A Taste of Cuba and More to Come

It wasn’t meant to happen this fast. Not one, not two, but three new hot spots in Hollywood opening back to back, all owned by the same two South African-born entrepreneurs who just three years ago were getting on each other’s nerves--best friends sharing a one-bedroom apartment; one sleeping on the couch, promising to move out but never managing to do so; both collecting quarters to grab a burger at McDonald’s, all the while bickering like a married couple.

But that was life before Tengu.

Nearly three years after Alan Nathan and Anton Posniak opened the popular Westwood sushi and Asian fusion restaurant named after the Japanese god of mischief, the partners have arrived in Hollywood, where they always wanted to be. On April 28, they opened one of the most exclusive doors in town: the split-level, elegant, Havana-inspired lounge Nacional, named after the Hotel Nacional in Cuba. Next month, they plan to strike again with a double punch: an intimate Cuban fusion restaurant called Paladar, to be Nacional’s next-door companion on Wilcox Avenue; and the Ivar, a much-anticipated 14,000-square-foot, glitzy dance hall, 2 1/2 blocks away.

To say that Nathan, 32, and Posniak, 30, are busy is an understatement, but the two say they have no choice. All around them, Tinseltown is exploding. In the last four years, nightclubs, bars, restaurants and shops have been popping up all over Hollywood Boulevard. East of La Brea Avenue, where just two years ago it was hard to feel safe among the street life, thrill-seekers now check in and out of bars and clubs, while families and tourists go to movies and dine at fine restaurants.

They are part of a new wave of successful Hollywood nightclub and restaurant owners who have helped transform the district, people such as Loyal Pennings, owner of Las Palmas and the upcoming Corridor on Cahuenga Boulevard; Paul Devitt, of the Beauty Bar and Star Shoes; Richard Heyman of the Hollywood and Vine Diner, Bice Mercado and the upcoming Ultra Lounge; Ivan Kane of Deep and Forty Deuce; and Chris Breed of the Pig ‘n Whistle, Sunset Room and the upcoming White Lotus.

“Hollywood has become a destination,” says Nathan. “People know they can come here now and park their car and they have lots of choices of things to do. At the end of the day, when you look at the quality of people going out in Hollywood, you know this revitalization is going to be a success. This is something I anticipated and dreamed about, but I also think we’ve gotten very lucky.”

If it is true that people make their own luck, Nathan and Posniak’s success should not come as a surprise, said Westwood real estate and business consultant Steve Sann, who met them before Tengu opened. A neighborhood favorite and funky spot where A-list celebrities, such as Cindy Crawford and Nicole Kidman, can dine discreetly, Tengu has thrived in an obscure location that seemed to be cursed for years, Sann said. Posniak, who lived and studied in Japan for two years, created the restaurant’s soothing Zen aesthetic and then spiced it up with fruit-infused sakes, creative sushi rolls, haikus on the menu, and a DJ. “What they’ve done in Westwood is nothing short of extraordinary,” Sann said. “They took a challenging location, at the end of Westwood Village, and created a very hip and beautiful interior and New York vibe. It’s taken sushi to a whole new level in Westwood, bringing their eastside Hollywood crowd into Westwood Village. That was unprecedented.”

Several miles northeast of Tengu, Hollywood business leaders are depending on Nathan and Posniak to hit a trifecta with their new ventures. Kerry Morrison, Hollywood Entertainment District executive director, says the two are a boon to the community. “They are two high-energy guys who seem to have a passion for bringing something special to Hollywood,” Morrison said. “They are bringing something unique and of quality. Their ideas are not flash-in-the-pan concepts. Their businesses will endure.”

The duo may be on the roster of Hollywood’s newest nightclub owners, but they’ve been eyeing the scene for some time. Best friends since they met as teens in La Jolla, where their families had immigrated, Nathan and Posniak started dreaming of owning a Hollywood bar while working at the landmark Garden of Eden on La Brea Avenue, where Nathan’s gregariousness turned him into a sought-after party promoter and Posniak’s intuitive business sense--he had owned a bar in San Diego called the Pour House--led to a job as the bar manager.

Their first attempt to open a Hollywood bar was in 1997 when they tried to take over a bar on Cherokee for two years but gave up because the landlord would offer them only a month-to-month lease, Posniak said.

