`EATERTAINMENT' A HOT DISH : THEME DINING SERVES UP SOME POPULAR RECIPES.

Byline: Deborah Adamson Daily News Staff Writer

Since Hard Rock Cafe first established the idea worldwide and Planet Hollywood cemented the trend in the 1990s, theme restaurants have been on a roll.

And the trend is accelerating as owners try to outdo one another to make dining an experience that goes beyond mere food.

``The buzzword right now is `eatertainment,' '' said John Ecklein, publisher of Theme Restaurant Report in Novato, Calif.

``It's one part food, one part lifestyle theme, one part entertainment and one part merchandising.''

``In the 1950s and 1960s, dining out was a big deal. That was entertainment,'' Ecklein added. ``Now, the average middle-aged baby boomer dines out 3.5 times a week. It becomes more of a necessity since both mom and dad are working. Dining out is no longer an experience unto itself. If you want to be entertained, you have to do something else over and above going out to dinner.''

People not only go out to eat, they go to be entertained, said Ando Teder, executive vice president of Dick Clark Enterprises in Burbank, which owns several theme restaurants.

For example:

Imagine enjoying a plate of pasta in a jungle setting with live cockatoos and occasional sounds of thunder and lightning.

What about sipping a cup of latte at a cyber cafe, where you can order electronically at the table and play the latest CD-ROM game?

If you long for nostalgia, there's a place where you can watch old dance shows on a wall of TV screens and listen to classic rock while munching on a hamburger and fries.

Sure, theme restaurants have been around for years.

Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood are well-known examples, but so are country-music-motif Country Star at Universal CityWalk in Universal City and Dive, a submarine-theme eatery in Century City.

But the phenomenon is blooming faster than the poppies in the ``Wizard of Oz.''

There are at least 10 different themes in the market with an additional 25 coming, said Ecklein. Industry sales are $750 million a year, projected to reach $5 billion by 2000.

Dick Clark Enterprises, creators of Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill restaurants, is preparing to open two locations with six more in development. It already has five open, but none in California. Its target is middle America.

Their restaurants capture the essence of American Bandstand with a celebration of music from the 1950s to the 1990s. Clark's memorabilia adorn the walls - from Bo Diddley's guitar to letters received from celebrities. American cuisine is the staple of the 70-item menu - from burgers and salads to meatloaf.

Coming to Los Angeles, possibly this fall, is the Apple Cafe.

A collaboration of Apple Computer and Mega Bytes International of England, the restaurants will have high-tech tables where guests can order food, try the latest CD-ROMs, have one-click Internet access, plus videoconference with nearby tables and, eventually, patrons at other Apple Cafes worldwide.

It is being designed by Landmark Entertainment Group of North Hollywood.

``It's where Planet Hollywood meets cyber cafe,'' said Jon Holtzman, director of worldwide brand marketing at Apple. ``We're taking the best of both worlds, making it much more interactive and fun.''

The food will reflect the international diversity of Apple's staff, he said.

The Rainforest Cafe will open its first Southern California restaurant this year - in Costa Mesa. It also is negotiating to go into Disneyland in Anaheim.

The cafe will feature a salt-water fish tank formed into an arch that customers walk through, waterfalls, tropical rain storms complete with sounds of thunder and lightning, as well as live parrots and cockatoos with animal handlers. A rain forest mist and aroma also will travel through the whole restaurant.

The food is an eclectic mix of international cuisines, such as Jamaican pork chops and Thai stir fry, along with fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy.

Apparel and knickknacks bearing its name will be for sale in the cafe as well.

``We have the sophistication of Warner Brothers in retail, the animation of Disney and the show quality of a live performance like a Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus,'' said Steve Schussler, company founder.

Crustacean, an upscale Euro-Vietnamese restaurant that opened a few weeks ago, serves food in a 1930s French colonial Vietnam setting complete with an aquarium snaking along the floor to simulate a river, a small bridge, verandas that open out into pictures of bamboo trees and ceiling fans made of leaves.

The Beverly Hills restaurant was made to look like owner Helene An's residence in Vietnam.

``The whole idea is to make it warm and homey'' with touches of her heritage, said General Manager Elizabeth An, daughter of the owner.

Other theme restaurants, though not in Los Angeles, include Bubba Gump's - based on the movie ``Forrest Gump'' - Copperfield's Magic Underground by magician David Copperfield and an upcoming Baywatch restaurant with a lifeguard motif.

The emphasis that Universal CityWalk has placed on attracting various kinds of theme restaurants has paid off.

Sales of its restaurant tenants soared. Now, it has reached more than $600 a square foot, well above the restaurant average, said Universal CityWalk General Manager Tom Gilmore.

``You have to be a good restaurant first and foremost, and the theme has to be what enough people care about,'' Gilmore said.

But building an entertaining environment isn't cheap.

Ecklein estimates that development costs per restaurant range from $1 million to $8 million, with $3 million to $4 million as an average. The average size of these restaurants falls somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000 square feet.

``These things are not for the faint of heart,'' he said. ``The rule of thumb is to (generate the same amount) in annual sales. That's not easy to do.''

However, it can pay off big.

One year after it opened, Rainforest Cafe's first restaurant brought in $7.5 million. It cost $1 million to build, said Martin O'Dowd, company president.

Today, its six eateries bring in average yearly sales of $15 million each.

``We were optimistic, but we were blown away,'' O'Dowd said, adding that merchandising takes up a quarter of revenues.

Crustacean spent $1.8 million to create an Asian ambience. An said that her family had considered spending only a third of the sum, but decided that it was not enough to execute the concept beautifully and completely.

``Shall we sacrifice the concept? We thought, `no,' '' she said.

But they decided to drop a rain simulation and sounds of thunder because they thought it would be too ``gimmicky.''

Making a theme restaurant work isn't easy, Ecklein said. You have to pick out a popular lifestyle theme, make it authentic, build at a busy location and provide good food and merchandise.

But as in everything, there are no guarantees. In the end, the consumer will decide whether or not to give a thumbs up.

``You just have to build it and hope they come,'' said Robert Schuster, chief executive of Country Star Restaurants Inc. in Los Angeles.

(1--Color) Crustacean restaurant in Beverly Hills features decor patterned after the French colonial era in Vietnam, complete with a floor aquarium to simulate streamside dining.

(2--Color) The Rainforest Cafe will open this year in Costa Mesa, treating diners to tropical sounds, smells and fish through an aquarium archway.

(3--Color) Aimed at a heartland clientele, Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill offers a blend of pop nostalgia and old-fashioned cooking.

(4--Color) Designers are developing a look for the Apple Cafe, where patrons can access the Internet, try CD-ROMs and order food on line.

(5) Elizabeth An is general manager of Crustacean, a Beverly Hills restaurant with a French colonial theme.

Myung J. Chun/Daily News

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