Giving the stars a place to play

Every good nightclub needs three elements: a colorful conductor, a cool back story and memorable music. The rest is gravy.

Guy’s, a sexy lounge sandwiched between Jerry’s Famous Deli and Dominick’s on Beverly Boulevard, qualifies on all counts. Including the gravy. The nightclub is owned by Guy Starkman, whose father, Ike, founded Jerry’s, the deli that launched a million Reubens and now boasts real estate in South Beach.

“I originally opened Guy’s so I’d have a fun place to go,” Starkman says. “But within weeks, we were hosting poker parties with guys like Mel Gibson, Robert De Niro and Sean Penn.”

Although Guy’s offers a multitude of colorful conductors, including the personable Starkman and his wife, actress Cindy Margolis, the club’s general manager, Warren “Mighty Joe” Tepper, is the nightly host of this three-ring circus.

“The best part of my gig is the people,” says Tepper. “That’s really my job, to make sure everybody has a good time.”

Tepper, whose father wrote songs for Elvis Presley, runs Jerry’s and Guy’s, which opens up only for private parties and exclusive weekly promotions. His pint-size stature is offset by his East Coast attitude -- no matter how many people are clustered outside the club, with the imperious “Do you know who I am?” attitude, he doesn’t lose his cool.

Good thing, when you consider Guy’s weekly guest list. It includes an assortment of musicians, actors and celebrities, including Janet Jackson, P. Diddy, Christina Aguilera, Lenny Kravitz, Bruce Willis, Cameron Diaz and Paris Hilton -- who, according to Tepper, is the only A-lister who always walks in the front door (as opposed to a side alley entrance where limos pull up and drop off the well-heeled).

A big part of Guy’s appeal is the fact that it’s staffed with people who aren’t from a club background.

“We’re hospitality people,” says Starkman, who finds many of his employees from the trenches of Jerry’s. “We’re not from the club biz, we’re restaurant people and that’s really the difference.”

“I love the club because it’s so warm and intimate,” says David Benveniste, a music manager who throws his annual holiday party at Guy’s. “It’s just nice to have a homegrown spot to hang out at.”

Plenty of Guy’s recent heat comes from its makeover earlier this year. Starkman and Margolis, a.k.a. “the Most Downloaded Girl on the Internet,” determined the decade-old nightclub needed a face-lift.

“I decided to give it a woman’s touch,” Margolis says. “I wanted the club to have great lighting and a sexy glow. I wanted every woman who walked inside to look like a supermodel but not have to be one, but just be bathed in great lighting.”

The duo also added translucent stone throughout the venue to soften the club’s gray and black hues. Once the changes were complete, weekly club promoters signed on for some fun. On Wednesdays, promoter Hartwell holds a party in which the club’s tented back area is closed for the night, making it a cozy affair. On Friday nights, promoter Michael Sutton, a partner in Geisha House and co-owner of the Lodge restaurant (due to open in January), is host of a full-on club night, with the venue packed by 11.

A good chunk of Friday night’s appeal is DJ Jake Hoffman. Unlike many DJs, who don’t take size and scale of a venue into account, Hoffman spins a spot-on set with music just right for the size of the lounge. Occasionally, his dad, actor Dustin Hoffman, comes down to kick it with him at the turntables.

“I like spinning at Guy’s because they give me the freedom to play a variety of songs that you usually don’t hear at a club,” Jake Hoffman says. “I’ll play everything from Bon Jovi, Snoop Dogg, Paula Abdul and David Bowie to Guns N’ Roses, Barry Manilow and songs from ‘Sesame Street.’ Let’s face it, there are worse ways to make money.”

Guy’s club on Saturdays, promoted by Brian Toll, caters to the young Hollywood set. And on Sundays, actor Danny Masterson and his partner, singer/songwriter Joe Firstman, take over, bringing in a jazz band so pals can re-create the Cotton Club era. That’s when the club’s ghosts come out. Guy’s used to be the back room of Dominick’s, a neighboring restaurant once owned by Frank Sinatra that was “the” hangout for him and the rest of the Rat Pack. The room that now houses Guy’s was reserved for the boys’ private poker parties.

Probably the best part about a night out at Guy’s is its proximity to that famous 24-hour deli. When the bar shuts down at 2 a.m., there’s always a matzo with your name on it. Says Benveniste: “There’s nothing better than grabbing a sandwich when it’s time to soak up the liquor at the end of the night.”

Heidi Siegmund Cuda can be reached at weekend@latimes.com.

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Guy’s

Where: 8713 Beverly Blvd., L.A.

When: 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Reservations are recommended.

Price: No cover; 21 and older

Info: (310) 360-0290. To book events, call (310) 729-4031.