“We were in escrow for two years for a bar on Hollywood Boulevard but we couldn’t close the deal,” Nathan said. “Anton had lived in Japan and spoke Japanese and he had the foresight to [come up with] an upscale restaurant in Westwood with a DJ and a scene. But we never lost sight of what we wanted, which was to open a place in Hollywood. Between the [delays of] permits and issues with contractors, it wound up looking like we wanted to do this all at once. But it just happened that way.”

With Paladar and the Ivar still yet to open, Nathan and Posniak hope, eventually, to open similar venues on the East Coast. But for now, they’re sticking closer to home. They plan to open a Tengu in Hollywood next year.

“I enjoy the creative part of it,” Posniak said. “When we are building a new place, I like to be there, looking over the whole thing. I like going out and looking for places where we can make things happen. Alan’s a great frontman. I’m more behind the scenes.”

Nathan and Posniak, in fact, are opposites who fit. Posniak is the idea man, mindful of details with an eye for design; Nathan is the money man, an easygoing schmoozer who can hustle for cash and keep everybody smiling by remembering the most minute details of their lives. Last year, Nathan raised $3 million for their three Hollywood ventures without approaching a single bank. Their investors include attorneys, real estate agents, and Hollywood actors and producers.

Sanjay Kumar, 32, met Nathan when he was managing the Garden of Eden and the two struck up a friendship based on their mutual entrepreneurial goals. Kumar, who lives in Brentwood and is in the process of creating a video game production and distribution company, said he invested in Tengu because he was impressed with Nathan’s creativity and integrity.

“Generally, I wouldn’t recommend investing in restaurants or nightclubs because they tend to be very high risk,” he said. “But when you invest, you need to trust that the people you are investing in are good business people and have honesty and integrity and are going to treat you with respect and professionalism. Tengu has been a very good investment to me. I would have invested in Nacional, too, but the market crashed and I wasn’t in the financial position to do it. But I believe in all of their endeavors.”

Nathan earned his bachelor’s of science in entrepreneurship at USC in 1995; Posniak graduated from UC Berkeley in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in Japanese history. Both tried to spark careers as stockbrokers while in college, but sitting behind a desk 12 hours a day was not in their natures. Posniak hated wearing the suit. Nathan preferred his nocturnal lifestyle: “I’d much rather get home at 5 in the morning than get up at 5 in the morning.” They went to work at the Garden of Eden, knowing their days of working for someone else were numbered.

Now they glide around Tengu and Nacional with ease, playing host as if they were at a house party among friends. A nocturnal yin and yang, they get a kick out of playing good cop/bad cop with the staff and nagging one another. Posniak accuses Nathan of being messy; Nathan retorts: “Anton adds to the chaos.” When it comes to business, though, they are, unequivocally, of one mind.

“We’re all very different but we have great synchronicity,” says Guy Ravid, 27, Tengu’s general manager, also a South African immigrant. “But don’t get me wrong. They are not the easiest guys to work for. They are very demanding. Anton is very intense. It can be taxing. There’s the Energizer Bunny and then there’s Anton. Alan’s charismatic. He’s the salesman. But neither of them lets up. It’s all business.”

And, in the name of business, they can even take the fun out of getting drunk. Every time Ravid made a mistake as a young bar-back five years ago, Posniak made him drink a shot. The lessons were so “brutal” that Ravid said he often went home completely drunk after being ordered to organize the keg room several times.

“I’m the happy-go-lucky guy, very much the artist,” Ravid said. “It was very hard for me to get used to their way of being. We didn’t sit at home talking about the sun and the stars and the moon and the way of the world, like I like to do. The only conversation ever was our business pursuits. I’ve learned so much from both of them and it is fun. But you have to be ready for it.”

To prepare themselves, Posniak and Nathan do their homework. Tengu was a natural, with Posniak’s expertise in Japanese culture. But when they decided to establish a Cuban-themed bar, they knew they’d need to get an education. They flew to Havana, where they spent a week visiting bars and hotels, shooting 2,000 photographs of the city’s 1950s architecture and, in the process, discovering the concept of the Cuban paladar, government-owned restaurants operated in people’s homes.

