Only the monks are weepy

It’s dog-eat-dog in Hollywood these days. New clubs keep popping up, old clubs are clinging to respirators or doing their best to avert the wrecking ball of condo developers.

One of the most competitive zones is downtown Hollywood, and all signs point to David Judaken’s Mood as the nightclub that has upped the ante.

“David Judaken separates himself from everyone else in L.A.,” says Hartwell, one half of the promoting juggernaut the Alliance, which hosts Wednesdays at Mood. “This is only his second club in nine years, but he does his homework. He spends the money. He’s on top of every meticulous detail, from handpicking the promoters to the door handle in the bathroom.”

That’s what separates the men from the boys right now -- people with long-term vision. Seems only yesterday that folks were building to sell, hoping to make enough on the hype of one good year before moving along.

But Mood is money, an elegant stunner that, at 6 months old, seems destined for the history books.

“You know a place is cracking when Paris Hilton walks out of the men’s room,” says Reggie Marshall, who scoped out Hilton and the club on a recent Wednesday. “This club is off the chain. From the flow to the way you’re treated, it’s really a cool experience.”

It’s also the place where Hilary Duff partied like a rock star on her 18th birthday, and where Carmen Electra debuted the next generation of striptease with the Bombshell Babies, a burlesque troupe that made a steamy club even steamier.

“You’re only as good as your last nightclub,” Judaken says. “Either I was going to rise above Garden of Eden or fall below it. I had to pull out all the stops.”

When Judaken debuted Hollywood’s Garden of Eden nine years ago, it was jaw-droppingly beautiful. It bore a sexy Moroccan motif that paid overt and artistic homage to the female anatomy. I remember thinking what the nightlife beasts would do to such a beautiful club with its marbles and coppers, but Judaken’s taken great care of it. And it’s taken good care of him, continuing to be a reliable draw year after year.

MOOD, a space fused from two storefronts at a cost of $1.5 million, is every bit as lovely, with its Bali themes and warmth. Truthfully, he couldn’t have done any less. Mood is around the corner from the Japanese restaurant Geisha House, a pop-art masterpiece concocted on inspired whimsy. If you’re going to be the nightclub around the corner from Geisha House, you’d better be fabulous.

“When Hartwell and I did the grand opening of our Wednesdays, people were astounded at the beauty of Mood, because they’d been lulled to sleep by cheap makeovers and burnt spaces,” says Josh Richman, a veteran promoter and partner in the Alliance.

Among its finer points are a wall of weeping monks and a bar anchored by hand-carved images of Shiva (the Hindu goddess of destruction and creation).

The design, a collaboration between Judaken and Mika Designs, includes ancient temple bells from Vietnam and ceilings and walls decked out in red-hued bamboo. The patio’s louvered ceiling allows smoke to get out but shields guests from the elements.

Unlike the techno-driven nightclubs of the ‘80s and ‘90s, Mood makes generous use out of woods and natural materials.

“People feel good in a balanced space,” says Judaken, who hired Indonesian artisans to craft Mood’s details. “Fusing natural elements into an unnatural space helps create a warmth you can’t get if you’re all about technology.”

It’s an organic warmth that seems to be casting a spell on its guests.

“I just come here and I kick back,” Marshall says. “I could get spoiled in a place like this.”

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Mood

Where: 6623 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

When: 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesdays through Sundays

Price: $20 cover; 21 and older. Valet parking available.

Info: (323) 464-6663