Forecast: It’ll be hot in the Valley

There are so many neighborhoods around L.A. -- Venice, Silver Lake, Echo Park and Hollywood, to name a few -- crawling with hipsters. They’re at the laundromat watching their vintage duds swirling around, buying packaged sushi at Trader Joe’s and scanning shelves for “Velvet Goldmine” at the video store. They can be difficult to avoid.

But in the San Fernando Valley, there’s no such culture of hipsterism. If anything, the images of air-headed blonds, shopping malls and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” have been slow to fade.

There’s never really been much of a scene to speak of. Check out the completely packed Starbucks in Woodland Hills on a weeknight to witness the desperation of young, single people with nowhere to go near their homes.

But that nightlife landscape is beginning to change. An eclectic group of new clubs -- from high-style to funky -- have surfaced among the Wienerschnitzels and lamp stores. And they are keeping the light on and the party going into the wee hours of the morning.

It began about a year ago when the club owners who helped turn Hollywood into a nocturnal gold mine began looking for bigger challenges. Some looked beyond the Hollywood Hills to the expanse of humanity on the other side of the mountain. Since then, Studio City has witnessed a mini-renaissance, giving Valley wannabe scenesters a few reasons -- a trendy restaurant, a slick lounge, a cozy neighborhood bar and a live music venue -- to stay on their side of the hill.

Now, deeper into the Valley, sandwiched between car dealerships and recording studios, two funky lounges have legitimized neighborhoods in Sherman Oaks with an unfamiliar yet welcomed vibe. North Hollywood is happening, or starting to, and Glendale is more lively now than it was a year ago. They’re not exactly edgy, but they’re not Valley-vanilla either.

Can the San Fernando Valley handle its hipper identity?

Totally.

Nestled in the middle of Car Dealership Row in Sherman Oaks and Recording Studio Alley in North Hollywood are the glossy black facades of the Valley’s new nocturnal groove -- dark and sexy lounges that blend underground with upscale, add urban flavor to suburbia, and usher in a new age in L.A.’s night beat.

The brand-new NoBar in North Hollywood, opening tonight, and the 7-week-old Coda in Sherman Oaks aren’t just cozy dance and cocktail lounges where locals can mingle, dance and drink. They are much more: NoBar and Coda signal Hollywood’s foray into the Valley, a role reversal that began subtly on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City and is now expanding into the heart of the Valley.

It might not seem like a trend, but think back to Hollywood in the ‘90s, when only drug pushers and prostitutes roamed the streets. A few bar owners took a chance -- opening clubs like the Burgundy Room in 1990, the Room in 1993 and Lucky Seven in 1995 (now Daddy’s). Those veteran night owls, and a new kid on the block, are causing a seismic shift -- ohmigawd, who could foresee too-cool-for-school Hollywood treading into the Valley? -- by pioneering into Valley areas that also could use a bit of a lift.

“It always mystifies me the perception that the Valley is unfashionable or not cool enough,” said Ashley Joyce, co-owner of Coda, the Room in Hollywood and Santa Monica and Bar Copa in Santa Monica. Joyce was also a partner at the Burgundy Room until 1996.

“Hollywood wasn’t that clever 10 or 15 years ago either,” he said. “There’s no reason what’s happened in Hollywood in the past five years couldn’t happen in the Valley. Half the bars in Hollywood are filled with people from the Valley so it’s nonsense and it’s insulting, really.”

The push to create a Valley vibe began last year with the openings of Firefly, a restaurant-bar bungalow whose owners possess so much La La Land attitude “they don’t do press,” according to their publicist; and Clear, a white leather-walled cocktail lounge on Ventura Boulevard that has become popular among the young and chic.

The new nightspots may feel like Hollywood in their slick modern designs, but the mood is light, casual and intimate and the selection of DJs is edgy and underground. Most importantly, there is an unspoken but followed motto: no velvet rope, no guest list, no cover charge. No matter who you are. Being low on pretense doesn’t mean the Valley’s new bar and lounges are crawling with nerds and dorks. Pretty women with asymmetrical blond and brown hairstyles, dressed in vintage tracksuit tops and low-riser jeans, frequent the new spots as well as clean-cut yuppie men trolling for companionship. Surprisingly diverse, the Valley’s partygoers are a young, creative crew grateful for the opportunity to stay on their side of the hill.

