Watch while you eat

Alicia Robinson

Fashion Island shoppers who have worked up an appetite can order

food with a view starting Tuesday when Neiman Marcus opens its new

restaurant.

It’s called Mariposa, which means butterfly in Spanish, and its

third-floor location offers a view of the San Bernardino Mountains on

clear days. Mariposa replaces the former in-store restaurant Zodiac,

which was on the second floor.

The new restaurant is part of a storewide remodeling project that

turned the third floor from a few offices stuck on the building’s

roof into 40,000 square feet of space that will house an expanded

men’s department, a home decor department, the restaurant and a bar.

The restaurant’s look, created by Charles Sparks & Co.,

incorporates several shades of green into the custom-designed carpet

and the bench seating that lines one wall. Another wall near the

restaurant’s entrance is coated with hand-textured Venetian plaster

and painted a rich red.

Original paintings by Orange County artists are displayed in the

restaurant and elsewhere in the store.

Kelly Cole, store vice president and general manager, described

Mariposa’s style as “classical modern.”

“[The designer] really based it on the water and the ocean and the

casual lifestyle that we have,” he said.

The menu is a mix of contemporary cuisine and items that have been

served at the in-store restaurant for years, Mariposa manager Jill

Crozer said. Time-tested favorites such as popovers with strawberry

butter and a mandarin orange souffle plate are joined by California

specialties, including an ahi tuna wrap and miso-glazed sea bass.

The growth of Neiman Marcus’ business prompted the store and

restaurant revamping, Cole said.

The rest of the third floor is set to open March 1, but the

hammers and saws won’t be put away then either. Shifting and

expansion of various departments on the first and second floors will

happen throughout the year, culminating with a gala grand opening in

fall 2005.

“Nothing will go untouched,” said Michaele Hall, the store’s

public relations manager. “It will be a completely remodeled store.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

[email protected].