SMALL BITES TODAI ONLY: WAIT SERVICE.

Byline: Larry Lipson

The Beverly Center Todai at 8612 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, one of the popular chain of Asian buffet restaurants, is upping its customer service to unprecedented heights.

Acting more and more like a regular restaurant, this Todai actually brings food to its patrons.

For example, diners here find that the new yakitori corner displaying skewered specialties can be picked up from the buffet table in the usual manner or, get this, served at the table.

And the snow crab clusters, a favorite item at Todai and presented cold, will be heated immediately by request.

Dishes like miso soup, sushi hand rolls, shrimp tempura on udon noodles and custom-made crepes can be ordered from a passing staffer while the customer sits at his or her table, indicates Paul Lee, Todai's corporate general manager.

All this comes about after Todai's management decided to reinforce customer confidence at this location after it closed when the franchise operator went bankrupt, said Lee.

Information: [phone].

CHEF FETED: Congrats to Thomas Keller, chef-owner of the French Laundry in Napa Valley. He was honored in Paris as the World Master of Culinary Arts. Keller made the finals as the top chef in the United States and beat out famous chefs from six other countries including France.

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