If You Want Pizza, You’ve Come to the Wrong Place

“There are three words that I don’t want to hear in my restaurant,� insists Ramon Papa: “ bistro , cafe and pizza. “

Papa and his partner Doug Flohr are planning to open a restaurant in the space that was once Tra Fiori and, before that, Cafe Jacoulet. They haven’t come up with a name yet, but they’ve already hired a chef: Sean Sheridan, formerly of Bistro 45 in Pasadena. His Mediterranean/Asian menu will feature entrees in the $15 range. After a few cosmetic changes to the Pasadena site, Papa, who currently manages the dining room at the Ritz Carlton, Pasadena, and Flohr, who manages Pinot Bistro in Studio City, are aiming for a mid-September opening.

Coincidentally, Bistro 45 owner Robert Simon also had an eye on the space. He and his father used to own Cafe Jacoulet and he wanted to open a deli there. “The last bid was between Robert and me,� says Papa, “and I won.�

“The price got to the point where it didn’t make any sense,� says Simon, who still wants to open a New York-style deli someday. “That was a good place at what could have been the right price, but even that location isn’t that great--it’s two blocks off Colorado Boulevard. But I think a deli is great concept for Pasadena.�

LIGHT AT END OF TUNNEL: Atlas has no plans to close, says general manager Stephen Noriega. Since the death of creator Mario Tamayo in May from AIDS, customers have been calling the kitschy Wilshire Boulevard restaurant to inquire if it’s still open. “Everything is staying the same,� Noriega insists. “Before his death, Mario asked me to continue to run Atlas the way he envisioned it, with all the craziness it’s always had. He used to tell people he’s was grooming me for his departure.�

Now that the three-year-long Metro Rail construction project is completed, the restaurant has valet parking again. (The corner in front is a major Metro Rail stop.) Also new: on Thursday evenings former “Rifleman� co-star Johnny Crawford sings songs from the ‘20s and ‘30s and Tuesday will soon become tango night.

“With this Johnny Crawford thing, we are getting a whole range of customers now, from the very young to people in their 60s,� says Noriega. “It hasn’t diminished too much from that real eclectic crowd, though. You still get your drag queens coming in here.�

WAITING SINCE COOLIDGE: Is Rita Coolidge psychic? Scene: The House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard. The pop singer is standing out front, waiting to retrieve her car from the valet parking when one of the valets barrels up in a Porsche--not hers--and parks it on an incline. Coolidge turns to the large group of music fans who have also been waiting patiently and predicts: “This guy is going to get out of the car, he’s not going to put the brakes on, and it’s going to roll back down the hill.�

“That’s right,� confirms her manager, Tim Goodwin. “The car came up, the guy got out and the car went right back down the hill with the valet chasing after it.�

OPENINGS: Capoccione Itameshi-Ya (“Capo-chee-oh-nee Ee-tah-may-she-ya,� as it is explained in a recent press release), sister restaurant to the Japanese-Italian hybrid Itameshi-Ya on Melrose Avenue, is slated to open next month on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade. . . . Rodolfo Mendoza is offering Mexican cuisine at Tucan Restaurant on Venice Boulevard in Culver City, just down the street from his brother Jose’s restaurant, Bamboo. . . . Next month, Santa Barbara restaurateur Steven Sponder will open Palace EXPRESS, a quick-service version of his 9-year-old Palace Cafe.

CLOSING: Two years ago, immigration lawyer and community activist Antonio Rodriguez announced that he was opening a Mexican food stall in downtown’s Grand Central Market. He also boasted that his place would feature the sauces his family made famous at La Serenata de Garibaldi in Boyle Heights. This made his brother Jose Rodriguez furious. “That place has nothing to do with my restaurant,� the chef/owner told Calendar at the time.

Antonio went ahead and opened the fast-food outlet anyway, causing a rift in the family over the ownership of the complex sauce recipes. A moot point now, since word comes that Antonio has quietly closed El Canto de Isabel. According to Grand Central spokeswoman, the space will become a Kentucky Fried Chicken stand.

FOR THE RECORD: It was reported in Restaurant News (April 24) and in First Impressions (June 12) that Prince was an investor in West Hollywood’s Trocadero. According to Karen Lee, vice president of media and communications for Prince’s Paisley Park Productions, “The artist formerly known as Prince is not an investor in the new Trocadero restaurant.