A SPECIAL REPORT: CHEFS

PREEMIE BEANS?: Here’s to the fade-out of baby vegetables, and the economy is to thank. . . . Seems diners viewed the midget veggies as less than good value, and they’ve lost favor with many chefs now that prices have soared to as much as $15 a pound. . . . “I think what customers pay is for the main ingredient. Customers sometimes don’t care about garnishes,” says Newport Beach’s Pascal chef-owner Pascal Olhats. “Not everybody wants to eat baby beets.”