The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 480

'P2: FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1991 SO LOS ANGELES THvfits MORNING REPORT Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation's press. TELEVISION 'Future' Has a Future: The $ftVID NELSON ON RESTAURANTS an Diego Spotlight IBagatel Is No Mere Pittance, "Sid Sometimes Rightly So Bagatel should have opened two or three years ago, when there was a whole lot of shaking going on in the economy and people couldn't pull out their gold cards fast enough. The place is pricey. With a single exception, first courses top $10 and rise as high as $25 for fresh foie gras, an unavoidably costly item and entrees run from a relatively modest $14.95 to $29. Those in the mood for more can choose among four multi-course dinners that range from $27 to a most impressive $59, which buys a six-course spread that includes foie gras, poached Scottish salmon and roast squab teased with bits of black truffle.

But to regard this new La Jolla restaurant primarily in terms of the check is similar to remarking that Rembrandts certainly don't come cheap these days. This is not to say that Bagatel has a culinary competence comparable to the artistic abilities of an Old three Back to the Future" hit films will be spun off into a new Saturday morning cartoon series due this fall on CBS. The animated "Back to the Staff Changes Announced for Calendar Section 1 A story in Thursday's Times on staff changes in the Calendar section was incomplete. Following is a complete list of the; changes announced by Executive Calendar Editor John Lindsay: Sheila Benson will become critic at large. Charles Champlin," currently critic at large and arts editor, will retire April 1.

Benson has been the paper's film critic since 1981. Kenneth Turan, The Times' interim book editor, has been named film critic. He previously worked as a film critic for New West, California and GQ magazines and National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." Assistant Book Review editor Sonja Bolle will share the duties of interim Book Review editor with Turan during a transition period. Sylvie Drake, a Times theater writer since 1971, has been named theater critic. She replaces Dan Sullivan, who recently retired.

Staff writer Christopher Knight has been named an art critic. Knight was the art critic for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and joined The Times in 1989. William Wilson will continue as a Times art critic. Kelly Scott, an assistant Sunday Calendar editor, has been named movie editor. Before joining the paper in 1990, she was entertainment news editor for Newsday and edited the Sunday entertainment section.

She replaces Jack Mathews, who is leaving The Times to become film critic for Newsday. Oscar Garza has been named arts editor. He will coordinate all arts coverage for the Calendar section. He joined the paper as the arts editor for the San Diego County edition of The Times and became an assistant Sunday Calendar editor last year. David Crook, an assistant daily Calendar editor since 1986, has been named deputy Calendar editor.

Rappin' 011 ABC: Superstar rapper M.C. Hammer will provide the music and dance for "Hammerman," a new ABC Saturday morning series this fall. "Hammerman" takes place a few years ago, and finds just plain Stanley Kirk Bur-rell (Hammer's real name) dreaming of making the big time as a rap music star, while helping children at the recreation center where he works. MOVIES Another Voice Heard: sen, Daniel P. Moynihan of New York is the latest to voice an appeal that "Ju Dou" director Zhang Yimou be allowed by the Chinese government to attend Monday's Academy Awards.

"Ju Dou" is the first Chinese movie ever nominated for best foreign film, but Chinese authorities have sought to have it withdrawn from Oscar competition and have refused to give Zhang Yimou permission to attend the Please see MORNING, F27 Master, but it does occupy a niche of its very own, and of 1 Llya debut project of MCA's new Universal Cartoon Studios, as well as the first venture into Saturday morning television for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. The series will have animated versions of the original characters played by Michael J. Fox as the time-traveling teen-ager and Christopher Lloyd as the ingenious Doc Brown. Doc's rambunctious dog, Einstein, also will be used. In addition, Lloyd will be featured in live-action segments introducing the animated episodes.

its own making. Bagatel announces itself with a row of trees hung with thousands of miniature lights that sparkle and wink among the branches and suggest that this stretch of Fay Avenue more properly belongs among the Grandes Boulevards in Paris. The BAGATEL 7612 Fay La Jolla 551-2000 Dinner and lunch or brunch Tuesday through Sunday, closed Mondays Entrees 1 4.95 to $29.00. Dinner for two, Including a moderate bottle of wine each, tax and tip, about 1 00 to $150. Credit cards accepted EXTRAORDINARY ENTERTAINMENT FROM MIRAMAX CORETTA SCOTT KING: "POWERFUL AND COMPELLING! 'The Long Walk Home' faithfully captures the spirit of how the Montgomery Bus Boycott impacted the lives of black and white Americans.

I wholeheartedly recommend this important film to everyone." restaurant itself, a stunning makeover of what used to be a Chinese eatery, is a little cold in its use of marble, other stone and mirrors, but is undeniably handsome, and elegant in its fine table settings and in the gracious distances between tables. The service goes hand-in-kid-glove with the formal decor and mood. The telling difference between Bagatel and the most French restaurants in this country is that it really is French. The menu offers the dishes being served in some of the better restaurants in France today, and it is a challenging list that demands close reading and thoughtful consideration. At Bagatel, nine young chefs, all graduates of one or more of the Michelin-starred restaurants of France, toil together on each preparation in a complicated ballet that is visible through the glass wall, but not easily followed.

