Old-Fashioned Fare in Modern Style

For months, people passing the corner of Wilshire and Doheny have been peering into a room that looks like a large sculpture and asking two questions. “When is it going to open?” and “Who is Kate Mantilini?”

Now we finally have the answers, for Kate Mantilini, 9101 Wilshire Blvd., (213) 278-3699, opened for lunch this week; it will soon open for dinner--and stay open all night long. As to the identity of Ms. Kate, it turns out that she was a boxing promoter in the ‘20s, an outrageous and independent woman.

Kate would probably have loved the restaurant that Marilyn Lewis, of Hamburger Hamlet fame, has named for her. It is the spiffiest new incarnation of the American grill. The food served in this striking modern interior is old-fashioned fare; the huge menu runs the gamut from shrimp cocktail to macaroni and cheese, with a foray through meat loaf, roast chicken and pan-fried trout. It does especially well with starch: The sourdough bread is great, and there are all kinds of potatoes, including real mashed ones. Prices are moderate, and I am already willing to predict that Kate’s will be the hot new place to eat breakfast.