Return of the Galloping Gadsby

“All my fans are out there,” says Robert Gadsby, “so let’s just say I am back and I am going to be a lot stronger.” Gadsby, who was sous chef at Checkers Hotel in downtown Los Angeles under Thomas Keller, and opening chef at Xiomara in Pasadena before moving on to “educate” Santa Monica via the World Cafe, is referring to his latest project: opening a 120-seat restaurant on La Cienega. The restaurant, due to open during the first week of October, is owned by attorney Alan Philips. Its current working name is Santa Fe Cafe, but Gadsby says it will change.

“People have suggested ‘Gadsby,’ ” says Gadsby, “but I really didn’t want to do that because my ego isn’t big enough to want my name on the front of a restaurant yet.” So he is considering the name Pyramid, after the shape of his food.

Gadsby wants his restaurant to be one of the best in Beverly Hills, so he won’t be decorating all his dishes with peas as he did at World Cafe. “Well . . . maybe one dish with peas,” he says, “but there won’t be peas all over the place.”

LAST MAMBO ON MELROSE: “The neighborhood is just not as exciting as it used to be,” says Mario Tamayo, “so we have been looking for new locations for a while.” Tamayo just couldn’t find what he was looking for--”nothing sparked me,” he says, “and I just couldn’t keep it open any longer.” So last week Tamayo closed his 6-year-old Cafe Mambo on East Melrose. He says he is still searching for a Westside location.

In the meantime, Tamayo will incorporate some of the Mambo menu into the one at Atlas Bar & Grill, his flashy restaurant/nightclub at Wilshire and Western. He also plans to open Atlas for Sunday brunch, starting next week. “A lot of people really liked Mambo,” Tamayo says, “but it was really out of the way, and people in L.A. are not really that loyal or ready to drive across town.”

HAMBURGER HELPER?: A recent issue of Nation’s Restaurant News, the national trade paper, claimed the Los Angeles riots boosted Hamburger Hamlet’s second-quarter profits. “ . . . Profits were raised by a $77,000 insurance payment related to lost business during the Los Angeles riots,” the article said. “That’s not true,” says Anne Fitzpatrick, a spokeswoman for Hamburger Hamlet. “We didn’t make any money and in fact, we had a loss of $220,000 in gross revenue due to the riots, and it turns out only $80,000 was covered by our insurance.” Fitzpatrick says profits are up, but it’s due to the addition of more stores.

STOCKPOT: In celebration of Valentino’s 20th anniversary, owner Piero Selveggio has come up with a $29 prix fixe special menu featuring many of the Santa Monica restaurant’s former dishes. The menu will remain in effect through the end of the year. Entree choices include fish of the day, veal with eggplant, chicken with sausage and peppers, pasta or roast pork. . . . La Bruschetta Ristorante on Westwood Boulevard is celebrating its anniversary too. In honor of its eighth year in business, customers will get a 10% discount on their checks through Sept. 25. . . . A second Mani’s Bakery will open in September on Main Street in Santa Monica. . . . The owners of Tribeca in Beverly Hills will open a Tribeca City Pizza, on Sunset Plaza Drive in Beverly Hills next week. Besides pizza, the small cafe will feature pasta, veal and turkey dishes. . . . Il Fornaio in Beverly Hills is closed for remodeling until early November. In the meantime, you can purchase your morning joe and pastry up the block at the Circle Gallery.

CHARGING FOR CHARITY: When you use your Visa card at any of Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants (Spago, Chinois on Main, Granita) or Primi, Citrus, Campanile, Broadway Deli, Posto, Riva, Valentino, Citronelle and Patina before Sept. 15, Visa will make a donation to Meals-on-Wheels. The restaurants are the local participants in Puck’s glitzy upcoming American Wine & Food Festival, a benefit for Meals-on-Wheels to be held Sept. 19 on the back lot at Universal Studios. “It works out to about $2 per Visa transaction,” says Visa spokesman Gregory J. Holmes.

Holmes says the program works out to everyone’s advantage. “It’s beneficial for Visa because we are going to see more Visa volume,” he says, “but we also will serve the community in a way that restaurateurs want to.”

BARGAIN: McCormick & Schmick’s, the new fish house located in the First Interstate Building, downtown, features such dishes as bay shrimp quesadilla, steamed Penn Cove mussels, rock shrimp popcorn, and New York cheeseburger in the bar from 4 to 7 p.m. for $1.95.