Burgers Add Sizzle To the Joint

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As the recession takes its bite out of the fine-dining sector, upscale eateries are trying to find new ways to keep customers coming in. One example is BLT Steak, the West Hollywood outpost of the high-end chain from Chef Laurent Tourondel.

BLT, which opened March 2008 in the space formerly occupied by legendary eatery Le Dome on the Sunset Strip, several months ago began offering a $60 three-course prix fixe menu, which for it is low priced. The restaurant added a bar menu in April, then put playoff basketball-inspired hamburgers named after Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson on the menu in May. As a result, the number of diners is up by about 10 percent.

“It definitely brought people in the door,” said Liran Mezan, corporate chef of BLT. “People don’t feel like they have to drop a few hundreds dollars.”

The bar menu features single-digit offerings such as $8 parmesan-garlic truffle fries. The “Kobe” burger named for both the Lakers superstar and the Japanese beef in the patty costs $28 and comes with fries and a beer. Sure, $28 may seem pricey for a burger combo, but it’s wallet-friendly compared with BLT’s $85 porterhouse for two. Or its other Kobe offerings steaks that can hit $150.

“It’s sort of funny when you have a cook putting a burger on a grill next to a $150 Japanese steak,” Mezan said.

Another example is XIV, which Chef Michael Mina and SBE Entertainment opened last year at Sunset and Crescent Heights boulevards. The restaurant was known for its multicourse meals that range from $59 to $98. But in February, Mina started offering an a la carte menu. The prices can still be meaty, but diners can walk away with a much lighter check if they pick judiciously.

In April, the restaurant started a nightly happy hour dubbed “6ix on Sunset.” XIV charges $6 for valet service, $6 for beer and cocktails, and $6 for appetizers such as lobster corndogs and black truffle popcorn.

Clint Clausen, senior vice president of restaurants for SBE, said business has climbed by 25 percent thanks to the changes.

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