Cover Story : Lowdown on the High Life : The Valley boasts its share of swanky joints with crooners, cocktails and round booths.

Enough about the Dresden Room already.

Yes, yes--this cocktail lounge is swanky and sophisticated. Marty and Elayne Roberts can croon. But have you been in there on a Friday night, packed in with every agent’s assistant in the Basin? It’s impossible to be fabulous when you’re worried about spilling your martini.

There has to be a lounge . . . someplace that swings . . . someplace sophisticated . . . someplace in the 818 area code.

I scour the L.A. Weekly. I cruise record stores and coffeehouses looking for the latest edition of Lounge--a local magazine dedicated to the scene. No dice.

I track down Lounge editor Sam Wick, who swears that he distributed 10,000 copies of the last bimonthly edition. He doesn’t mean to be discouraging, he says, but the best, most authentic lounges are in the San Gabriel Valley along historic Route 66.

Foothill Boulevard better than Ventura Boulevard? Never.

*

Lounge has been media-dissected as a reaction to grunge and rap, a return to suburban cool. As a musical genre it incorporates everything from crooning vocal standards to instrumental exotica. But truly, lounge is a scene. It’s a dark, smoky room filled with swingers, preferably with a piano bar or small stage. It’s a well-mixed cocktail, sipped.

In Los Feliz, the Dresden Room waited 30-odd years for cocktail lounges and their brand of entertainment to come back in style. When it finally did, others--the Lava Lounge, Three of Clubs--sprang up locally to meet the youthful craving for martinis and Sinatra-esque entertainment. The wave spread east, and swanky cocktail joints now cater to young people in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C.

For the true aficionados--the people who have been playing Henry Mancini tunes on their turntable in secret for years--the best lounge is an undiscovered one.

“It has to do with the ambience, with the crowd,” says Wick. “I like the older places, the ones that opened right after the World War II era.”

The San Fernando Valley used to be full of them--places with such names as the Fireside Inn, Bob’s Steakhouse and the Hangman’s Tree. They lined Ventura Boulevard from Sherman Oaks to Woodland Hills and catered to suburbanites and occasional TV stars. Some closed. Some turned into chain restaurants.

But are there any left?

Start with the Tonga Hut, Wick says, and let him know what else is out there. Thomas Guide in hand, I set out for North Hollywood.

You can’t miss the Tonga Hut. Just keep your eye out for the Easter Island-style head carved into wood by the front door.

Named “Dive Bar of the Month” by Lounge magazine in November, this place somehow blends Tiki decor with neighborhood bar atmosphere. Patrons like Chuck the plumber may seem incongruous with the three-tier Polynesian fountain trickling behind the bar. The bartender pours more beers than he mixes Tonga Punch.

The Tonga Hut gets lounge points for dim lighting and Tiki-print cocktail napkins, but loses them for the electronic dart machines and Santana on the jukebox. Since there’s no live music, bring lots of quarters. Cool round booths? Yes. Color: olive green.

*

Acting on a tip from a Times’ jazz writer, I head even further east to Burbank.

Don’t trust your Yellow Pages. J.P.’s Restaurant and Lounge moved about six months ago from Magnolia Boulevard to Hollywood Way.

As you enter, to the left is the restaurant, which is close enough to hear the music and has round booths (color: red). There are tables and bar seating closer to the musicians. On this particular night, my friend and I seem to be the only people who don’t sing or play an instrument. A man at a nearby table pulls out a bass flute, and when the pianist calls out, “ ‘Kansas City’? Does anyone here know ‘Kansas City’?” a man in a red V-neck steps up to the microphone.

The music keeps going until 1:30 or so, and it stays at that perfect volume where you can hear it and the person you’re talking to.

After that first night, I’m convinced that there is hope for the Valley. I start optimistically calling places listed under “Cocktail Lounges” in the Yellow Pages. “Lounge music? What do you mean?” proprietors start asking me. Then, “Honey, we’re a country and western bar.” Finally: “We have a Led Zeppelin tribute band every Friday. . . .”

