A New Spot to Stargraze

Is Orange County ready for its own Roxbury, the hip Los Angeles club that has Julia Roberts, Keifer Sutherland, Arsenio Hall and Sly Stallone as regulars?

More than ready, says David Wilhelm, the restaurateur who gave us Bistro 201, Zuni Grill, Kachina and Barbacoa. “It’s time. Orange County doesn’t have a club that even comes close.” Wilhelm and model-turned-actor Richard Grieco (“If Looks Could Kill”) have been brainstorming ideas for the new club over lunch at Bistro 201 in Irvine. Their plan, Wilhelm says, is to open a Roxbury south in Irvine by the end of summer.

Here’s the way it will work. Like the club at 8225 Sunset Blvd., the new hot spot will feature excitement in four phases. There will be a chic restaurant (Wilhelm helped conceive the mouthwatering menu at Roxbury north), a live jazz bar, a dance club and a VIP lounge.

Orange County needs a place to dine and celebrity-watch, Wilhelm says. “There’s no place to stargaze here.”

What makes Wilhelm think a Pretty Woman and her main squeeze will want to party behind the Orange Curtain? Money. Stars such as Roberts and Sutherland will be invited to become partners in the club.

“The Roxbury has done incredibly well,” Wilhelm explains. So well, that its owners--Eli and Demitri Samaha, Chris Breed and Brad Johnson--asked Wilhelm to help them open a club in Orange County.

“They had talked to me about getting involved in the L.A. club,” Wilhelm says. “But I was just too busy at the time.”

Wilhelm believes there are two reasons for Roxbury’s success. First, there is the chance for clubbers to star-search. Second, there is the bistro that dishes up fare for the discriminating--something Wilhelm knows all about.

“I think Roxbury is smart using a great restaurant to give it longevity,” Wilhelm says. “The big-city clubs that have survived have all served great food. Typically, clubs used to serve no food or horrible food.”

And typically, Wilhelm notes, Orange County clubs have been “Euro-disco intense types,” he says. “There has been nothing like the Roxbury here--a high-profile social meeting place rather than just a place to dance.”

Even more, Wilhelm says, the new club will give locals a place to be seen.

“At the Roxbury, you see all kinds,” Wilhelm says. “Women decked out in black lace and men looking rugged in great cowboy boots and jeans. Orange County likes to dress that way, too. The new club will give them the chance to prove it.”

Barclay Bash: Bistro 201 was the place to be on Tuesday night when major supporters of the Irvine Barclay Theatre met for cocktails and appetizers on the restaurant’s tree-shaded patio.

The occasion? The kickoff of the theater’s first annual fund campaign.

Among party-goers was host David Wilhelm and Taco Bell financial planner Peter Bassi, chairman of the Barclay board.

“We’re trying to establish an economic base--through endowments--for the theater so that we will be self-funding 10 years from now,” Bassi said.

Overseeing the bash for about 60 people was Donna Brownell, chairwoman of the gala that christened the new Barclay last October. Joining Brownell for a wine toast was Peggy Castellano, chairwoman of the theater’s first-anniversary gala, set for the theater on Oct. 14. “We haven’t finalized our gala plans yet,” Castellano said. “But we’re thinking big. We hope to get a fabulous entertainer.”

Also on the scene: Dr. George Cheng and his wife, Arlene, whose donation of $750,000 turned the Barclay auditorium into Cheng Hall.