With Zen buy, Gaucho Grill owner has Asia on his mind. (Up Front).

Having taken his Argentinean Gaucho Grill concept as far as he thought it could go, restaurateur Adolfo Suaya has shifted continents and embarked on an ambitious Asian-themed expansion.

Suaya has acquired the right to develop a new line of restaurants based on L.A.'s Zen Grill from founders Elaine Johnston and Hamada Ryuichi, who will be minority partners in the new venture. Suaya declined to say how much he paid for the concept.

To pave the way for the deal, Johnston and Ryuichi sold the two existing Zen Grill locations to investor Edward Kim, owner of the Westwood Brewery. Kim declined comment, saying it was too soon to discuss his plans for the restaurants, though it is expected they will remain open.

The first of Suaya's new venues, called the Zen Grill and Sake Lounge, is slated to open at 1051 Broxton Ave. in Westwood within a few weeks. "That could confuse people," Suaya said, "but I think once we open in Westwood most people will understand the difference."

The Broxton Avenue site is undergoing a $600,000 renovation.

"I want to create a relaxed place where people can hangout for a couple hours, drink some sake and have some appetizers," Suaya said.

The new concept is a departure from the restaurants Suaya opened previously. Though he doesn't plan to alter his Gaucho Grills, he said his concentration is squarely focused on developing new restaurants.

"He's stuck in a certain mode with Argentinean food that he can't get out of," said Dick Carter, a veteran restaurant broker with May Realty Advisors. "And he's very realistically saying Asian food is where it's at in L.A."

Within five years, Suaya plans to have four Zen locations in Los Angeles and another in Las Vegas, where he is planning to replicate Dolce, a Melrose Avenue eatery in which he is a partner.

"I'm trying to take Zen Grill to a new level," Suaya said. "All Zen Grills will be like this (new) one."

A buying spree

After opening the first Gaucho Grill in 1987 on the Sunset Strip, Suaya has grown the Argentinean restaurant concept to seven locations. As the grills became successful, Suaya turned his attention to real estate, where he began buying restaurant properties.

His first purchase was at 8445 W. Third St. in West Hollywood, where in 1993 he opened the short-lived Antarctica. The building's next tenant, Sushi Roku, was a smash hit.

In 2002, he bought the location of the former Le Chardonnay on Melrose Avenue and recruited Lonnie Moore, the owner of Belly, to open what's now Dolce, which after opening in April has become a hit with the Hollywood crowd.

Two weeks ago, he paid $1.3 million for the building at 14 N. La Cienega Blvd., now occupied by Korean/Brazilian restaurant Temple. Suaya declined to say what he planned for the property.

With that purchase, Suaya owns more than nine restaurant buildings and runs -- either solely or as part of a partnership -- nearly a dozen restaurant operations across Los Angeles.

Among his holdings are Bar DeLuxe, at 1710 N. Las Palmas Ave., and a parcel near the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue on which he is developing a complex of 15 town homes.

Suaya said he recently purchased Janes House, a century-old Victorian-style building at 6541 Hollywood Blvd. where the children some of Hollywood's first celebrities were educated, with plans to open a French restaurant. "But it's going to take a long time with its zoning," he said.

He declined to say what he paid for the site. Most recent county records list the property, which also contains a mini mall, as selling in October 2002 for $3.8 million.

In addition to the Zen Grill expansion, Suaya said his goal is to open five new bars or restaurants in Hollywood within the next five years. But he said that is contingent on how quickly the area develops when three large apartment and condo complexes open later this year.

"Hollywood is the future, I really believe that," Suaya said. "But it's still too soon. It's on the cusp, it's close, but it's not there yet."

Seeking diversity

Suaya said he passed on buying the original 30-seat Zen Grill locations on Olympic Boulevard in Beverly Hills and Third Street in West Hollywood, eventually purchased by Kim, because he thought they were too "cramped."

"They are such small restaurants, it doesn't make sense," he said. "I am interested in taking the Zen Grill on to bigger things."

Suaya has gained a reputation for buying restaurant real estate in prime locations, often recruiting a new restaurant operator, which he joins as a minority partner.

Still, that isn't the case in all of Suaya's deals. Michael Cardenas, part owner of the three-restaurant Sushi Roku chain said while Suaya is the landlord of the Third Street location, he isn't a partner.

"He has very deep pockets," Cardenas said. "He wanted in on our restaurant but we were content with what we were doing."