I stop this foolishness and go skulking back to Hollywood for my next lounge fix. I run into Joey Sehee, 33, who embodies suburban-ness with his receding blond hair and blue, fuzzy cardigan sweater. Valley lounges? Sure, he knows some and gives me a short list.

Not long ago, Sehee was performing on roller-blades under the name Joey Chezhee. (Like rappers, lounge scenesters adopt an alias.) He says he dropped that moniker because it undermined the seriousness of lounge entertainment. His show is now called “The Wonderful World of Joey.”

“It’s been tough convincing people that there’s an artistic integrity to it,” Sehee says. “No one knows how to entertain that way any more. For 30 years, no one was learning how to do it.”

Sehee puts a lot of work--and thought--into his lounging. To him, lounges represent a world to explore and a culture to preserve. He also sees lounges as a place for increasingly separate generations to mingle.

“I either go for the entertainment, or the atmosphere,” Sehee says. “But there’s a sense of belonging. If I go to the Dresden, Marty (Roberts) sees me and makes me feel welcome.”

*

On a tip from Sehee, I cruise up Sepulveda to the Carriage Inn in Sherman Oaks, where Buddy Worth, a.k.a. Mr. Piano Bar, tickles the plastic keys of his electric piano every Thursday through Saturday. Worth, 72, is decked out in coordinating pink sport coat and tie. He starts at 8 p.m. and doesn’t take a break until the whole crowd gathers around the piano and sings “It’s a Wonderful World” around midnight. The crowd maxes out at about 35, but they all know Worth, and more importantly, they know the words to lots of songs.

“Jerry!” Worth hollers. “Let’s get Jerry up from the bar!” Next thing you know, Jerry is belting out “Hello, Dolly!” Depending on the singer, the Carriage Inn is a notch up from karaoke.

The decor is classic hotel lounge, with better lighting. A large fireplace adds some ambience, and it’s easy to get comfortable in either the green club chairs, or the mandatory round booths (color: dark mustard yellow). The average age at the Carriage Inn is just past retirement, but that isn’t always the case. The music draws in people of all ages, Worth says.

“There’s been sort of a resurgence of the great composers--Cole Porter, George Gershwin. They must be hearing it someplace. It’s such good music, it was bound to have a revival.” The songs, he says, are still relevant to people’s lives. “They always have a little story to them. They aren’t just, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, baby I love you.’ ”

*

Burbank. If any part of L.A. County is in a postwar time warp, it’s Burbank. I head back east on the 101.

I wind up at the Smoke House, established in 1946 next to the Warner Bros. lot. I can picture Jack Warner strolling up to the bar and ordering a Manhattan after a tough day as a movie mogul. The bartender pours them deep enough to take the edge off two or three flop movies. Martinis, the waitress says, come in the same size.

The Smoke House has the requisite round booths (color: red) set off by the dark wood paneling, brick and exposed beams. There’s a lot of space, but a cozy feeling. The Smoke House caters to an early crowd. Someone plays the piano bar from 5 to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and a duo performs from 6 to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. In general, you’re more likely to hear something by Billy Joel than Billie Holiday. The atmosphere could facilitate after-hours deal-making as easily as forgetting about work entirely.

Heading home through the upscale stretch of Riverside in Toluca Lake, I stop off at the Money Tree. I know the place has jazz-music leanings, but because it has the same proprietor as J.P.’s Restaurant and Lounge, I give it a shot. The complimentary drinks from some man who just left the bar make me stay a while.

Actually, what brings me to the Money Tree is the baby grand piano bar, and it’s worth the stop. But when the entertainer starts in with flat jokes about her car breaking down on the freeway, I have a flashback to Joey Sehee’s comment that no one in the last 30 years had learned how to entertain. I forgive her once she starts playing.

