Pick a name that keeps ‘em guessing

Noe, Boe, Cinch, Lot 1224, Table 8, O-Bar. No, it’s not some secret code or a passage from Lewis Carroll. It’s just a list of some of the hottest new restaurants in town.

For years now, restaurant names have been getting stranger and more mysterious. It’s that whole obscurity thing -- the hipper the place, the less obvious is has to be. You know, no sign and all of that.

Now they’re tagging restaurants with names that don’t give you a clue about what the place is like, or what kind of food it serves. The message is clear: If you’re in the know, you don’t have to ask.

Well, pardon us for asking.

We started with O-Bar, the West Hollywood restaurant with a fantasy interior by Thomas Schoos and an international menu by chef Joseph Antonishek. Why is it called O-Bar? Keith Lubow, one of the owners, says a lot of people ask that question. “But we don’t tell anyone,� he says. “That’s part of our allure.�

At Boe (pronounced “bowie�) in the Crescent hotel, the response was mystifying in its own way. Max Schlutz, the owner and chef, explained that Boe stands for Bacchus (god of wine and revelry), Orpheus (the poet-musician of Greek myth) and Epicurus (the Greek philosopher who OKd pleasure -- in moderation).

“But I’d rather not put the explanation on the bottom of the menu because it cheapens it a little,� adds Schlutz. “It’s that feeling that you’re the only person who knows about it. It’s an in-the-know thing.�

Noe, it turns out, is actually chef Robert Gadsby’s birth name. In Arawak, the language used by the original inhabitants of Jamaica, it means “long lived,� he explains.

Chris Heyman considered about 75 names before finally settling on Table 8, which refers to the table where he first sampled chef Govind Armstrong’s cuisine when Armstrong was at Chadwick. “It’s important that it’s a name that isn’t too esoteric,� Heyman says.

Which doesn’t explain Table 8.

Lot 1224 in the Loews Beverly Hills Hotel -- pronounced “twelve twenty-four� -- alludes to nearby studio lots and the hotel’s Beverwil Drive address.

And Cinch? “I was playing with words,� says owner John Makhani. “It looked good. It sounded good. And the meaning -- it’s a cinch -- I liked that.�

But the ultimate test, says Makhani, is a name’s phone-friendliness: “Good evening, Cinch. May I help you?�

Leslee Komaiko

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It’s Keller’s, Per Se

For the last two years, people have been asking Thomas Keller about the restaurant he’s opening in New York. He’s found himself constantly explaining, “It’s going to be its own restaurant; it’s not going to be the French Laundry, per se.� He repeated the phrase so often that he decided to name the restaurant Per Se.

There will be elements familiar to French Laundry fans when the restaurant opens in mid-February in the AOL Time Warner Center building on Columbus Circle. The chef, Jonathan Benno, has been working at the French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., for the last 18 months. And there will be favorite dishes such as the smoked salmon cornets and “Coffee and Donuts� that are the traditional opening and closing of each French Laundry meal.

Like the French Laundry, Per Se is intended for serious diners. The restaurant will serve dinner seven nights a week but lunches just Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

“What I want is guests who want to take the time for the experience and not have to rush back to the office,� Keller said. Prices will average $150 per person for food only.

While Per Se is opening, Keller will be in New York most of the time. The French Laundry closes Jan. 1 for renovations, and Keller said he hopes to reopen it 90 to 120 days thereafter. At that point, he said, he’ll go back to Napa Valley and leave the running of Per Se to Benno.

“My name will be attached to the restaurant, but I really want to have Jonathan shine,� Keller said. “I can’t see myself walking into somebody else’s kitchen once a month and saying, ‘Now it’s mine.’ �

Russ Parsons

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Small bites

* Le Dome, which has been closed this last year while undergoing a major Dodd Mitchell makeover, opens Saturday. Executive chef Sam Marvin is remembered by many for his innovative mid-’90s Melrose Avenue eatery, Modada. Le Dome will be open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday; closed Sundays.

Le Dome, 8720 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 659-6919.

* Chris Behre is heading up the kitchen at Cinch, which opens this week in the long-vacant former Verdi space. Behre was most recently at Mju in London. Before that he worked with legendary Australian chef Tetsuya Wakuda. The restaurant serves dinner nightly, and there’s a late-dining menu until 1 a.m.

Cinch, 1519 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 395-4139.