Spiffing up Luna Park

I think every restaurant, even the busy and successful ones, should take a look around every few years and see if a little updating is in order...lest you end up saddled with a bunch of food fads from the last decade. Luna Park, which amazingly has already been open since 2003 (how did those four years go so fast?) has a new executive chef, Todd Butler, a new patio and a few new menu items. Of course they haven't messed with the make your own s'mores or goat cheese fondue, since the loyal customers wouldn't like that. But Butler, who comes from Virginia by way of Firefly and Indigo, is also making pizza now, with toppings like Moroccan meatballs or bacon, egg and cheddar, in a new gas and wood-fired oven. There's new curtains on the cozy booths, planter boxes buffering sidewalk diners from La Brea Blvd. and a quinoa risotto with sugar snap peas and sweet corn. At a recent press dinner, I was still grooving on their tender broccoli rabe, which was served with bacon-wrapped monkfish. Plus they still make a mean mojito and the prices are still reasonable for the area, with entrees all in the $15-$16 range. Butler says he's going to continue to add to the comfort food menu offerings, possibly drawing on his southern heritage. It's nice to see not every place is resting on its laurels...