Angelenos Scoop Up Scooters For Fuel Economy and Fashion

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If it seems there are more Vespa scooters on the roads these days, it’s not just because their quirky design makes them stand out.


Area Vespa dealers are seeing a surge in sales, fueled in part by rising gasoline prices. Sales for Vespa of California, which operates the Vespa stores in Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks,


Newport Beach and San Diego, are up about 70 percent year-to-date from the like period in 2003, according to Sam Botnick, the company’s director of operations.


Southern California is the top market for Vespa (Italian for “wasp”), comprising 9 percent of U.S. sales, said Costantino Sambuy, president of Rancho Dominguez-based Piaggio USA Inc., a unit of Piaggio SpA, the Italian-based manufacturer of Vespa scooters.


“The weather is definitely No. 1,” Sambuy said of the reasons for the popularity. “This has also been a motorcycle-friendly state. People are not afraid to go on two wheels.”


‘Twasn’t always so. Piaggio pulled out of the U.S. in the 1980s because its scooters couldn’t meet emissions standards. It returned in 2000 and awareness of the Vespa brand has been steadily increasing since then. It hasn’t hurt that Vespas have appeared in feature films recently and have developed a certain celebrity appeal.


“The hip image is definitely helping,” said Sambuy. “From a lifestyle point of view it’s accepted more and more as a smart way to get around. The gas price situation is helping us. You can fuel a Vespa up once a week for $5.”


The scooters average 60 to 70 miles per gallon, he said.


Piaggio scooters run from $3,999 for the Vespa ET4 to $5,999 for the X9 Evolution 500, which became available in August. The ET4 and the Granturismo, at $4,999, are currently the top-selling bikes at Vespa of California, with roughly 25 to 30 of each sold monthly between the four stores.



Hitching a Ride


The Hitching Post II in Buellton serves as the backdrop for the upcoming and much-hyped feature, “Sideways,” directed by Alexander Payne, who did “About Schmidt” and “Election.”


This time, Payne shifts from the Midwest to Santa Barbara’s wine country. It’s the story of a struggling alcoholic novelist and his actor friend who is about to get married. The two characters take a road trip before the wedding and stop at a restaurant in Buellton where they meet a divorced waitress.


That restaurant is The Hitching Post II, a roadhouse-style venue that grills steak, ribs and chicken over an open fire and makes its own wines.


The film won’t be released until Oct. 20, and while it has generated significant buzz, it has yet to trickle down in terms of customers. “It’s a little too early,” said Frank Ostini, The Hitching Post’s owner and chef. “The long-term effect will undoubtedly be really good.”


The Hitching Post staff had been aware of the “Sideways” story long before location scouts contacted them in summer about using the restaurant in the film.


“The writer who wrote the novel ‘Sideways’ (Rex Pickett) used to hang out in our bar,” said Ostini. “He would come up to our region from Los Angeles, and he said he was writing a book about the Valley and the wine business and we were all in it.


“We thought, ‘Yeah, right, it’s something that will never get published.’ It wasn’t until a location scout came up to the region that we realized it was real,” he said.


The film’s 70-day Santa Ynez Valley shoot took place last October and November, said Ostini, with three of the days spent at the Hitching Post II. (The restaurant opened in 1986; the original Hitching Post opened in 1952 in Casmalia.)


“I was very apprehensive about it because I didn’t know what they were going to do,” said Ostini, who makes Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post wines, along with Gray Hartley. “While they respect our wine and treat it very well, the characters tend to abuse alcohol. The director explained to me that he attempts to make good examples of bad examples.”


Ostini focused on the scenes showing alcohol consumption when he viewed the film and said it served as the impetus for him to begin offering a free appetizer and complimentary non-alcoholic beverages for designated drivers.


“It made me face up to the business I’m in,” said Ostini. “I do not want to be involved in a problem where somebody gets hurt.”


Overall, though, Ostini said that the film will likely be a positive for the restaurant after the film is released. “It puts us in such a nice light,” he said. “People will come to Santa Barbara County to see the wineries, to see the scenery and to stop into my restaurant,” Ostini said.



Forbidden Alley


A battle is brewing in the alley behind Hollywood hotspot The Forbidden City.


The late-night lounge, restaurant and club built a 2,580-square-foot patio in the rear of its Vine Street building about a month ago, to the outrage of the owners of the neighboring Pantages Theatre.


“(The alley is) for people to access the buildings and for supplies to be brought in and out of the buildings,” said Adam Burke, an attorney at Iverson Yoakum Papiano & Hatch in Los Angeles, which represents Pantages owner and operator Nederlander Inc. “All of the sudden, the Forbidden City people come along and decide to put a nightclub on the easement, basically building in the alleyway.”


While Burke was talking about a lawsuit last week, Steve Edelson, co-owner of Forbidden City, said the club had been granted a permit by the city to build its patio and claimed that the situation with Nederlander had been resolved. City records show a permit was granted on July 23.


“We did not build on their easement,” Edelson said. “Their easement is next door to my easement. We showed them the survey and everyone agrees it’s a non-issue.”


Edelson added that he considers Pantages to be “a terrific neighbor.” He added, “A lot of people go there for the show and come here for dinner and we want to be a good neighbor.”


Staff reporter Rebecca Flass can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 230, or at

[email protected]

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