There is a fine lightness to the dishes, achieved through the use of intensely reduced stocks as sauces, enriched or smoothed sometimes with a little butter but universally devoid of cream. Adding to the intensity is the use of fresh herbs, garlic, olive oil, bell peppers and other items of resolute flavor. An insistence upon grand presentation at times results in dishes that one is reticent to disturb, notably in an amazing arrangement of fresh egg pasta, sweetbreads and lobster medallions in which the pasta, woven to resemble the body of a Maine lobster, had the beast's head and tail at either end and the claws posed realistically alongside. The twin meats overlapped atop the noodles, and the ersatz creature waded in a chocolate-colored sauce that tasted ever so deeply of lobster essence. Lobster swims freely through the menu, appearing among the appetizers as a cold salad bedded on sauteed spinach like everything here, the dish is more complicated than the description implies as part of an assemblage of shellfish cooked in aromatic vegetable bouillon, placed atop a lissome puree of fresh peas and moistened with lobster-based sauce; in the "raviolis magiques" (pasta squares filled with chunks of lobster and minced vegetables) served in a deep bowl filled with briny lobster consommd, and, as an entree, in a gratin of lobster mousse and chunks, glazed with a sabayon (a light version of hollandaise) and a sprinkling of Parmesan.

Foie gras, among the choicest and costliest of the world's foods, generally appears in America in the form of tinned pate But Bagatel serves a lavish portion of the fresh fowl liver, cautiously sauteed and arranged on a coronet of butter-crisped slices of baby potatoes. This may sound precious, but it is exquisite, as is the sauce that dresses the garnish of bitter salad greens. Vegetables, all of the finest quality and all treated with remarkable style, perform essential roles in virtually every entree. Green cabbage, a favorite here, acts as a wrapper for the miniature lobsters known as langoustines, which are dressed with herbs and lobster roe and roasted in the oven. Scallops done in the style of a cassottlette (technically a complex bean casserole) peer oijf'from an assemblage of celery, lima beans, fennel, baby carrots, ofijons and zucchini.

A stew of herbed lima beans fills an eggplant MJpfthat accompanies grilled halibut, and a puree of cauliflower the same for the tiny yellow squash served alongside a JoSemary-scented, oven-braised medallion of veal. menu favors seafood over red meat, although meat hardly ignored. A poached beef filet is dressed with marrow and red jSne sauce, and garlic-studded lamb loin is roasted in a casing of Prh, flaky pastry. A filet of duck breast, sauteed rather rare, $jttped thinly and arranged the length of the plate, included IjpSnlternes in its deglazing sauce and was served a la barigovle, or a fat, fresh artichoke heart filled with glazed pearl onions. set dinners which are not all that set, since diners can dishes from the a la carte lists include such notable as a boned rack of lamb rolled around a stuffing of lamb Sigwjeetbreads, spinach and pine nuts, and served on a bed of mixed j-ifSrest mushrooms, and a "terrine" of thinly sliced sea bass filet Ilayfered with saffroned aioli, or pungent garlic mayonnaise.

Desserts, prepared only when ordered, are as light as the entrees and center on fruits. A clever conceit typical of this kitchen is the thin decorations of meringue baked directly on the "ISessert plates, which may feature such items as a semi-frozen 'pistachio Bavarian cream and a gratin of blueberries baked under custard sauce. The restaurant strikes a single sour note with the wine list, which is relatively brief for a menu of this complexity and seems at times. Moderately priced bottles are virtually nonexistent on this list. "TWO THUMBS UP! Wonderful performances by Sissy Spacek and Whoopi Goldberg." SISKEL EBERT Sissy Spacek and Whoopi Goldberg give rock-solid performances." -Kathleen Carroll, THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS "ONE OF THE BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR!" 1 yHHHH VAUiSt I a II DOIHY STEREO I NfW VISIONS PG 13PAntNT3SIR0HGlY AUTIOHED I tint WtUrUI Mi hipprerilli (m CMMimUbJm II PICTURES NX MIIMI KAMII AM I (lMKII.MRlMM)KIIIMr.UHIN' STARTS TODAY TORRANCE IX VENTURA SANTA BARBARA ARCADIA BBEA MAIL QRAHADA HI US "IRVINE Edwaids GCC Sanlo An If a Unllod Artlsb Mavlos Unllod Aitlsis Movlas Untvorslty 7140540011 MannOolAmo9 Conlury 214-5000 605644-5000 FlOSld 9503 Uinama iivumwu oiajouuuji 810445 6200 C03IA ufSA HE AM OS A BEACH COSTA MESA SANTA MONICA "UPIAHD WOO0LANO HILLS.