“I wanted to open in Hollywood, but I’m really glad I’m in the Valley now,” said Clear owner Bryan Suckut, a former fashion photographer. “There’s a negative connotation with the Valley. It’s not as hip or fun. Less people go out in the Valley and less people are willing to travel here, but the response has been a lot better than I thought. The Valley obviously needed this type of entertainment.”

Platinum Live and Sapphire followed this year -- adding a restaurant with a live concert stage and 5.1 surround-sound system, and a stylish wood and brick neighborhood bar to the thriving night district on Ventura Boulevard. Last week, the former Sports Center Bowl re-opened as the renovated and upscale PINZ Bowling Alley, where celebrities can have personalized lockers adorned with crystal bowling pins and a 200-foot mural depicting Los Angeles landmarks from downtown to Venice expands across the alley’s 32 lanes.

“Hollywood has become oversaturated,” said Will Shamlian, co-owner of Sapphire, Daddy’s in Hollywood, 4100 Club in Echo Park and the Chalet in Eagle Rock. “It used to be an underground scene and now it’s just an overdone Westside scene.

“When you open a bar, you want to go where there are great concentrations of young people, and that’s why the Valley is a great alternative. Studio City is the epicenter of the Valley and there weren’t any cool places for people to go to here. I’m so over Hollywood. In the Valley, there’s no hype. It’s all just very chill.”

Frustrated with the intense competition -- a new bar or nightclub opens in Hollywood just about every month -- entrepreneurs looking to broaden their empires are focusing north, even in neighborhoods where nightlife is synonymous with sleeping. It’s one thing to venture right over the hill into Studio City; it’s quite another to dig into residential or commercial areas of the Valley where the last thing on anyone’s mind is partying into the night. Coda and NoBar hope to test that.

“Ventura Boulevard, to me, is still playing it safe,” said Craig Trager, co-owner of Daddy’s and the Well in Hollywood, and now NoBar. “Going past Ventura is risky, but I kind of like that. I like the seedier, off-the-beaten-path kinds of places. I don’t like opening bars for trendoites. The Valley has never had anything like this, which is what makes it exciting for me.”

North of Magnolia Boulevard on a highly commercial section of Van Nuys Boulevard you’ll find -- or if you’re not careful, miss -- the mysterious Coda. You enter through a side alley with a glazed brick wall that seems like an aberration, especially to locals like Christine Richard who couldn’t stop dancing to funk and hip-hop on opening night.

“The only thing to do in the Valley is climb the fences of an elementary school, hang out in the playground and get stoned,” said Richard, a Hollywood travel agent who grew up in Van Nuys. “When I was growing up here, it was exciting to go to the local KFC. I was a bit skeptical coming here, but this is L.A.-cool right here. It’s refined.”

NoBar, a rock ‘n’ roll lounge on Magnolia Boulevard with a 28-foot bar backed by mirrored-glass in vibrant colors, replaces a lesbian bar that was open for 20 years on a block filled with recording studios, an actor’s playhouse, a hair salon and a furniture store. Part of the NoHo Arts District, the 1,200-square-foot NoBar features a jukebox, pool table and will eventually add an outside patio.

“I’ve lived in this area for 15 years and I drive by this corner at least once a week and I never saw this place,” said NoBar’s interior designer Ricki Kline. “These Westside guys came out to the Valley and found it.”

Mark Goldman, owner of Advance Liquidators Office Furniture, located across the street, is looking forward to the boost he predicts for a neighborhood already populated by creative, underground types.

“Magnolia is a sweet street and it’s been changing,” said Goldman, 27, of Studio City. “It’s looking more like Melrose. I go to Hollywood all of the time because there’s nowhere to go. But this is becoming a cool area. This bar will bring a presence to the end of the block.”

But creating a Valley scene that delivers without relying on red-carpet hype does not happen overnight, as Clear’s Suckut and Sapphire’s Shamlian have learned. Success in the Valley is less about attracting hipsters and celebrities and more about developing a steady local clientele. Shamlian opened a private room for 20 with a brick fireplace in the back of Sapphire this week.

“We’ve got a solid foundation but right now, we’re still the busiest on weekends,” said Shamlian, who opened Sapphire six months ago. “It hasn’t spilled into the weeknights yet. It’s a lot easier to promote in Hollywood, but I’ve always thought the Valley was the place to go for the underground kind of bar I like to open. We’re not in a rush. I want this bar to be here years to come.”