“Cuba has a mystique to it,” Posniak said. “It’s like forbidden fruit. The people, the culture, everything about it is so beautiful, elegant and encompassing. The beauty and flavor is really in the imperfections, and Cuba is still trapped in time. The architecture of the 1950s is very popular now and that’s where Cuba still is. We got most of our inspiration for Nacional just walking the streets.”

The lounge they created is a blend of old Cuban design and architecture, and modern, sleek lines. Instead of an edgy black, Posniak went for chocolate and rust tones that bring out the warmth of the people and places they experienced on the island. The exterior of the building, which looks unfinished and patchy, resembles buildings in Havana that have remained untouched for nearly 50 years. On a wall in the main room, a 6-foot-tall photographic-tile mosaic depicts a Cuban man smiling in one pose, smoking a cigar in another.

“This place has a very relaxing feel to it,” said patron Amy Richards, a 27-year-old aspiring model and actress. “It’s beautiful and it’s fancy but it’s also very comfortable. The best part is the laid-back crowd. We’re smack in the middle of Hollywood but the pretension got left at the door.”

Plenty of other things get left at Nacional’s door. Nathan and Posniak are going for exclusivity, but their A-list isn’t necessarily star-studded. They are striving for six degrees of separation. That is, to get in, you have to know one of them. Or know somebody who knows somebody who knows one of them.

And forget bluffing because Travis the doorman, who won’t divulge a last name, has been around and he’s not falling for it. Do not hand him a cellular phone, claiming that someone “important” wants to vouch for you. Do not speak in codes; there are no passwords to gain entry, and men: Do not arrive in groups or you won’t get in, no matter who you know or how hot you are. With the ladies, that’s a different story.

On a recent Friday night, Posniak’s 30th birthday, a perky party girl showed up in a mini that could have passed as a napkin and a very tight tank. Eagerly, she said the magic words others had spoken before her: “I’m here for Anton’s birthday party,” neglecting to recognize the birthday boy standing right in front of her.

“Anton, huh? Do you know Anton?” Travis asked.

Her brown eyes widened. Before she could stick her foot in her mouth, Travis nodded at Posniak and yelled, “Say happy birthday to Anton!” Graciously, Posniak lifted the velvet rope and let her in, even though he had no idea who she was.

“People will try anything and I don’t blame them,” Nathan says, taking a sip from his Madris, a mix of vodka, orange and cranberry juice. “I remember when I used to climb fences to try to sneak into the Gate. Or I’d show up and say I was on Joe’s list and they’d look at me and ask, ‘Who’s Joe?’ ”

Next door to Nacional, Nathan hopes that Paladar will become a neighborhood eatery known for its home-style food, Cuban hospitality and no special list to get in. While Nathan explored ideas for their menu in Havana, Posniak conjured up varieties of fruity sangrias, the same way he infused his sakes at Tengu with pineapple and other tropical fruits.

“Interest in all things Cuba is at a high in this country, and I don’t believe that’s a fad,” Nathan said. “It’s a very special place and Americans are pulled by it. The energy of the people and the music and the energy in their eyes is amazing. We want Paladar to be cozy and small, and the menu will be Cuban with a little flair to appeal to the Hollywood community and Los Angeles.”

The Ivar will be far different. With five bars and a crowd capacity of 1,000, Nathan hopes the dance club will be a Hollywood premiere party destination as well as a hall where partyers can groove to house and electronica. Its soaring New York-style loft interior and industrial red brick, glass and steel will add class to a historic building, Morrison said.

With so many operations gearing up at once, how will the duo keep an eye on things? “We have a very good management team in place at all of our locations so we can delegate,” Nathan said. “My goal is to develop these locations all over the country. I don’t want to have that vanity of always being in the club so people can come and see me. I just want people to enjoy their time when they’re here.”

Ravid, who once dreamed of being a photojournalist, now owns equity in the businesses and is being trained to become chief financial officer of all of Nathan and Posniak’s enterprises.

“We all look forward to the day when we can sit together on the beach and share a rum and Coke and know everything is running smoothly and we can relax,” Ravid said. “And for once, I can take the lead and ask, ‘What do you think about the sun, the moon and the stars?’ ”