (pictured above, the fountain will be removed) with a 30-foot bar, to be covered by a glass ceiling; four private dining rooms upstairs with balconies overlooking the courtyard (each with its own bathroom); a private dining room in the wine cellar; and a separate, second-floor bar and lounge, named the Rectory, with a terrace that has a view of both the courtyard and the towering cupola that was returned to the church after the building was almost demolished. There are hand-painted ceilings, arched walkways, French doors, beamed ceilings, 19th century ironwork.

The Frasers have negotiated for the space with Vibiana developer Tom Gilmore, who restored the nearly doomed cathedral and transformed it into an event space. 

"It's something we've been talking about doing since June of last year," says Knoll Fraser. "When I walked into the rectory, I just got chills and knew I had to do this space."

The battle of Chow vs. Chow heats up; celebrity lawyer (and Mr. Chow regular) Bert Fields enters the fray

Michael Chow, a.k.a. Mr. Chow, has tapped celebrity lawyer Bertram Fields in his ongoing campaign against former restaurant employee Philippe Chow. Just as Philippe Chow is about to open his first L.A. restaurant in West Hollywood, Michael Chow has slapped him with another lawsuit, this time in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Michael Chow already had filed a suit against the chain of Philippe restaurants in July in Miami federal court. Both lawsuits allege that Chak Yam Chau, who now goes by Philippe Chow, has deceived consumers by falsely using the Chow name to promote restaurants that "imitate" the Mr. Chow restaurants.

The Los Angeles suit, besides repeating accusations of copied dishes (including Mr. Chow's "famous satay sauce") and improper use of sponsored Web links, also alleges kitchen espionage and harassment, citing a glass door that was "'mysteriously' and deliberately smashed" recently at the Beverly Hills Mr. Chow. 

"We are not going to make any further comments as these are all redundant (delusional) accusations to the Miami suit and nothing to add to," wrote Stratis Morfogen, a Philippe restaurant partner named in the suits, in an e-mail to The Times.

As with the Miami lawsuit, Michael Chow is seeking more than $10 million in damages, according to the Los Angeles filing.

"My friends and I have enjoyed dining at Mr. Chow’s for many years," says Fields, who has represented the likes of Tom Cruise and Joel Silver. "Many of us entertain there .... So I’m personally affronted when this former food chopper and his cynical backers try to make money by imitating everything Mr. Chow does."

Morfogen had called the Miami lawsuit meritless. A motion to dismiss was filed in Miami federal court in July.

Michael Chow founded the chain of famous Mr. Chow restaurants in 1968 in London, followed by restaurants in New York and Beverly Hills. Philippe Chow worked for Mr. Chow for more than 25 years in New York before starting his own chain of Philippe restaurants there in 2005. His Los Angeles restaurant is set to open next month. Both have expanded to Miami and have plans for restaurants in Las Vegas.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Philippe restaurant in Miami. Credit: Philippe

At Disney, Michael Jordan steps off the floor

Michael Jordan, master sommelier, longtime general manager of Disney’s Napa Rose restaurant and the architect of its award-winning wine program, is leaving the restaurant business. After 35 years in the industry as a chef, sommelier, restaurateur, manager and wine educator, after having held every appreciable position that a restaurant has to offer, including dishwasher, Jordan is stepping off the floor to start a wine company, called Word.

Jordan will be leaving one of the most comprehensive wine programs in California. Not only did he create its enviable wine list, he also developed a culture of wine at the Napa Rose and at Disney that flourished under his direction: In the nine years he was there, more than 400 staff members attended wine education classes and went on to take exams from the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Rockwell in Los Feliz set to open this weekend

Rockwell, the multi-level 6,000-square-foot restaurant, bar and outdoor lounge in Los Feliz, is expected to open tonight. 

Rockwell partners Chris Diamond and Wayne Elias also recently took over the adjacent Vermont Restaurant & Bar, and Vermont chef Stephane Beacamp has created the menu: salads, flatbreads, burgers and small plates. From the menu: almond pesto marinated shrimp skewers; calamari with ginger, shallot and chile; pancetta flatbread with caramelized onion, fig jam and Gorgonzola. Specialty cocktails include the "Sazerac Vermont," Rittenhouse rye, Peychaud's bitters and absinthe.

The defining design feature might be the 30-foot coral tree that stands in the middle of the restaurant. And the overall look here might be called Hollywood rustic, with Shaker furniture, distressed leather and a 12-foot canoe hanging from the ceiling. 

1714 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 669-1550, www.rockwellvt.com. Monday to Sunday 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. (kitchen open til 1 a.m.). Valet parking.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo credit: Rockwell