Familiar Chefs Sharpen Knives For a Fresh Challenge
By ANDREA ADELSON
Beginning in January, patrons of upscale downtown Laguna Beach restaurant Sorrento Grille should notice a more casual aesthetic when table linens disappear, wood tabletops emerge and small portion offerings fill the menu to appeal to diners with a preference for grazing.
The small-sized portion trend underlies the concept driving another soon to open restaurant in downtown, Watermarc Grille.
The changes at Sorrento Grille reflect a repositioning of the 20-year-old establishment under the returning management of restaurateur and chef David Wilhelm. He parlayed Sorrento Grille's success to launch what would become the Newport Beach-based restaurant empire Culinary Adventures Inc. in 1997.
Wilhelm, whose dining concepts grew to include Wilhelm's Chophouse, French 75 and Chat Noir, quit Culinary gggAdventures in August. Days later, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection in Santa Ana, owing hundreds of creditors. Two Los Angeles restaurants have since closed, while the Orange County eateries, including Sorrento Grille, remain open. Wilhelm cited a downturn in business that began with the Hollywood writer's strike.
In October, a judge overseeing the company's reorganization approved the sale of Sorrento Grille to the building's 20-year owners, Laguna Beach residents Diane and Philo Smith. The Smiths agreed to pay at least $154,000, $75,000 in cash and to forgive $79,000 in unpaid rent as well as other unspecified claims against the restaurant, according to court records.
The Smiths closed the deal last week, according to Katy Moss, financial manager of Spectra Asset Management Inc. The restaurant will retain chef Ryan Adams and general manger Lori McLean, she said.
Wilhelm played a role in developing several other restaurants concepts elsewhere before running Kucina, a still talked about Laguna Beach restaurant that closed after 10 years because of a pending rent hike, he said. Yet, despite a track record for winning concepts but turbulent management, the Smiths tapped Wilhelm for Sorrento Grille "because they have a long relationship with him," said Moss. The Smiths declined to be interviewed.
"When I started talking to Diane and Philo, they wanted to re-energize and relaunch it," Wilhelm explained. "It suffered somewhat once it became part of a nine-restaurant corporation," he said, though Sorrento Grille remained profitable nonetheless. He estimated the 3,500 square foot restaurant, where tabs averaged $50 a person, generated $2 million in annual revenue.
As part of the planned makeover, Diane Smith, a former decorator, intends to ditch table linens in favor of wood tabletops and add a second set of drapery with a bohemian flair, Wilhelm said. For his part, the chef-operator intends to rework the menu with smaller portion offerings and a greater emphasis on affordable wine, rather than pushing martinis, he said.
"They wanted me to operate the restaurant, to treat it as I was the sole owner," he said, which will allow him "to deliver the T.L.C. I think it needs."
While Wilhelm, 59, retains a one-third ownership in Culinary Adventures, he doesn't expect to restart a second restaurant empire. "To be able to focus on a single restaurant will be refreshing," he said. "In the best of times, it's not the easiest business."
At the Smiths better-known Coast Highway retail property, the lovingly maintained Peppertree Lane, another new restaurant, Watermarc Grille, is expected to open in March. The 15-year chef-owner of the Forest Avenue restaurant 230, Marc Cohen, plans a new concept for the space long-occupied by Rick Sadleir's Partners Bistro, which closed in March. Other tenants include the Saloon, Gelato Paradiso, Sutton Place boutique and Rue du Chocolate.
"Watermarc people have a strong history of success and expertise," said Moss.
In an offering circular to potential investors, Cohen and his partners, architect Mark Singer, Jules Swimmer and Terry Rothbard, said they hoped to raise $800,000 in capital to finance Watermarc Grille and intended to spend $350,000 in improvements.
Cohen said the Smiths considered many competing offers for the space, but seemed to value his stability. "I may not have given him the best offer, but I'm not going anywhere," he said. That attitude extends to patrons, too, where Cohen attempts to cultivate loyalty with less expensive liquor prices. "We're not about the one time," he said.
Together, the partners also own and operate Opah restaurants in Aliso Viejo and Irvine. A third Opah in Rancho Santa Margarita closed this month after seven years, a victim of the economic downturn, Cohen said.
The chef envisions a tasting menu for Watermarc, where patrons build their own meal with 20 or so starter items priced from $5 to $9 or a choice of flatbread pizzas. Even desserts will be smaller, to encourage more sampling and sharing, Cohen said.
"It's all about the opportunity to taste and construct it anyway they like," said Cohen. "It allows you to utilize the restaurant as you see fit."
Singer, the architect for the remodel, is awaiting the release of building permits, hung up over indecision about the proper grease trap, Cohen said. "We're totally ready to go," he said.
