L Ermitage Hotel

Hi, Mom: Mother's Day is coming up--it's May 9--so here are a few spots to take Mom. For a new menu by a new chef at a (relatively) new place, try the Restaurant at L'Ermitage Hotel (9291 Burton Way, Beverly Hills). Chef Joseph Antonishek just landed there, replacing Serge Falesitch and his "cuisine of the sun."

After surviving the 26 miles and 385 yards of the L.A. Marathon and Tan-off, four Soviet Union runners find themselves in the Sports Arena, at the bottom of a long escalator that is not escalating. Led by Zoya Ivanova, the overall women's winner, the Soviets shoulder their equipment bags and begin the long trek. They are halfway up when the escalator comes to life, heading down. Without a word, the Soviets continue up, four exhausted athletes on a weird American treadmill.

It's never too late to look your best, even in the middle of the Hollywood award season. Say you weren't invited to (or nominated for) the People's Choice, the Golden Globes or this weekend's Screen Actors Guild Awards. You've still got time to do an about-face if you're invited to the upcoming Grammys, or the Independent Spirits and Oscars in early March.

The second edition of one of Southern California's most exclusive restaurant guides has appeared--notable as much for trendy, pricey eateries that did not make it as for establishments that did. Spago, Chasen's, Rebecca's, Le Dome, the West Beach Cafe, 72 Market Street, Scratch, Silvio's and the City Restaurant were omitted, for instance, but Cutter's, Le St. Germain and Panache are among the anointed, along with area Sheraton, Ritz Carlton and Fairmont hotels.

The Beverly Cowboys: A bit of Texas came to Beverly Hills this week. Reata, an "upscale cowboy restaurant," opened in the lower level of the Rodeo Collection building on Monday. The nouveau Southwestern restaurant is actually the third in a small chain; chef Grady Spears opened the original in a small adobe house in Alpine, Texas, and after that he and his partners, all Texans, opened a second location in the Bank One building in Fort Worth.

A new breathing device that may save the lives of guests trapped in high-rise fires may soon be used in U.S. hotels. Llifeline, which stands for Life Line in Fire Emergencies, enables people to draw air from drainage pipes underneath bathroom sinks. Invented by a Schenectady, N.Y., firefighter who is also a plumber, the device is supposed to be used as a last resort and doesn't replace other fire-safety procedures.

The Ritz-Carlton hotel, apparently shaking off the bad publicity surrounding claims it failed to fully pay its building contractors, is fast emerging as one of the nation's top-drawing resort hotels. The plush, $100-million oceanfront hotel in Laguna Niguel expects to post a 90% occupancy rate for August--a rate analysts say is exceptional for any hotel in its first year of business.

Peel Back: Mark Peel is back in his kitchen at Campanile after a leave of absence. Reason: Chef Suzanne Goin is leaving at the end of April to open her own place. In the meantime, Peel is hosting two chefs from the River Cafe in London, Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers. They will be at Campanile May 7 to autograph copies of their second cookbook ("The Cafe Cook Book") and to help Peel prepare an a la carte menu using recipes from the book.