New La Mer Brasserie Worth Stroll

Good news for the faithful crowds jostling for a table at minuscule Le Petit Bistro on La Cienega: Now, instead of waiting, they have the option of strolling up the street to the owners’ spanking-new La Mer Brasserie. Flags flying, valets at the ready, the place is lit up like a brash, new budget brasserie along the Champs Elysee.

The first week the French were out in force, sampling oysters, miniature salade Nicoise and shellfish soup baked with a puff pastry lid. Waiters staggered to tables bearing “the ultimate platter for two,” a mountain of ice topped with raw oysters and clams, shrimp, crab legs, a little salty caviar--and tiny sea snails. The menu offers seafood with pasta, baked in a wood oven, sauteed, grilled, wrapped in “brique dough,” in soups and chowders, in paella. “The prices are superb,” our waiter confided. And the food? “Good . . . very good,” he hastened to assure us.

The champagne flowed. The French Rs rolled. And double, even heartfelt quadruple, kisses were exchanged all around. Le Petit Bistro regulars gaily waved at all the old crowd dispersed at tables around the large room. And those who waited for friends did so at the oversized bar with elbow room to spare. Meanwhile, the nervous and proud owners went from table to table, welcoming diners, suggesting dishes. Seafood is definitely the theme here, but for the few who don’t want to indulge, there’s also filet mignon, chicken breast or--Peking duck. Zut alors! Now that’s something you’d never expect to find on a brasserie menu in Paris.

* La Mer Brasserie, 826 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 652-1520. Open daily for dinner. Major credit cards accepted. Valet parking. Appetizers $4.95-$9.50; entrees $10.95-$16.50.