Bicultural Cuisine

Look for Fatima Kavvadias, who, with her husband, Alexis, runs Alexis restaurant in Northridge, to add half a dozen new dishes to her offerings in the next month--the fruit of a two-month stay in her native Portugal last summer.

Kavvadias revamped the restaurant’s eclectic menu only three weeks ago, so the new dishes will go on a special addendum, Kavvadias says.

“I was in Portugal in July and August, and I went into the kitchens of some very good chefs to look at some new ideas,” Fatima says.

“And even though we just recently made our menu brand new, I have many ideas for new dishes--and I’m going to make a special menu for just these dishes and maybe call it the Portuguese corner.”

What does she have in mind?

Item: Cataplana, a seafood melange of shrimp, clams and whitefish such as swordfish or monkfish steamed with potatoes, peppers and spices and served in a small hinged copper vessel unique to the cuisine of Portugal.

Item: Beef na pedra, a butterflied filet mignon seared with garlic and herbs on a small, flat, very hot stone of smooth granite on which the steak finishes cooking just as it is served.

Item: Espetada, a mixed grill of skewered filet mignon, lamb, chicken and shrimp and served on another copper instrument unique to Portugal and impossible to describe.

And if all that’s not enough for you, the restaurant’s menu--which reflects Fatima’s Portuguese heritage and the Greek heritage of her husband--offers plenty of alternatives:

Item: Fileto artemis, a filet mignon served in a sauce with feta cheese and mushrooms, for $18.95.

Item: Giouvetsi, crock-baked lamb baked in a tomato sauce, for $16.95.

Item: Spetsota, white sea bass or shrimp in a wine sauce with fresh tomatoes and mushrooms, for $19.95.

Or you can try the new vegetarian moussaka, for $11.95, or two new salads--the first with baby greens in a vinaigrette, for $7.95, and the second with baby greens, roasted peppers, tomatoes, onions, anchovies, feta and capers, for $9.95.

Last but not least are Fatima’s Portuguese dolces--a host of pastries and desserts ranging from fruit tarts to cakes.

Alexis has occupied the same location for 24 years, at 9034 Tampa Ave., Northridge, (818) 349-9689.

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Robert Lachkar, who runs Le Petit Bistro in Sherman Oaks, recently began offering a Monday-only luncheon special to help folks get the week off to a good start.

On that day guests may choose any entree from the restaurant’s full menu and add either a salad of mixed baby lettuces or the soup of the day plus a glass of wine for $12.95.

“It’s a little present for the holiday season to our many loyal customers,” Lachkar says.

Le Petit Bistro is located at 13360 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 501-7999. Lachkar also runs Le Petit Bistro at 631 N. La Cienega Blvd., (310) 289-9797, near Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood.

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Halloween comes on a Friday this year, and if, despite your own very sober adulthood, you don’t mind putting on a costume and doing some trick or treating of your own, check out the Halloween party at Cha Cha Cha Encino on Oct. 31.

The restaurant offers the cuisine of the Caribbean, and on Halloween, general manager Abbas “Cal” Calbassi will award a prize for the most horrifying costume and for the costume best representing Halloween from the perspective of the Caribbean--an idea vague enough to set the imagination a-churning.

The restaurant’s dinner menu will be available until midnight. Reservations are a must. Cha Cha Cha is at 17499 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818) 789-3600.

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And if Halloween is on the way, Thanksgiving can’t be far behind--and it’s not too early to plan for it.

Cafe Sierra in the Universal City Hilton and Towers will offer an all-you-can-eat buffet from noon until 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day for $27 a head ($14 for children under 12 years of age).

The buffet will include turkey, a leg of lamb, duck a l’orange and all the traditional holiday fixings, plus a host of the seafood dishes for which the restaurant is known, including shrimp cocktail, crab legs, calamari and scallops.

Reservations are a must. Cafe Sierra is located in the Universal City Hilton and Towers, at 555 Universal Terrace Parkway, (818) 509-2030.

* Juan Hovey writes about the restaurant scene in the San Fernando Valley and outlying points. He may be reached at (805) 492-7909 or fax (805) 492-5139 or via e-mail at JHoveycompuserve.com