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November 12, 2000
Star grazing
It's not just the chance to see the A-list that draws hip crowds to these celeb-owned restaurants. The food itself is worth the trip.
By Patty Rhule
Restaurant Web sites and addresses (scroll below)
BIG SHOT: There's a good chance you'll spot Sex and the City actor Chris Noth at his trendy New York club/restaurant Chris Noth knows his way around a kitchen, both as Mr. Big in HBO's Sex and the City and in real life, where he's a fan of the wok (secret ingredient: high-quality olive oil, extra virgin).
But when he's not cooking up a quick stir-fry, breaking Carrie's heart or starring in the Broadway hit The Best Man, you can probably find him at New York City's The Cutting Room, the club and late-night eatery in which he's a partner.
When Don Johnson isn't careening around the streets of San Francisco in his yellow '71 Barracuda, solving crimes as the star of CBS' Nash Bridges, you may find him in the city's Ghirardelli Square, playing a very different role: restaurateur.
With co-star Cheech Marin, Johnson is part-owner of a new Vietnamese restaurant, Ana Mandara.
Noth and Johnson are just two of a new constellation of stars lending their support and sizzle to restaurants -- including Jennifer Lopez, Jimmy Smits, Wesley Snipes, Stephen Baldwin, Gloria Estefan, Cameron Diaz and Kevin Costner. But unlike star eateries such as Planet Hollywood that cash in more with T-shirts and trinkets, these restaurants attract fans of fine food.
"Once you've seen Don Johnson, the excitement of that goes away, and the real question is: Do you feel like coming in and eating?"
At Ana Mandara, Johnson holds court several nights a week for a well-dressed crowd including ex-wife Melanie Griffith, George Lucas, Robin Williams, Sharon Stone and Tony Bennett amid what the citizen-critics of the latest Zagat Survey describe as an incredible interior filled with gorgeous authentic colonial Vietnamese antiques and furnishings.
A devotee of the culture of Vietnam (where he owns an island "the size of Manhattan"), Johnson's favorite dish is chef Khai Duong's seared Mekong basa (a fish) with scallions and spicy lemon sauce.
Can't get to San Francisco? Never fear. Look for Nash to nosh at Ana Mandara on TV this season.
"The bottom line is the big name will not buy you repeat business unless the restaurant performs its basic function," says Tim Zagat, co-founder of the Zagat Survey, which rates restaurants around the country.
"Once you've seen Don Johnson, the excitement of that largely goes away, and the real question is: Do you feel like coming in and eating?"
Apparently so. Esquire magazine food critic John Mariani names Ana Mandara one of the country's best new restaurants of 2000.
The new Zagat gives it a robust 22 out of 30 rating for food.
"I joke with the gang that one of the reasons I built this was to have a place we could hang out and now I can't get a reservation," Johnson says.
Johnson found Ana Mandara's designer in Vietnam and had his chef in mind for three years before the restaurant opened, but few celebrities are that involved.
Noth is a regular at his Cutting Room in New York, but Diaz has eaten only once (Thai green curry of organic chicken) at Miami's hip Bambú (though it draws a fashion crowd plus Sigourney Weaver, Harrison Ford and Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan).
Diaz teamed up with hoteliers/restaurateurs Hubert Baudoin and Karim Masri and rising-star chef Rob Boone on Bambú after filming two movies in Miami and finding its restaurants lacking.
When he's not shooting a movie, Baldwin says he's a utility player at New York's Luahn, primarily working on promotion, but also having a say in "the vibe" and other management decisions.
When people in Los Angeles call China One proprietor (and Snipes' close friend) Donna Yee Wong to see if Wesley is working, Wong laughs. "I say, 'He's not exactly in the kitchen rolling eggrolls. Right now, he's shooting a movie.'
"The stars may not be cooking, but they can supply the all-important buzz. China One's California-style Asian cuisine has made it a hangout for a multicultural young Hollywood crowd, including singer Eric Benét (Halle Berry's fiancé), director John Woo and actress Salma Hayek.
Likewise, the La Boca del Conga Room -- "the mouth" of the Conga Room -- with occasional visits by heat magnet owners Jimmy Smits, Jennifer Lopez, comedian Paul Rodriguez and Sheila E -- is where moguls go to munch and mambo.
The Democrats partied here last summer, and Lopez blew out 30 candles on her July 24 birthday, dining on the signature calamari salad.
Chris Noth was attracted to investing in The Cutting Room because of a chance to develop a club for live music.
"I remember the New York I came to; there were a lot of small rock 'n' roll clubs. You'd be sitting there and suddenly a great musician would walk in and start jamming."
He invites cast mates from his Broadway show over for late-night dining in the Victorian bar.
As for the atmosphere, "I believe in a certain amount of soulfulness, where a man and a woman come in [and] can feel romantic."
But groupies feeling romantic toward Noth don't faze him. "I just shake their hand and say, 'Get over it.' I don't believe the hype. I tell them they're all watching too much TV.
"Even snack fare promoted by celebrities is going for a pickier palate: Danny Glover has opened Hollywood Fries in Los Angeles, right next door to the Westwood theaters where many movies premiere. The secret to these homemade fries is in the specially picked potatoes, cooked in canola oil -- no cholesterol or trans-fatty acids -- and sprinkled with fine salt or "Kawaii 5-0" sea salt, which is baked with Hawaiian volcanic red clay, ginger, paprika, chives and Maui onions.
Hollywood Fries offers 25 specialty dips, too. When Glover stops in, he orders the Lethal Weapon dip, with cayenne, chili and mayonnaise.
Sharon Stone, Roseanne and Drew Barrymore also have dipped in for some fries. For late-night star watchers, Hollywood Fries is open until 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11:30 p.m. on weekdays.
Once a celebrity eatery catches on, second helpings may be on the way. Kevin Costner, Robert Wagner and golfer Jack Nicklaus are investors in The Clubhouse (Where You Belong), which started in Oak Brook, Ill., and Costa Mesa, Calif., and opens at the end of this month in Atlanta.
Estefan's Bongos in Orlando's Downtown Disney proved so popular that she opened another one -- complete with signature 57-foot pineapple, Cuban fare and packed dance club -- in Miami.
Johnson, who got out of Planet Hollywood before its bankruptcy troubles, isn't so gung-ho on expansion.
"I'm going slow. I'm not in favor of these absentee chefs that open 45 restaurants around the world. Quality drops and it basically becomes a chain. That's not to say we may not pick another location or two -- something that's manageable and you can maintain the highest quality."
Baldwin, who opened Luahn (with a strong 21 rating from Zagat) in the same location as his previous restaurant, Alaia, is ever sensitive to the vagaries of acting and eateries.
A self-described "horrible" former waiter, he cracks, "If my movie career doesn't work, I can fall back on the waiter thing right in my own place!"
Restaurant Web sites and addresses
Bambu
1661 Meridian Avenue
Miami
305-531-4800La Boca del Conga
5364 Wilshire
Los Angeles
323-938-1696China One
8290 Santa Monica
West Hollywood, CA
323-656-2215The Clubhouse (open mid-November)
www.theclubhouse.com
Lenox Square
Atlanta
404-239-0804Hollywood Fries
www.hollywoodfries.com
920 Broxton Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
310-443-7776Luahn
59 Fifth Avenue
New York
212-242-9710Cutting Room
19 West 24th Street
New York
212-691-1900Ana Mandara
www.anamandara.com
891 Polk St.
San Francisco
415-771-6800Photo by SEBASTIAN PIRAS for USA WEEKEND
