DINING BEAT; PLAYING THE NAME GAME.

Byline: Larry Lipson

Two Ventura Boulevard Chinese restaurants in Tarzana have changed names.

Chinois Express, 19598 Ventura Blvd., is now Shenwah Shanghai Bistro, still owned by its chef Mario Shum, but with an expanded, more upscale Mandarin and Shanghai menu. Information and reservations: [phone].

And a few blocks away at 19100 Ventura Blvd., the former Soy Bean restaurant has become Sun Wok under new ownership, but has retained Soy Bean's chef Li Huan.

Currently, Sun Wok is using the same Soy Bean menu and will continue to offer the same good soups, dumplings, walnut shrimp, whole fish, scallops and rice noodles as before when the new menu is printed.

Information and reservations: [phone].

FIERY MARTINIS AND MORE

West Los Angeles is in for a pleasant surprise.

The former Piero Selvaggio-owned Primi at 10543 W. Pico Blvd., has been purchased by legendary original Chasen's bartender, Jose ``Pepe'' Ruiz, a favorite for some 35 years of the stars who hung out at Dave Chasen's fabled bar.

Ruiz, who will undoubtedly bring his famous flaming ``Flame of Love'' martini to the new restaurant which he has named Tres Margaritas. He has hired onetime Michael's, Santa Monica, chef Martin Garcia to run the kitchen.

Garcia, who worked in top Mexico City restaurants and most recently was chef at the Fish Co. in Los Alamitos, said his menu will be ``upscale Mexican,'' stressing clean, light recipes for fresh fish and meats paired with French-style sauce reductions utilizing traditional Mexican chile flavorings.

A signature item, noted Garcia, will be fresh, tableside-mixed salsa for dinner patrons utilizing the traditional ``molcaljete'' stone mixing bowl. Following extensive remodeling, a mid-August opening is planned.

Information: [phone].

LET FINGERS DO THE WALKING

Restaurant-goers will likely soon see a flurry of online reservation opportunities as cyber firms go national.

One of the more prominent currently making noise locally is www.foodline.com, which claims it ``provides diners with the convenience of being able to search for and book reservations at restaurants any time, day or night without the hassle of calling multiple restaurants or waiting on hold.''

Sounds like a great idea to me. If it works.

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA ...

Several of those ridiculously high-priced cult California wines (Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate, Dalla Valle, Maya, Clos Mimi, Sine Qua Non, Araujo Eisele, Bryant Family and others), many in large format bottles (magnums and larger), will be auctioned at Zachys Christie's annual ``California only'' wine auction in Beverly Hills June 24.

The good news is that a pre-auction tasting, not necessarily featuring all of the above labels, at $50 a person will be held the night before (June 23) from 6 to 7 p.m.

Pre-paid reservations needed. Information: [phone].