Tax Break If paying taxes has you down, you may want to try a little “deferred onion.” The shrimp, tomato and olive Nicoise dish stuffed atop a baked onion is part of a “tax exempt menu” offered by The Wine Bistro in Studio City for diners who emptied out their pockets on April 15. On April 16, diners can feast on a prix fixe dinner of $22.95, about $5 to $7 less than they’d pay at the restaurant on any other evening, along with a complimentary beverage. The bill comes tax free in the bargain. Restaurant owner Jean-Bernard Torchon has been holding the event for about four years and each year, he says, it has drawn a larger crowd. This year the restaurant was booked to capacity. “We figure everyone’s worked hard enough, here’s a night where we have our own Boston Tea Party,” said Torchon. In addition to the “deferred onion” dish, the menu includes such tongue-in-cheek items as California soup, “sorry, no electricity;” salmon I.R.A. (poached in champagne caviar sauce); calf’s liver Dow Jones, “saut & #233;ed with sour grapes;” and tenderloin of pork NAFTA, “stuffed with Canadian bacon over Mexican salsa.” Torchon, who’s French and Asian, says that, so far, he’s not had any flak from the IRS, but if push came to shove, he’d be willing to pick up the night’s tax tab for his patrons. “Let’s say Uncle Sam hasn’t frowned too much because we’re not talking millions of dollars.” What’s In a Name? At the top of the agenda for the United Chambers of Commerce General Assembly luncheon meeting last Wednesday was surprise! surprise! a discussion of the recent release of the feasibility study on a Valley secession by the Los Angeles Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO). After an overview of the report, which concludes the Valley could become a viable city with no serious financial harm done to Los Angeles, Chairman Richard Leyner took questions about the LAFCO report and the next step in the process. Most of the inquiries centered on how certain services might be shared, which ones could be contracted out, and how the composition of a Valley city government would be handled. Then came the real burning question: What would you call a new Valley city? To which Leyner replied, “Why, North Beverly Hills, of course.” Then someone yelled out that it ought to be called “Camelot.” “I’ve heard that suggestion many times lately, believe me,” said Leyner. A Broadband Cocktail It was a case of now-you-see-them-now-you-don’t for City Councilman Alex Padilla’s staff last week when Padilla shepherded a liquor license application through the pipeline for Internet delivery service, Kosmo.com, at their new Laurel Canyon Boulevard location. But by the time the councilman returned to his office that afternoon, Cosmo.com officials were already on the phone saying they won’t be needing the license after all. “Talk about Internet speed. We came back and they were on the phone saying they’re closing their doors forever,” said Padilla aide David Gershwin. “That had to be the fastest turnaround I’ve seen.” Since Kosmo.com is now out of business, there was no one left to answer the obvious question: Why did an Internet delivery service need a liquor license? Stick ‘Em Up When it comes to distractions in the workplace, it’s always something. Back in the day, it was taboo for women to wear pants in the office and heaven forbid you should be caught making a personal phone call. Now the Internet, that wicked stepchild of the telephone, has given us enough e-mail, chat rooms and Web sites to cater to every distraction known to mankind. But be thankful you don’t work for Michael Bailey, owner of InstantPrep.com. According to the boss himself, employees there caught leaving a message of any kind on a yellow Post-it had better be prepared to pack their desks. “It’s completely illegal to use a Post-it here in our offices,” said Bailey. “We’ve outlawed the Post-its, because we all know that Post-its end up everywhere except the place they should end up.” CHiPs on Stage Larry Wilcox gave up his California Highway Patrol uniform when his television series “CHiPs” ended, but it doesn’t mean he’s given up performing in front of an audience. Wilcox, who played Officer Jon Baker in the 1980s, says he’s ready to take the stage as master of ceremonies at the second annual Economic Symposium on May 24 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Bel Air. The one-time actor-turned-CEO of Pasadena-based telecommunications firm, United Communications HUB, Inc., says he’s eager to join fellow business people at the event.