I tPALMOALE PUENtE HILLS Anlelopo Valla AMC Plaza 10 tOlhOQllflS 010004-2240 005267 4940 BEHHARDH0 ftPALOS VEROES Pacific's Inland KMkoilon'3 Center 7143011611 Kmn'n SANTA ANA AMC Main LAKEWOOD Pacific's lakowood ConlGf 531-9580 10S ANGELES UNIVERSAL CITY ClnoplOK Odcon Fairfax Clrteplox Odooo 053-3117 Universal Clly oowii5.iij.5u Cinemas fJO95PM 01850BO5B8 WISIWO0DIUX OamlM. JIJ.530 Pacific's CrnsM74-76e(J livlU, Miy 13 JO I JO I7I1AU SM'SJOftlOJOPH AMC Sanfo Monica Edwards upland 0 Pacific lopango AMC lloimosa 0 Theatres 310-8000 Edwards South Coast Village 7145404)594 MORENO VALIEV II IK Edwaids Fosllval Clnomas 714465-2000 NORTH HOLLYWOOD Century 7 Thoolras 818508 6004 UIX BAKERSHELD AMC Slockdalo 0053246778 bovon ineaiias yia'juo-jjju owooj-jjuu 335-3030 10H0 8EACH AMC Marina Pacilica 493-5521 Place 714072 8 50O SORRY. NO PASSES ACCEPTED FORTIUS ENGAGEMENT 544-3456 "A SUMPTUOUSLY BEAUTIFUL FILM!" -Bob Strauss, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS -Shoilo Benson, LOS ANGEIES TIMES JUST A TASTE HIGHLIGHTS OF OTHER NELSON REVIEWS MARRAKESH, 634 Pearl La Jolla, 454-2500. This newest branch of a small, Newport Beach-based chain of Moroccan restaurants, long represented locally by the Marrakesh in La Mesa, expends far less effort on introducing guests to Moroccan culture than has been the chain's tradition in the past. The menu also seems streamlined, but continues to excel with the savory bastilla, a rich pie of chicken, scrambled eggs and almonds that is included in every meal.

The harira, a thick, lamb-based soup, also provides authentic flavors. The traditional steamed grain couscous dishes can be dull, but the tagines, or stews, are interesting. Finish the meal with strong, refreshing mint Entrees from $15 to $22. Moderate to expensive. pRNiCANO'S, Uptown District, Hlllcrest, 574-0255.

The off-again, on-again relationship between this family of Italian restaurants and that gave it birth is on again with the opening of this Pernicano's. The menu emphasizes pizza as an act of faith in tradition, but takes a contemporary twist by including "gourmet" pies decorated with such things as sun-dried tomatoes and chicken with roasted peppers. The excellent pasta list offers most of the usuals and mostly well prepared. Entrees from $4.75 to $12.50. Moderate.

SAMSON'S, 501 W. Broadway, San Diego, 232-2340. If you're in the moQd to nosh on a knish, head over to this handsome new deli in the Ko'll Center. Be cautious with the hot pastrami, which usually is not hot the corned beef can be equally tepid. But the menu does offer just about everything in the deli repertoire, including blintzes, noodle kugel, lox and whitefish platters, franks and beans, chjcken-in-the-pot and 87 sandwiches that range from a good, basic club to whitefish salad, a brisket dip and 15 hamburger variations.

Most sandwiches and entrees are in the $5.50 to $7.95 range. Moderate. A powerful essay on sexual longing. The most intelligently gorgeous film since 'The Last Emperor'." -Richard Corliss, TIME MAGAZINE A Marl In Stone to Prodvtthn of a StepAtt Frters Film SANTA MONICA loommla's Monica 394-9741 iriMMitdh U-DOU AfILM or ZHANG YI-MOU WESTW00D Mann Westwood 208-7664 Dolly 3 00 10 30 I'M ORANGE United Arllsls City Cinema 714634-3911 ttPALMDALE Antelope Vollay 10 Ttiaotros 805267-4940 WEST HOLLYWOOD Clnoplox Boverty Cantor 652-7760 Oatf 1.00 4:30 7:15 SWOOPM FrVSal toll Show 17:30 AM 'CENTURY CITY Clnoplsx Odoon Century Ploio Clnomas 653-4291 DoHf 130 4.00 7 00 ftft43PM 4 TORRANCE Mann Del Amo9 214-5000 JHX VENTURA Mann Buenaventura 605656544 W0O0UND HI1L5 GCC Woodland Hills LA0UNA NIGUEL Mann Rancho Nlfluel 8 Theatres 714831-0446 JHX LAKEWOOD Pacific's RogoncyS Theatres 420-9977 NORTHRIDGE PeppHfrea 8109934211 (COSTA MESA Edwards South Coast VJlaoei714540-0504 EKCINO loommle's Town Country 818981-9611 nnioammMQi MIRAMAX nstucrio norms 1 WEST LOS ANGELES Goldwyn Pavilion 475-0202 LOS FEUZ Las Fellz Theatre 664-2169 Dolly 11:05 AM 3:15 5:20 7:25 9:30 PM Dolly 5:30 7.30 9:30 PM (PnunM 01 Surround Sound) torn mnnisiccfntn Sot Son 1:30 3:30 5:30 7:30 0:30 PM RIVERSIDE SoCal Canyon Springs 714762-0800 Cinema 8ia703-75W I nn i pom BTitaa i i i a ANAHEIM BrooWiurs! HEBH05A BEACH 714778-6910 Bijou Twin 318-2668 Freo PoiWna uso Ovnland Enlronco. KMimEMMXwif!.