L.A. just can’t resist a hot date

Sometimes a restaurant dish comes along that is so compelling that it inspires interpretation by other chefs.

Such is the case with the Parmesan-stuffed, bacon-wrapped dates served at A.O.C. One customer, says A.O.C. chef-owner Suzanne Goin, calls them “meat candy.”

The Deglet Noor dates are roasted in the restaurant’s wood-burning oven on racks so that the bacon fat is rendered and the result is warm, soft and chewy, honey-sweet dates wrapped in crisp, smoky Nueske bacon jackets.

The nugget of softened Parmesan in the center of each date adds a nutty richness.

The dates aren’t new. They have been on the A.O.C. menu since the restaurant opened in December 2003. But they were a last-minute addition, an off-the-cuff idea Goin came up with a few days before the opening for a wedding party she catered.

“People went completely nuts,” Goin recalls. “People were obsessed with the dates. It was crazy.

“At the end of the night, it was like, I guess we’re putting those on the menu.”

These days, Goin says, about 75% of A.O.C. customers order them.

Among the restaurants that have gotten in on the date action are Axe in Venice and Father’s Office in Santa Monica.

Until recently, the Axe menu featured roasted, Parmesan-stuffed Medjool dates -- Medjools tend to be larger and softer than Deglet Noors -- wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon. According to chef-owner Joanna Moore, the dates may make an encore appearance.

Sang Yoon, chef-owner of Father’s Office, has offered baked Halawi dates as a special. The dates, which Yoon says have a texture “like whipped honey,” are filled with a mixture of Cabrales (Spanish blue cheese), fresh chevre and pulverized walnuts, then cinched with a belt of serrano ham.

And Nine Thirty, the new restaurant in Westwood’s W hotel, currently features Nueske bacon-wrapped Medjools stuffed with merguez, a paprika-laced lamb sausage.

On the bar menu at the new Naya restaurant in Pasadena, chef Scooter Kanfer-Cartmill riffs on the idea, but with her own very original take: grilled morcilla (blood sausage) paired with date chutney.

“Sweet and salty is a classic combination,” Kanfer-Cartmill says. “It’s why people love peanut brittle.” And, we might add, those A.O.C. dates.

Small bites

* Antonio Orlando, chef-owner of Glendale’s Fresco Ristorante, has sold the restaurant after nearly two decades. But the Italian eatery (which was once Mauro’s, Mauro Vincenti’s place) will continue to operate with many of the same faces, including general manager Kevin Brown and chef Sebastiano Ragusa, “my right hand for 20 years,” Orlando says.

And presumably, diners will still be able to partake of the signature warm lobster salad and risotto dishes. Orlando, who was chef at Valentino for 11 years before opening Fresco, plans to visit Italy for a few months to “see what’s going on over there and come back and do something else.”

Fresco Ristorante, 514 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale, (818) 247-5541.

* David Slay, whom many might remember from La Veranda, the Beverly Hills restaurant he operated in the ‘90s, is now executive chef at Knoll, the recently renovated and rechristened third-floor dining room at Le Parc Suites in West Hollywood. Slay is doing American cuisine.

Knoll, 733 West Knoll Drive, West Hollywood, (310) 855-8888.

* Several months ago, we reported on a possible deal between Tom Colicchio, chef-owner of the New York steakhouse Craft, and Jeff Klein, owner of the Argyle Hotel on the Sunset Strip, to open a Craft in the old Fenix space. That fell through. Now there’s a new restaurant, the Tower Bar, on the Argyle lobby level. Collin Crannell, ex of Water Grill, Casa del Mar and Chloe, heads up a kitchen emphasizing bistro classics.

The Tower Bar, 8358 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-6677.

* Gyu-Kaku, the popular Japanese do-it-yourself barbecue joint, on Friday opens a fourth Los Angeles location, this one in the San Fernando Valley.

Gyu-Kaku, 14455 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 501-5400.

* Beginning March 27, Central will serve Sunday brunch. The buffet will feature such dishes as banana French toast, gravlax and salads made with farmers market produce.

Central, 8590 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 659-0092.