It’s a labor from their love

The new Dakota Live Music Lounge in Santa Monica is built on a love story. The tale -- bridging several continents, eight months and countless surfed waves -- culminated with a winsome blue diamond ring, “The color of the water in Croatia where Alex proposed,” says co-owner Sabrina Roark.

Roark, 29, and her fiance Alex Fieglein, 32, closed escrow on the Dakota space -- located in the former Temple Bar digs on Wilshire -- only a month ago. They reopened in record time (two weeks ago) with performances by Shooter Jennings and singer Janelle Monae in a bash befitting the sleek, barely lighted yet unexpectedly relaxing club.

Roark and Fieglein are both surfers -- she from Hawaii, he from Texas -- and were introduced by a mutual friend last April. When Roark got a job leading bike tours through Italy and France, Fieglein realized he couldn’t live without her. So in July he “chased her” to Paris, and then whisked her off to Croatia where he proposed.

Five months later, they live together in Santa Monica and spend every waking hour running their new bar. “We made it into exactly the kind of place we would want to go,” Roark says. “And into the kind of place we would want to work.”

This last detail is important to both of them. Over the last 11 years, Roark has worked in at least 16 bars, restaurants and nightclubs in countries including Japan, Italy and Australia. Fieglein has worked in only three, but he stayed at one for seven years.

“Alex and Sabrina make this place feel like home -- like family,” says server Heather “Blondie” Jakeman. “They’re making this into a place that people want to make their neighborhood bar. It’s got a saloon atmosphere, but with nicer furniture.”

To the first-time visitor, the idea of the Dakota being a neighborhood bar doesn’t jibe. There’s the requisite barrel-chested bouncer in a black suit jacket at the door. But that’s just at first glance.

Inside, the bar is divided into two adjoining rooms, separated by black walls and frosted glass windows and accessed through a large open doorway. The room on the right is where the live performances take place. On a recent Wednesday, an earnest Latin-tinged, prog-jazz band plays Santana covers to heavy-lidded ladies with frosted blond hair.

The room on the left houses the main bar, and on a Wednesday it is in the throes of a Christmas party. The chairs are suede and shiny leather. The recycled bamboo tables, small and circular, are topped with glimmering tea candles. The clientele is dressed up: Lots of suit coats and tasteful dresses with scoop necks.

Despite the upscale Hollywood vibe, a current of homegrown cordiality runs through the rooms. The servers are unpretentious and stop to chat with customers, and behind the bar, working at lightning speed, are Roark and Fieglein.

“We’re always trying to catch up on our sleep,” says Roark. But still they find time to take care of their staff members, feeding them family meals from the kitchen, and giving free dinner to the bands (another thing you’ll be hard-pressed to find at many Hollywood clubs).

Like they did with the lounge, Roark and Fieglein designed Dakota’s menu to reflect their personal tastes. There’s a New York steak, blackened Cajun swordfish and Fieglein’s comfort-food favorite: macaroni and cheese with bacon.

“He’s a habit of creature,” jokes Roark, touching Fieglein’s knee. He looks at her and cracks a wide grin. She giggles. “I mean, he’s a creature of habit.”

--

jessica.gelt@latimes.com

--

Dakota Live Music Lounge

Where: 1026 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica.

When: 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.

Price: Cocktailsstart at $7; appetizers $5 to $15; entrees $16 to $24.

Contact: (310) 393-8200, info@dakota-lounge.com.