By Tom Luther

The battle of e-commerce companies in the restaurant industry is heating up, pitting an East Coast company offering restaurant reservations for restaurant customers versus a West Coast company. These two leaders are opentable.com, a local company founded in 1998 by Chuck Templeton and foodline.com, a company founded in the 'Big Apple', New York City by Paul Lightfoot, a lawyer from Boston, and Robert Thomas, a professionallv trained chef. Each company has alliances with major companies such as American Express and Zagat Guides. There are more than a bakers dozen other companies also hyping restaurants looking for customers.

On the purveyor front, e-commerce companies are also in the hunt for gold, or should I say the checkered flag, I mean the check- ered pants of chefs. Among the companies you'll most likely hear about are Restaurant Efficiencies, started by Simon Hodson here in 'the city that knows how' and Instill Corporation in the product/price tracking software business. Remember Katheryn Svensgaard of the CRA? You can now find her at Instill Or how about Everything.com, the video monitoring system for spying on your employees via the internet? Now you can be an absentee owner from your vacation home in Ball!

These technological services were featured at the recent California Restaurant Association Show at Moscone Center. It was an awesome show that offered something for everybody, even chef demos, including a lineup from the California Culinary Acadamy. Among the many surprises was the low attendance of restaurant industry pros. Where were they?

Since I was in this part of town, I dined at Twenty Four, the new restaurant on the corner of Willie Mays Plaza (who wore #24) at Pac Bell Park. The feel of this place is so spacious and clubby, the presence of the KNBR-AM radio post game show hardly made a dent. I wondered how the place had captured the ambiance of the that Herb Cam so often wrote about, until I learned that designer Bob Puccini, formerly of Kirnpton Hotels and Restaurants was responsible. You can tell that big bucks were spent, especially that gleaming copper hood in the kitchen, the lush wood panels, not to mention a huge bar with an equally huge wine list. Kudos to FideI Baccio, the big cheese at Bon Appetit Co., who owns the place. Thank you for this palace (250 seats inside and 100 outside) where we all can feel at home, whether foodie or jock.

The professional staff is just as impressive, starting with Chef Christian Caiazzo, whose resume includes Union Square Café in NYC, and here at trend setting Lascaux, Postrio, and Globe. G.M. Howard Cummins background features Le Colonial, Elka, Harry Denton's and Kimpton Restaurant Croup. If you want a great steak or delicious oysters or ribs to die for or sauces you'll ask about (try the pureed turnip and snow peas) -this is the place.

Just up the street along the Embarcadero is another restaurant that is a sure bet to become a dining mecca -Livefire, brought to us lucky foodies of SF by Fred Halpert. Fred returns to the city after developing Brava Terrace in Napa; Livefire in Yountville and Brazio in Danville. Fred earned his stripes while walking the planks with Alan Chapel, Akin Senderens, Roger Verge, Jacques Maximin and Louis Outhier. Now there's a group that would be hard to keep up with!

So Fred teamed up with Lance Bellarny, who is his partner and GM. Lance worked his way up to this deal after stints at Blackhawk Grille, Tourelle and Splendio. Chef de Cuisine is Robert Eustaquio, promoted from Terra and Brava Terrace in the Napa Valley and kio in Danville. This is also a great place for a protein fix, cleverly combined with just the perfect balance of Asian, Italian and local cooking techniques that you can watch from your seat. Other would be restaurateurs couldn't cut the mustard in this location, (Pickled Ginger, Mambo), but I'll bet Fred can. After all, he matriculated from the University of Fierida with a degree in Economics, so he be quick with the abacus. Try the Ah Tataki or the braised, glazed short ribs or the Thai whole roast Snapper and finish with the chocolate truffle souffli, OK? The Dry Creek Zin is such a match, as is the Sauterne we tried. Oh yeah, also the Chianti and the Rhone by the glass are killer flavor thrills, too.

These creative changes reflect the collaboration of Michael Suverkrubbe, Gina Klotz, Christian Corbett, William Rickert, Bob and Nina Klotz. Executive Chef Steven Levine describes his menu as new American cooking.

