Sunset Room is latest nightspot

Club recreates 1930s atmosphere

By KATHY A. MCDONALD

HOLLYWOOD -- A glamorous throwback to Hollywood's heyday, the Sunset Room opened to great fanfare in October. Partners Chris Breed (Roxbury), Brad Johnson (Georgia) and Eric Virgets sought to capture the ambiance of a 1930s supper club and showroom. Located on Cahuenga Boulevard, near the soon-to-be renovated $90 million Cinerama Dome Entertainment Center, the Sunset Room is unabashedly opulent.

Interior details aim to please the most jaded trendsetter: from the plush banquettes to the wood wainscotting, carved mahogany bars, stained glass lamps and crystal chandeliers to the slate-tiled, jasmine-scented, outdoor dining room complete with fireplace. An outdoor private patio off the plush, private VIP room has draped cabanas surrounding an Italianate fountain.

The kitchen is under the direction of executive chef Claude Segal (Drai's), a vet of feeding the elite. His menu assures an eclectic selection of French-inspired, California and nouvelle Asian specialties such as seared ahi tuna salad and steamed lobster mousse wrapped in won ton skin.

Signature drinks like the Sunset (a whiskey sour with grenadine) and the Neopolitan martini (Stoli vanilla and strawberry vodkas with a splash of Godiva liqueur) tempt the Hollywood glitterati.

"Think Hollywood at its peak," suggests Virgets, and it's easy to imagine, especially when dancing on the showroom's semicircular wood floor under sparkling lights.

Holiday parties for several industry events already have been booked at the new club, located at 1430 N. Cahuenga Blvd, Hollywood; [phone].