Burger Meisters

Jay Sadofsky and his partner, Bruce Hecker, have spawned a new Mo’s Fine Food restaurant in Woodland Hills--and if you want to know what this place is all about, think hamburgers.

More particularly, think hamburgers in more permutations than you can shake a stick at.

Sadofsky and Hecker opened the first Mo’s in Burbank in 1995 offering no fewer than 22 types of hamburgers. The menu also lists seven hot sandwiches, four cold sandwiches, six pasta dishes, four pizzas, 11 salads and eight regular entrees.

But it’s the burgers, cooked by Chef Luiz Morales, that bring people to this place. The big sellers:

* A “menage a trois” burger with avocado, bacon and Swiss or cheddar cheese, for $7.50.

* A “slam dunk burger” spread with sour plum jam and Dijon mustard, for $7.25.

* A bleu cheeseburger covered with you know what, for $7.50.

* And a “Frank’s fantasy burger” with sour cream and black caviar, for $7.50.

If all that sounds inventive, it just starts things off at Mo’s. You can freight your burger down with as many condiments, tomatoes, onions and whatnot as you like at the restaurant’s burger bar, so what you end up with is your own creation, maybe even unique.

“This is the second Mo’s,” says Gary Robbins, the restaurant’s general manager, “and Jay and Bruce kept the burger bar because it was so popular in Burbank.

“The Burbank Mo’s used to be the old Hampton’s restaurant, and that’s where the idea for the burger bar came from. The burger is cooked in the kitchen and served at the burger bar, where you can also get salad.

“We also have pastas and entrees like roast chicken, baby back ribs, salmon, turkey meatloaf and our daily specials--and we have a children’s menu too, so we get lots of family business.”

The restaurant also offers beer and wine by the glass or by the bottle. Best of all, you can top your meal off with a dish of Dandy Don’s Gourmet Ice Cream, made by Don Whittemore of Van Nuys and flat out the best ice cream known to mortal ken.

That’s a plug, of course. It’s also true.

* Mo’s Fine Food restaurant is located at 20969 Ventura Blvd., two blocks west of DeSoto Avenue in Woodland Hills, (818) 346-4050. The original Mo’s is located at 4009 Riverside Drive, just west of Pass Avenue in Burbank, (818) 845-3009.

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The French Chefs Assn. of Southern California hosts its 16th annual picnic des chefs May 31, starting at 11:30 a.m., at Big Rock Ranch in Topanga Canyon. If the idea of sampling some of the best French cooking you can get in these parts tempts you, this deal is for you.

The picnic draws upward of 800 people every year for a meal served in the shade of the big oaks at Big Rock Ranch.

This year, the chefs who participate in the picnic will present a host of dishes from the sunny south of France, where they cook with fresh herbs and--these days--a taste of the other cuisines of the Mediterranean.

The chefs: Christian Rassinoux of the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel; Gael Cruchet of the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey; Pascal Olhats of Pascal Restaurant in Newport Beach; Jean-Francois Meteigner of La Cachette in West Los Angeles; Josette Leblond of Normandie Restaurant and Bakery in Marina del Rey; Akira Hirose of Tower Restaurant downtown; Camille Crochet of Moustache Cafe in West Hollywood and Westwood; Patrick Scateni of French Kiss Bakery in Van Nuys; Ivan Valentin of Sweet Temptations bakery in Los Angeles; and Emile Perez, a retired Moroccan chef who now lives in Southern California.

Big Rock Ranch is on Old Topanga Canyon Road, about two miles west of the old post office on Topanga Canyon Boulevard. There is a pool on the grounds, and lifeguards will be on duty.

The picnic is $30 a head, $15 for children. Reservations are a must through the French Chefs Assn., (714) 376-6300.

* 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 jhovey@gte.net.