This sleek, elegant room has the potential to become the new action central a la the now closed Harry Denton's, which was only a block away. The food here is better. That's the good news. The music hasn't established a real identity yet, so it's too early to tell if it will live up to it's potential. If it does, this place is a gold mine -finally -after so many trial runs by some pretty savvy restaurateurs. Any bets?

This same comfortable, clubby ambiance with rich cherry wood paneled walls is the style at Savanna Grill in Corte Madera, aka one of Marin County's finest restaurants. This is the newest venture for Steve Simmons, chef and partner with Steve Grant. Steve was the founder of Bubba's Diner in San Ansehno, with his wife, Beth Casey, who now is the sole proprietor. He achieved top professional stature while at One Market with Bradley Ogden, the chef/partner.

Steve's partner, Steve Grant, is also a pro, formerly the GM at MC2 and University Bear Brewing Co. So what's new on the menu? Try anchovies or trout on the appetizer list, or for steak lovers, the New York with the bone in. My personal dessert favorite is the Key Lime Pie.

My travels took me East, as in the East Bay, to try another new Italian/Mediterranean cuisine, Fontina Ristorante. up Did you hear about the opening of Roy Yamaguchi's newest venture in the heart of the SOMA in SF? The guest list was a culinary star hit list.

After six years in Berkeley, Jane and Farzin Ghorashi, expanded to restaurant row in Pleasanton. Jane is the Executive Chef of both restaurants. She grew up in a Mediterranean family that combined cooking styles of Italy and Spain, (her mother cooked for the Spanish Royal Family). Anyway, her cuisine is a hit, attracting crowds of East Bay foodies. Their management team is International as well, including Stephanie Vovou and Mohammed Hosseini.

While we're on the Italian theme, and another husband and wife team as well, I visited Scopazzi's in San Rafael, owned by John and Arrnida Scopazzi. John comes from a family tradition of chefs. His father was the Head Chef of the Hotel and Restaurant Dept. at City College of SF, who also owned Scopazzi's Restaurant in Boulder Creek. John's uncle, Andy owned the San Rafael location under the name Guide's. The modern upgrades of marble and terra cotta walls were done by John and his crew. He is also a general contractor, by day, and the restaurant chef at night. Wonder who decides on the recipes in this family? I know who does the wine list. It isn't John.

Another food trend that's becoming more and more popular is Asian Noodle restaurants. Look for Zao Noodle Bar and others to expand like the Starbucks of the 90's. Adam Willner, founder of Zao has amassed a treasure chest from venture capital sources to expand as fast as he can.

Umarni anyone? It seems that there really is a word to describe the indescribable that sensory experience of savory peak experiences, which is now referred to as umami. It is the balance of all four primary tastes -sweet, sour, salty, bitter. It is acknowledged as the fifth taste by chefs and scientists and those of us who have tried to describe our sensory experience to others, often without complete understanding. It can be defined scientifically as primarily L-glutamate, most often found in high protein foods such as meat, seafood, mushrooms and milk. Consumers know this chemical a MSG, or monosodium glutamate, which occurs naturally in many foods. When the savory experience is tasted, the glutamate is pres- ent in free form, not bound with other amino acids.

So you see, food really is a drug of preference. This flavor sensation has even been identified as 'tongue shui' in a light hearted way. Either way, it is my drug of choice.

FYL We have one of the largest and oldest Foodservice Industry Scholarship Award Programs in the US, (probably also in the world), here in SF. The Hotel and Restaurant Foundation of Sun Francisco is 52 years old and this year awarded 89 scholarships to Culinary and Hotel and Restaurant students totaling $122,5551 This is an all time high! Milt McDowell, the Director of the program, needs more funding so that he can expand the number of scholarships. The seven colleges that participate are: City College of San Francisco; Cabrillo College; Cal Poly Pomona; Diablo Valley College; Sun Francisco State University; Santa Barbara City College and the University of San Francisco. You can contact Milt at # (415) 239-3184.

Remember, these are the future leaders of our industry.