RESTAURANT REVISITED: PAGANI DESERVING OF DEVOTION.Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic When Jorge ``George'' Pagani took over the former Eclipse and Morton's site in West Hollywood West Hollywood A community of southern California northeast of Beverly Hills. It is mainly residential. Population: 36,600. , he had developed a strong personal following of devoted diners Diners can mean:
He'd been a waiter in such tony restaurants as Perino's and Citrus, then maitre d'-manager at 385 North with Roy Yamaguchi Roy Yamaguchi is a Japanese-American celebrity chef. Yamaguchi was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan but now lives in the U.S. State of Hawaiʻi. and eventually at the Dining Room of the Regent Beverly Wilshire hotel. He held the same management position briefly at Coco Pazzo (now Asia de Cuba) in the spiffy spiffy - /spi'fee/ 1. Said of programs having a pretty, clever, or exceptionally well-designed interface. "Have you seen the spiffy X version of empire yet?" This was common mainstream slang during the 1940s. 2. , ultra-modern Mondrian hotel The Mondrian Hotel is a hotel in Los Angeles, located on Sunset Boulevard. The original building was built in 1959 as an apartment building. It was reopened in 1996 by Morgans Hotel Group. The hotel was originally conceived by Ian Schrager and designed by Philippe Starck. before assuming the owner-host role at his eponymous e·pon·y·mous adj. Of, relating to, or constituting an eponym. [From Greek ep  numos; see eponym. restaurant. But before he could actually start serving his devotees, Pagani faced some high hurdles. First, he had decided to try and persuade West Hollywood's tough lawmakers to allow him to open at lunchtime, requests previously denied Morton's and Eclipse, and largely the reason why Morton's jumped at the opportunity to relocate across the street when Trumps closed. Secondly, he wanted to level off the tiered entry, dining room and patio areas, which meant major construction work. It took much longer than anticipated. But eventually, both were accomplished. Following a somewhat rocky start featuring an unsettled kitchen, Pagani has achieved all-around smoothness and teamwork in both food direction, preparation and service. Name: Pagani. Address: 8800 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood. Phone: (310) 858-5801. When we last reviewed: Nov. 20, 1998. How long in business: Since Aug. 1, 1998. Menu/cuisine changes: Moved from modern American under the first chef, Frank Cramme, to slightly Italian under interim chef and consultant Paolo Sarti. Is now strongly Californian-French with a touch of Asian under Claude Segal, who introduced his menu, currently in use, the first week of March this year. Decor/physical changes: No major changes since inception. Personnel changes: Other than executive chef, no major changes. Recommendable dishes: Recent visits have confirmed improved selection in both the appetizer and entree categories with such items as a mosaic of de-shelled Maine lobster beautifully presented, a similarly handsome offering of fanned, sliced prime rib with a merlot sauce and a delicious roasted rabbit platter. Segal also produces his signature carrot and ginger soup and his acclaimed soy-sake marinated, sweet glazed Chilean seabass. Service quality: There seems to be more enthusiasm from the serving staff since Segal took over cooking duties. Pricing: The range today appears wider than that of previous menus, with five entrees priced from $17 to $19 and all others except the crown rack of lamb Noun 1. rack of lamb - a roast of the rib section of lamb crown roast rack - rib section of a forequarter of veal or pork or especially lamb or mutton lamb roast, roast lamb - a cut of lamb suitable for roasting ($32) being under $30. Starters (including soups and a superb, house-cured Atlantic salmon Atlantic salmon Oceanic trout species (Salmo salar), a highly prized game fish. It averages about 12 lbs (5.5 kg) and is marked with round or cross-shaped spots. Found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, it enters streams in the fall to spawn. plate) run from $7 to $12 and for those who wish to eat light, five main-course salads range from $13.50 to $15. Wine list/service: Well-rounded two-page list presents a bounty of top-name premium wines from California, France and Italy with a handful of Chilean, Australian and Argentine bottlings. But don't look for anything under $25 unless it's a half-bottle. Between $25 and $40 there are 28 choices that include a fine '96 sauvignon blanc from Brander ($25) and always reliable David Bruce's '97 pinot noir ($27). Corkage cork·age n. A charge exacted at a restaurant for every bottle of liquor served that was not bought on the premises. corkage Noun a charge made at a restaurant for serving wine bought elsewhere : $15 (champagne, $20). Policies worth mentioning: Five-course chef's ``degustation'' tasting menu Usually found in restaurants, a tasting menu offers small portions of several dishes as a single meal. Some restaurants and chefs specialize in tasting menus, while in other cases, it is a special or a menu option. is $65 per person, but must be ordered by your entire party. Strong banquet and private party program here is supervised by Robin Pagani, the owner's wife. Elton John's Oscar party An Oscar party is any of the various parties, usually held by entertainment-media corporations, immediately following the broadcast of the Academy Awards ceremony. Some sponsors, such as Vanity Fair was one of Pagani's most celebrated dinner events to date this year. Miscellaneous comments: The combination of a strong dining room presence (Jorge Pagani) with an equally strong kitchen presence (Claude Segal) vaults Pagani into the very top echelon of L.A. restaurants. Our latest ratings: Four stars for food; Two and one half stars for wine; Three and one half stars for service. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Pagani owner Jorge Pagani, left, and chef Claude Segal present some of the dishes available at the West Hollywood eatery. David Sprague/Daily News |
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