The Money Tree gets points for sincerity. Tucked in one of the round booths (color: black), a lady named Dixie in a tiger-striped velvet blouse makes requests. The singer obliges without hesitation.

*

I’m straying dangerously close to the fine line that separates jazz bars from lounges. I call Sen~or Amor for some musical guidance.

Less-well-known as Marc Gordon, 29, Sen~or Amor hosts the “Molotov Cocktail Hour” on KXLU 88.9-FM at 11 p.m. on Tuesdays with partner Cyrano. For six years, Sen~or has been dishing out an hour’s worth of Rat Pack standards, Latin jazz and Polynesian rhythms. The show’s motto: “If it swings, we play it.”

The Encino native gives me some other tips, seemingly sympathetic to my Valley searching.

“I always try to encourage people to find local acts,” he says. “It’s important to support the local scene. Unfortunately as the people get older, they stop going, or they pass away. And if there’s not as much of a client base, then they close.”

Being a lounge leader requires a good bit of nurturing, I realize. Wick with his magazine, Gordon with his records and Sehee with his act--they’re all trying to build a scene, a network of places where people can pass the time and tap their feet in style.

*

I’m underdressed at Monteleone’s West in Tarzana, which I hope is going unnoticed. Then Perline, the singer who’s just finishing her break, stops by the table and asks if this is my first time here. Busted for lounge-hopping out of costume.

Technically a supper club, the place is stylish, the people are stylish, and the music is stylish. Perline sings “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Love for Sale” with a comforting familiarity. Pianist Karen Hernandez, who plays every Wednesday, seems to be all over the keyboard. And then you realize she’s only using her right hand; her left is plucking out a bass line on a keyboard on top of the piano.

The lounge itself gets no historical points. The booths have been reupholstered in foliage-patterned fabric, the wallpaper is late ‘80s and there are too many plants. But the dining room is another matter. Wow. Ruby-red booths and dramatic high-backed chairs. A big fireplace. And the music undoubtedly will waft in. I make a note to come back for the $9.95 early-bird dinner special some night.

*

Last stop on this crazy tour is Let’s Go To Vegas, or L.G.T.V. to the regulars. I stepped inside and had no idea what decade I was in. The only couple on the dance floor were decidedly 1970s. The music was harder to place. Then, quicker than I could say Ritchie Valens, the two musicians started in on “Donna.” 1960s. The decor? Timeless.

The main room is, as the name declares, a Nevada transplant. The club chairs and huge arch-backed booths (round, of course) are all a mustard yellow. Behind the stage is a substantial red velvet curtain with gold trim. Stunning in a tacky sort of way.

I’m left with several philosophical questions. Is this lounge thing sincere? Is it kitsch? Can kitsch be sincere? Sehee thinks so.

Was Sam Wick right when he wrote that Lounge is not a trend, but a lifestyle?

I wonder where my Henry Mancini albums are, and order another cocktail.

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Mancini and Martini Scene

Some places to lounge around in the Valley:

* Tonga Hut, 12808 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 769-0708. Music on a CD jukebox varies from Frank Sinatra to Kenny Rogers. Bring quarters.

* Carriage Inn, 5525 Sepulveda Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 787-2300. Buddy Worth sings Thursday to Saturday, starting at 8 p.m.

* Monteleone’s West, 19337 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, (818) 996-0662. Music starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

* Smoke House, 4420 Lakeside Drive, Burbank, (818) 845-3731. Music on Tuesday to Thursday from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

* Money Tree, 10149 Riverside Drive, Toluca Lake (818) 769-8800. Music starts at 8 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday, 9 p.m. Thursday to Saturday.

* J. P.’s Restaurant and Lounge, 1333 Hollywood Way, Burbank, (818) 845-1800. Music from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday to Saturday.

* Let’s Go To Vegas, 11000 Sepulveda Blvd., Mission Hills, (818) 365-9502. Music begins at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday.