Holiday is one of those people who can remember back to, like, before she was born, or at least that’s the theory. Even the intervening 12 months, with their never-ending global crises and domestic strife, don’t hold a candle to her daunting powers of recall. All it took to prove it was an Aug. 18 visit to La Jolla’s popular Café Lautrec, where she’s the best little waitress in the history of the universe.
“Hey ” I remember you from last year,” she chirped, as though last year were last week. “You had iced tea, didn’t you?”
Yep. Not only that: Surprise guest Joyce Yin, Holiday’s friend and a voice major at San Diego State University, laid down a classical selection during a cabaret performance by the Supper Club quintet ” exactly as she did one evening in August of 2005. Holiday, her lovely co-worker Roxanne, the statue of the eponymous Toulouse, even Charlotte, who never misses a show: It was like nobody had gone home for the night, much less left for the year. Come to think of it, Lautrec owner Franc Alonso probably didn’t ” such are the demands of the very type-A restaurant industry and Alonso’s very type-A drive for success.
But hold on. Very type-A management changes are in the offing at this La Jolla institution, and they involve more than Friday and Saturday, the Supper Club’s final two days for the summer.
On July 15, Alonso signed off on the sale of the restaurant, paving the way for a transfer of ownership 30 to 45 days after the escrow process begins. Alonso said the takeover would likely occur in mid-October ” and although he declined to disclose the dollar figure or the new owner’s identity, he cautioned against alarm at the impending move.
“When you come here,” Alonso said, “you’re coming to a destination restaurant. [The new ownership] knows that. Restaurants aren’t supposed to last 35 years ” but here it is. Look at it. It’s got everything that’s continental and bohemian and reminds you of France and art.”
Café Lautrec, he said, is an indomitable fixture in La Jolla ” it’s no more a restaurant than “The Count of Monte Cristo” is a story about a prison break.
The café has actually been at its present location for 33 years, not 35. Alonso has been owner for four of those, during which his staff has whipped up a variety of light European and Mediterranean fare. Entrées include quiches, pastas and curries. Soups come with a baguette and a small salad. The hamburger Lautrec is served open-faced on sourdough toast with sautéed onions. The average entrée will run you about $12.
In the same spirit, Alonso is launching his next endeavor: Café Lautrec Gourmet Foods LLC, a commercial line Costco and Trader Joe’s seek to carry. The items include soups, dressings and bread pudding ” the latter is presently available for dessert at the restaurant and, as Holiday says, “is like a decadent chocolate mousse, only it’s not.”
“This line is really going to be good for La Jolla,” Alonso said. “A local product with the restaurant’s name on it ” it’s wonderful. I’ve made a lot of contacts the last four years, and I’m looking at national distribution.”
All this is a lot to take in during a single evening ” and as if in reassurance, Holiday brings by the iced tea. Supper Club singers Eileen Bowman, Rita Cantos Cartwright, Skyler Dennon and Rick Hernandez strike up “Cabaret,” the last of their 30-song set, as Raymie Sciaroni accompanies everybody on piano (regular accompanist Bob MacLeod will appear this Friday and Saturday). Nope ” even with all those shifts on the horizon, not a thing has changed in virtually 365 days. Just ask Holiday.
Café Lautrec is located at 7644 Girard Ave., just east of La Jolla Cove. The Supper Club show runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 25 and 26. More information about the restaurant is available at cafelautrec.com or by calling (858) 459-9940.
