Sayers Club, home to secret concerts, expands into Papaya King space
The Sayers Club, which opened in Hollywood nearly two years ago, is expanding to include a new front room and bar with a menu of pizza, salads and snacks.
The club, which is backed by Sam Nazarian’s SBE hospitality group and run by the gregarious and well-connected nightlife director Jason Scoppa, used to be hidden behind another SBE asset, the Papaya King hot dog stand.
Revelers trying to get into Sayers to see a surprise performance by Prince or the Black Keys, or to watch Jeremy Piven jam with the house band on drums, would enter through an unmarked door at the back of the bright yellow restaurant. In a flash they were in another world of sexy darkness, brown leather couches, tableside drink service and unexpected musical performances.
Papaya King is now gone (a victim, in part, of difficult parking issues) and the rock ‘n’ roll chic vibe of Sayers has been re-created in its place. Informally called Sayers Front Room, the expansion seeks to break down some of the walls separating the Sayers Club from the general public (i.e.: a difficult-to-get-on guest list and limited late-night hours).
Sayers Front Room will be open 6 p.m. until 2 a.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, and is positioning itself as a friendly, music-oriented neighborhood boite. A large reclaimed wood bar anchors the space, booths and tables line the walls and framed guitars hang above.
Pizzas come from a prominent wood-burning oven. Options include Green Goddess (pesto, spinach, arugula, pickled onions and burrata); Calle Lehman (spiced beef, caramelized onion, harissa); sausage; mushroom and margherita.
Snacks range in price from $6 to $11 and include roasted cauliflower, hand-cut fries, crisp stuffed dates and tempura green beans with lemon aioli. There are also salads (spinach, Caesar, beet, etc.), and bread pudding and chocolate-cherry cookies for dessert.
Scoppa has plans for expanding his musical programming as well, so that people gathered in Sayers Front Room can continue their night in back. Evening sets will now begin at 8:30 p.m., which is nice for folks who need to get home at a decent hour on school nights.
In addition, Rumer Willis (Bruce Willis and Demi Moore’s daughter) will rule a Tuesday night residency; and Mark Ballas from “Dancing With the Stars” will begin an every-other-Saturday residency, which will rotate its slot with a residency by vocalist Brenna Whitaker. Sundays will see a re-launch of Scoppa’s popular jazz night featuring former Miles Davis’ collaborator Deron Johnson.
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