LES DEUX CAFES: Former fashion designer Michele Lamy is responsible for an atmospheric coup - the most enchanting secret garden in the city. Nothing but a battered storefront and a blank door in a rather grim stretch of Hollywood marks the restaurant's address. You have to pull into the parking lot and enter around back. Once inside, except for searchlights crisscrossing overhead, it's hard to believe you're not in some dreamy Arcadia. Shaggy oleander blocks out city noise. Votive candles flicker on the tables. Scented geraniums loose their sharp, spicy scent. Great ivory blooms glow on the magnolia tree. Lily pads drift in a long, rectangular reflecting pool. A white Craftsman house presides over all this like a grand old ship. The crowd is largely young, decked in black - and still oblivious to mortality, as evidenced by absolutely prodigious cigarette smoking. The food is as tasty, though nowhere near as sophisticated or masterly as competitively priced restaurants Spago, Patina and Campanile. Still, the beet salad and quail risotto, and particularly the sauteed skate in brown butter with caraway-seeded potatoes and a chervil-rich salad, are worth a visit. Service can be stretched and minimal; servers are hip, attractive and barely able to handle all the tables they're assigned. The volume and beat of the music crescendoes as the night progresses. We are thrilled to arrive, charmed for the first hour or so, then impatient first for dessert, then for the bill. Leaving is accompanied with relief bordering on bliss. Well - that's one kind of dining experience. 1638 N. Las Palmas Blvd., Hollywood; (323) 465-0509. Entrees $16-$32.
NICK'S: This new South Pasadena restaurant is entirely patio - no inside dining. Out front, it's a shady sidewalk cafe, but thanks to city ordinances, wine can't be served there before 5 p.m. At lunch if you want to a take advantage of the well-chosen wine list, on which everything is also available by the glass, sit on the back patio - it's a lovely space, still exuding newness. The mostly California native plantings someday will be lush, the furry young sycamores will be tall and shady. Presently, the garden is full of sunlight - it has the air and tone of a beautifully designed back yard. There's a whispering central fountain, green umbrellas, and, soon to be, a canvas awning and misters (not the balding, hot variety, but those little valves that spray a soft, cooling mist over diners). In the few short months Nick's has been open, there has been a steady improvement in the food and service. Portions, once scant, are now satisfying. Try a starter of asparagus and prosciutto, or a tomato tart with pesto and a side salad of watercress-dressed, basil-scented oil - truly the tastes of summer. I also loved the simple, supple papardelle with butter, Parmesan, pine nuts and fresh basil - not a pesto. Flattened chicken is the entree not to miss. The clafoutis is an odd hybrid of tart and creme brulee. The strawberry shortcake is good, but the proportions are off: too much scone and whipped cream, and not enough juicy berries to even things out. 1009 El Centro St., South Pasadena; (626) 441-7910. Main courses $13.50-$17.50.
Location Info
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Spago Beverly Hills
176 N. Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Category: Restaurant > California
Region: Beverly Hills
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Michael's
1147 Third St.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
Category: Restaurant > California
Region: Santa Monica
Les Deux Cafes
1638 N. Las Palmas Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Category: Restaurant > Italian
Region: Hollywood
The Buffalo Club
1520 Olympic Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
Category: Music Venues
Region: Santa Monica
The Belvedere
9882 Santa Monica Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Category: Restaurant > American
Region: Beverly Hills
Barney Greengrass Restaurant
9570 Wilshire Blvd. 5th floor
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Category: Restaurant > Deli
Region: Beverly Hills
Il Moro
11400 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Category: Restaurant > European
Region: West L.A.
The Little Door
8164 W. Third St.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Category: Restaurant > French
Region: West Hollywood
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CHEZ MIMI: For years, a woman named Mimi owned and operated Chez Helene in Beverly Hills. Helene was the long-gone partner in the business, but people naturally thought that Mimi must be Helene. Now, finally, Mimi has her own eponymous restaurant, in the former digs of Camelions on 26th Street. It's a predictable, perfect match - from one lovely, landmark patio garden spot to another. Stepping off the busy street and into Chez Mimi's patio is like walking off North America and onto Europe, specifically the French countryside. The various rambling buildings seem to be of another century. The dining rooms are low-ceilinged and close, and if you want to have a conversation, it's truly best to insist on patio seating, away from the street, near the vine-covered walls. And you may have to insist. The hostess is willful - when you tell her you want a patio table, she'll likely as not take you straight inside. Most people are too timid to cross someone as bold as all that, but not you. Chez Mimi's food is an improvement over both Chez Helene and Camelions. I recommend simple salads (endive, walnuts and Gorgonzola), simply prepared fresh fish (tuna, say, with a fresh tomato-caper sauce), excellent calves' liver - and, of course, the terrific chicken Chez Helene, which is golden-crisp, scented with rosemary and served with an irresistible individual corn souffle. 246 26th St., Santa Monica; (310) 393-0558. Entrees $12.50-$23.50.
Urban Secrets
The BUFFALO CLUB has an impeccably set-dressed patio, but again, you'd never guess it from the street, as the restaurant's exterior resembles one more abandoned warehouse on an industrial strip of Olympic. The patio only gilds the lily, however, as the true treat here is Patrick Healy's American cooking. Hot wings, oyster shooters, Maine lobster on corn mashed potatoes, a complete upgrade of the Eskimo pie, a vast blue sky overhead, ocean breezes - how much better does life get? 1520 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 450-8600. Main courses $20-$30.
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