A few blocks away on Ventura Boulevard, Platinum Live, the club where Prince, Stevie Wonder and Sheila E. have performed, is struggling to stay afloat. The 300-capacity venue has reduced its days of operation and restaurant menu, but will soon offer dance club nights when there are no performances scheduled.

“It was supposed to be like the next House of Blues because the sound system is so great,” said co-manager Gary Private. “But it just hasn’t taken off like we were hoping. I just think people have a stigma about the Valley, even the people who live there who drive all the way to L.A. to go out. It’s hard to compete because there’s always new clubs opening on Sunset and Hollywood and people always want to go to the new thing ... but we haven’t given up yet.”

The Hollywood hype formula may not work in the Valley, but Joyce and his partner, John Lasker, who opened the Room in Hollywood and Santa Monica when those areas lacked luster, are confident they can re-create the funky energy of their bars in the Valley.

“It’s important that bars exist in neighborhoods because they always bring soul and vibrancy to these communities,” Joyce said. “The Valley is filled with actors, musicians and young, creative people who take advantage of the cheaper rents but have to travel to find entertainment that connects with their lifestyle. Now they don’t have to travel.”

Driving for his nocturnal thrills never bothered Todd Johnsen, who has lived in Sherman Oaks for two years and regularly traveled to Copa in Venice or the Knitting Factory in Hollywood for his dose of soul, funk and drum and bass. Now Johnsen, 25, can get his partying fix a few blocks from his apartment. Last Friday, he threw himself a birthday party at Coda, the lounge he says has become his Cheers.

“Come give Big Poppa a hug,” he’d say when he greeted his guests, referring to the fake beer belly he was sporting inside a Goodwill gray suit, hot pink shirt and a faux-platinum backward-dollar sign bling bling around his neck.

“I’ll do anything for a laugh mostly to amuse myself,” Johnsen said, explaining his unusual outfit. “Can you believe this is the Valley? I’ve met awesome people in the Valley but there’s not much to do here and visually there’s not much to see. This bar has nice lighting, wood, a ridiculous selection of liquor and the music is always good. I’m here all the time now. I’m Norm from Cheers.”

The fuss about celebrities and scenesters and their condescending attitudes about “people who live over the hill” is nonsensical to Scottish DJ Robbie Clark, who has regular gigs in Hollywood and Santa Monica. Clark would rather play for fun-loving people like Johnsen who go to Coda for their love of music.

“I’ve traveled the world and people are people,” said Clark, who opened Coda with his mix of hip-hop, funk, reggae, soul and house. “People just want to come out and have a good time no matter where they are from. I just want people to have a nice cool night, whether I’m playing in Hollywood, Santa Monica or here. I’m not interested in that obsession with coolness.”

What there is an abundance of in the Valley are places that have never been considered appealing to the hipper demographic, spots that exist only for the small circle of people who go to them routinely. But the energy of the new clubs is spilling over onto these classics too -- retro gems that have been around a few decades and come alive in their own understated and corny way.

Some of these places are so radically not with it, so completely off the map, that they are actually quite amazing. Spots like Paladino’s in Tarzana, where aging rockers on Harleys are riveted by metal tribute bands; or the Lamplighter in Sherman Oaks, a family restaurant that tries to tempt you with glasses of red Jell-O. These hangs are hip without trying.

The Lamplighter greets you with a sign that announces “Cholesterol Watchers. We Now Serve Eggbeaters.” At the Lamplighter in Sherman Oaks (there’s also one in North Hollywood and Chatsworth), attractive plastic flowers are arranged around booths with tables made of imitation marble and wood. The waitress arrives at the table and calls you “sweetie.”

Cakes with missing slices and bottles of Snapple rotate endlessly in their display case to Muzak versions of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” and “Memory.” Glasses of red Jell-O patiently wait. Formerly a Corky’s, the Lamplighter has been around for 25 years serving cold meatloaf sandwiches, liver and onions, orange roughy, dollar-size pancakes and tapioca pudding to the faithful. The menu is long with “south of the border” and “flavor of Italy” sections. Don’t let the ugly photos on the menu fool you; the food is first-rate, while the cottage cheese ambience is really quite cozy. You may find yourself lingering over a plate of onion rings, humming along to the Muzak and not wanting to leave.

