Eatery goes from blowfish to Buddha

Alicia Robinson

A change in concept and delay in opening haven’t dulled the luster on

a new restaurant-bar and lounge coming to Triangle Square.

Fugu Lounge was to open in February as the latest addition to

downtown Costa Mesa’s growing entertainment scene. While the shopping

center’s website still displays a Fugu logo and the name still marks

the restaurant’s third-level space on Triangle Square maps, the name

was changed to Sutra Lounge after a parting of ways of some of the

project’s investors, said Robert Stevens, vice president of Culinary

Management Group, which is building and managing the venue.

Fugu is the Japanese name for a kind of blowfish considered a

delicacy in Japan, Stevens said.

“Sutra is really more of a state of mind,” Stevens said.

“We liked the name [Fugu], and we liked the idea of it, but that’s

not really what we are.”

The Sutra Lounge will retain the opulent Mediterranean decor from

earlier plans, including wrought iron entrance gates, rich Moroccan

carpets, and shady alcoves with built-in padded benches and hanging

lamps. A 5-foot carved wooden Buddha on a pedestal will greet

visitors near the front entry.

Designers played up the lounge aspect with couches and other

nontraditional seating. After dinner, tables will be cleared to

create a dance floor, and the restaurant will offer a private room

for special events and a large patio.

Contractors have their work cut out for them to be ready for a

planned April opening. At the moment, much of the restaurant has

unfinished cement floors, exposed wiring and empty space that will

later be filled by booth seating and three bars.

The biggest change, aside from the name, is the menu, said Doug

McAllister, Culinary Management Group’s president.

“Originally, we were doing a sushi bar lounge concept, but we felt

like the sushi bar has been done in the area, so we changed it to a

Toppers-style Asian fusion cuisine,” he said.

Executive chef Stephan Beaucamp will apply his knowledge of French

culinary arts to what McAllister called “aphrodisiac-inspired

cuisine” that the restaurant will feature. Small plates will be

available for between $7 and $14, and entrees will cost from $14 to

$28.

Although stores such as GNC, Barnes & Noble and Virgin Megastore

have renewed their leases with Triangle Square, the shopping center

has been struggling to keep tenants for several years. The center is

in the midst of a campaign to boost occupancy from about 70% in

October to 100% by this summer.

But Sutra Lounge won’t have to rely on incidental traffic from the

shopping center’s stores, Stevens said.

“As a tenant, I think, [vacancy rate is] always a concern,”

Stevens said.

“I think this concept is really a destination concept, and I think

that [with] the location, the vacancy, we’re less concerned than we

would be with some other concepts.”

With the perennially popular Yard House restaurant also in

Triangle Square and the new nightclub Vegas nearby, the Sutra Lounge

will help draw people to Costa Mesa after dark, Mayor Gary Monahan

said.

“I think that a full-service restaurant, lounge [and] bar [with]

dancing is going to work very, very well,” he said. “It’ll

definitely, I believe, complement our downtown and be one more piece

of the puzzle to kind of identify Costa Mesa’s downtown as a

nightlife entertainment place.”

Newport-Mesa isn’t like Los Angeles with clubs everywhere, so

Sutra Lounge will add a lot to the area’s nightlife, McAllister said.

“I’m hoping that it’s conducive to people sitting, enjoying

themselves, having a good time, just kind of hanging out,” he said.

Stevens said between four and eight other restaurants similar to

Sutra Lounge are in the works for the West Coast, with the next

expected to open in Palm Springs.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.