Joe Pytka

GET ready for Act 3 at Bastide, which not so long ago was the only four-star restaurant in Los Angeles. Last week, chef Ludovic Lefebvre resigned, and owner Joe Pytka will be picking a new chef to help realize his new concept (and color scheme) for the restaurant. He says to expect a short intermission -- but history tells us otherwise.

Update: Filmmaker, prolific commercial director and restaurateur Joe Pytka has sold Castillo del Lago in the Hollywood Hills for $7 million. The Bastide owner spent nearly 15 years restoring the fortress-like Mediterranean on about 3 acres of hillside above Lake Hollywood. There are nine bedrooms and six bathrooms in 7,783 square feet and such amenities as 25-foot-high beamed and coffered ceilings, a wine cellar, an elevator, a swimming pool, rose gardens, fountains and, befitting a castle, even a tower.

Bastide has been shuttered again by its mercurial owner, commercial director Joe Pytka, who reportedly will give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on the future of his lauded West Hollywood restaurant to his staff today after returning from a trip to Scotland. At his whim, Pytka has hired and fired chefs, who have trailed behind them both bad and great reviews.

Filmmaker and commercial director Joe Pytka has sold the Lloyd Wright-designed Taggart House in Los Feliz for $2,335,000, the Multiple Listing Service shows. Built in 1922, the Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument was restored and rebuilt in a five-year whole-house renovation undertaken with the help of the architect's son, Eric Lloyd Wright. Original details include leaded and art glass windows and redwood paneling. There are living and dining rooms, a breakfast room, a library/study, three bedrooms and three bathrooms in 2,255 square feet.

IN the end, Bastide was just too French for commercial director-cum-restaurateur Joe Pytka. Later this month, Pytka will be closing the tony Provencal restaurant on Melrose Place that he famously spent $3.5 million to open in October 2002. In its place, he plans to open a new restaurant this spring that will be, well, less French. "I want the restaurant to be more reflective of Southern California," he says.

He has been honored with every major directing award advertising has to offer. He has directed television commercials with Michael Jackson, Madonna, Michael J. Fox, Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan and E.T. His client list reads like a Who's Who of International Business, and includes Pepsi, Apple Computer, Nike, Perrier, Michelob and John Hancock Mutual Life.

Joe Pytka is among the advertising world's commercial auteurs. A perfectionist with no patience for sloppiness, Pytka can be an intimidating presence on the set. His temper tantrums are legend, but he gets results--one reason advertisers pay $15,000 a day for his services. He has directed 25,000 commercials over a 30-year career, working for such big-name marketers as Pepsi, Nike and Anheuser-Busch. He shared an Emmy with New York advertising agency BBDO for the "Chimps" commercial for HBO.

Every chef dreams of having a fairy godmother, someone who can wave a magic wand and magically supply everything needed to make a dream restaurant come true. Alain Giraud got one. His Bastide, one of the most talked about restaurants in Southern California, should open early next month, barring yet another a last-minute delay.

AT one time, French restaurants were the epitome of fine dining in L.A. It's no secret, though, that Angelenos have pretty much abandoned French food and with it, formal dining, for the relaxed pleasures of Spago and the California idiom or for Italian restaurants where maitre d's pass out kisses like bonbons and everybody who walks in the door feels as if they've just landed a plum role in "La Dolce Vita."

Update: Filmmaker, prolific commercial director and restaurateur Joe Pytka has sold Castillo del Lago in the Hollywood Hills for $7 million. The Bastide owner spent nearly 15 years restoring the fortress-like Mediterranean on about 3 acres of hillside above Lake Hollywood. There are nine bedrooms and six bathrooms in 7,783 square feet and such amenities as 25-foot-high beamed and coffered ceilings, a wine cellar, an elevator, a swimming pool, rose gardens, fountains and, befitting a castle, even a tower.

Bastide has been shuttered again by its mercurial owner, commercial director Joe Pytka, who reportedly will give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on the future of his lauded West Hollywood restaurant to his staff today after returning from a trip to Scotland. At his whim, Pytka has hired and fired chefs, who have trailed behind them both bad and great reviews.

GET ready for Act 3 at Bastide, which not so long ago was the only four-star restaurant in Los Angeles. Last week, chef Ludovic Lefebvre resigned, and owner Joe Pytka will be picking a new chef to help realize his new concept (and color scheme) for the restaurant. He says to expect a short intermission -- but history tells us otherwise.

IN the end, Bastide was just too French for commercial director-cum-restaurateur Joe Pytka. Later this month, Pytka will be closing the tony Provencal restaurant on Melrose Place that he famously spent $3.5 million to open in October 2002. In its place, he plans to open a new restaurant this spring that will be, well, less French. "I want the restaurant to be more reflective of Southern California," he says.

AT one time, French restaurants were the epitome of fine dining in L.A. It's no secret, though, that Angelenos have pretty much abandoned French food and with it, formal dining, for the relaxed pleasures of Spago and the California idiom or for Italian restaurants where maitre d's pass out kisses like bonbons and everybody who walks in the door feels as if they've just landed a plum role in "La Dolce Vita."

Every chef dreams of having a fairy godmother, someone who can wave a magic wand and magically supply everything needed to make a dream restaurant come true. Alain Giraud got one. His Bastide, one of the most talked about restaurants in Southern California, should open early next month, barring yet another a last-minute delay.

Joe Pytka is among the advertising world's commercial auteurs. A perfectionist with no patience for sloppiness, Pytka can be an intimidating presence on the set. His temper tantrums are legend, but he gets results--one reason advertisers pay $15,000 a day for his services. He has directed 25,000 commercials over a 30-year career, working for such big-name marketers as Pepsi, Nike and Anheuser-Busch. He shared an Emmy with New York advertising agency BBDO for the "Chimps" commercial for HBO.

Filmmaker and commercial director Joe Pytka has sold the Lloyd Wright-designed Taggart House in Los Feliz for $2,335,000, the Multiple Listing Service shows. Built in 1922, the Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument was restored and rebuilt in a five-year whole-house renovation undertaken with the help of the architect's son, Eric Lloyd Wright. Original details include leaded and art glass windows and redwood paneling. There are living and dining rooms, a breakfast room, a library/study, three bedrooms and three bathrooms in 2,255 square feet.

He has been honored with every major directing award advertising has to offer. He has directed television commercials with Michael Jackson, Madonna, Michael J. Fox, Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan and E.T. His client list reads like a Who's Who of International Business, and includes Pepsi, Apple Computer, Nike, Perrier, Michelob and John Hancock Mutual Life.