Another Valley spot that people might drive by, notice and wonder about, but probably not enter, is the Capri Lounge in Glendale. If they were to peek in the door, they’d find a dive with almost nothing in the way of decor, an ancient carpet, a Budweiser blimp, a dartboard and cheap, little wooden tables.

This place bears a man’s touch. But the Capri Lounge comes alive on Saturday night when that man, the owner, 75-year-old Jimmie Maddin, plays host to his own jazz and blues band with a shifting lineup. Maddin, who plays tenor and alto sax and also sings, has had an illustrious career jamming with the likes of Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Jerry Lee Lewis, Billie Holiday and Benny Carter.

Down the street from the Capri Lounge is the hipper Side Bar. The place actually gets crowded and it’s a fine hangout, but it’s not peculiarly magnificent in the same way as the Capri Lounge, which might be filled with only 10 or 15 people on a Saturday night. Maddin’s little band -- basically a secret -- is a squad of old-timers knocking out classic American tunes. Their play is sloppy and beautiful, off-the-cuff and sincere. Every other set will include a Louis Jordan song and Maddin, who always a wears a pinstriped zoot suit with a wallet chain, is a completely charming and funny relic from a bygone era.

He seems to know everybody who walks in the door and they all seem to know each other, the older Armenian gentleman in a suit, the huge Latino kid, the young, African American girl who joins the band and belts out a blues number. It’s an unusual, mostly neighborhood crowd drawn to see a fabulous band that does not lack for personality.

Paladino’s, located in a mini-mall next to a coin laundry in Tarzana, hearkens back to an entirely different musical period, one with feathered hair and leather pants. On the weekend, a crowd of aged rockers on motorcycles converges at this retro watering hole to see metal tribute bands such as Cowboys From Hell (Pantera) Empyre (Queensryche) and the Iron Maidens, an all-female version of Iron Maiden and Motley Priest.

At a recent Atomic Punks (Van Halen) show, the crowd includes enthusiastic stripper chicks clad in leopard skin spandex, waitresses sauntering around in lingerie-like outfits and a bunch of slobbering drunk metal dudes sporting Arkansas-style mullets.

Is this place too cool? Hardly. But like the characters in the comic book and movie “Ghost World,” who are drawn to a fake diner that is so lame it’s actually kind of neat, Paladino’s is a strangely rewarding experience. The headlining Atomic Punks are certainly more entertaining than the Van Hagar period of Van Halen, if not nearly as good as Van Halen in their prime.

Just ask David Lee Roth, who recruited two of the band’s former guitarists. These guys have their kung fu kicks and guitar solos nailed and the audience eats it up. At least seven trampy gals jump up onstage and dance around the band like they were the real deal. Recalling the Sunset Strip circa 1987, Paladino’s is almost too authentic.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Valley of the clubs

NEW HOT SPOTS

Clear

11916 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Tues.-Sun., 8 p.m.-2 a.m. No cover. (818) 980-4811.

Coda

5248 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Tues.-Sat., 8 p.m.-2 a.m. No cover. (818) 783-7518.

Firefly

11720 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Mon.-Sat., 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Reservations recommended. (818) 762-1833.

NoBar

10622 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. Mon.-Fri., 6 p.m.-2 a.m., Sat.-Sun., 8 p.m.-2 a.m. No cover. (818) 753-0545.

Platinum Live

11345 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Thu.-Sun., 7 p.m.-2 a.m., depending on bookings. Cover varies with performers. (818) 753-1771.

Sapphire

11938 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Nightly,

8 p.m.-2 a.m. No cover. (818) 506-0777.

PINZ Bowling Alley

12655 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Daily,

9 a.m.-2 a.m. $5.75 per game, $3.50 shoe rental. (818) 769-7600.

SOME OLD FAVORITES

The Capri Lounge

1134 Pacific Ave., Glendale. Jimmie Maddin performs Saturdays, 9:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Daily, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. No cover.

(818) 956-8738.

The Lamplighter

5043 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Mon.-Fri. 6 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 7 a.m.-

11 p.m. (818) 788-5110.

Paladino’s

6101 Reseda Blvd., Tarzana. Daily, noon-

2 a.m. Cover, Fri.-Sat. beginning at 8 p.m., $10-$15 depending on show.

(818) 342-1563.

Times staff writer Maria Elena Fernandez can be contacted at maria.elena.fernandez@latimes.com. Freelance writer Adam Bregman can be contacted at weekend@latimes.com.