Pulling Off the White Tablecloth

How long will the moment last? No one knows, but a recent study of 6,500 U.S. consumers by brand consultants Empathica Inc. found that diners plan to cut their fine-dining budget by 71 percent in the coming year, and their informal-restaurant budget by 50 percent.

And if a tight economy has rewarded certain chefs, it has of course punished many others. Last year, we saw the shuttering after five and a half years of Ortolan, a Michelin-starred, French-leaning, haute cuisine restaurant that lavished resources on its romantic setting — rows of chandeliers, candlelight, curtains and lush banquets. Bastide, also French-leaning, once the only restaurant in town with four stars from the Los Angeles Times and the onetime home of Ludovic Lefebvre, closed after nine years and at least six seemingly torturous periods of reinvention. Drago in Santa Monica closed, too.

PHOTO BY ANNE FISHBEIN

Vinny Dotolo, left, and Jon Shook at Animal

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The stalwarts that remain, the ones that provide the unhurried hush of luxury, appear to be going strong; in this Darwinian environment, they are the big fish in a sea with fewer competitors. And, unemployment notwithstanding, that's a good thing. What would L.A. be without Mélisse, Hatfield's, Valentino, Josie, Providence or Spago? Civilization needs such places; there are occasions when nothing else will do but serene and perfect service, a room in which the tables are spaced discreetly, the chairs are comfortable, and no one needs to yell to say "Happy birthday," "I adore you" or "Your mother and I are getting divorced."

Laurie Winer writes about food and culture. She is a founding editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books.