Flip-flops, meet Prada

IF you know Milo, then you already know how the nightscape has changed in Manhattan Beach. Tennis hottie Maria Sharapova calls him to say she’s coming down and bringing her girlfriends. Actress Kate Hudson stays with him, as does Rachel Hunter. Dodgers star Nomar Garciaparra pops in to say hello.

If you know Milo, you know why, on a recent Thursday night, with heat lightning flashing back and forth across the Pacific, his new Shade Hotel and its happening Zinc Lounge is packed with about 250 swingers -- not the flip-flops-and-beer crowd that once typified nightlife here but a more ambitious set. Manhattan Beach regulars in polo shirts and jeans swap lies with leggy women with unaffordable hair, young execs confab in sharp ties, Hollywood hipsters in dark glasses and dare-you-to-not-look cleavage have a few drinks, while the dance floors heat up at nearby nightspots Chakra and Towne.

“We have a line every night, and the people are always saying, ‘But I know Milo,’ ” jokes Milo Bacic, who, along with his wife, Damira, is a founder and majority investor in Shade and hosts the bar every weekend. “We’ve only been open eight months, and now everybody knows me. I’m the biggest celebrity here.”

And for good reason. The Bacic family, along with Shade owner Michael Zislis, has imbued the place with a feeling that typifies the changes that have come to Manhattan Beach nightlife: It’s hip, it’s playing to big money in one of the most exclusive residential enclaves in the South Bay, but it’s still breezy. It’s casual glamour, and Manhattan Beach has been wanting that for a long time.

“This is just what Manhattan Beach needed,” says Calvin Lui, 34, the chief operating officer of an Internet advertising firm. “Most places that are hip and contemporary are snobby. They just want you to notice the space and spend money and get out. But here it’s like home.”

Of course, snobby would never fly in a city known mostly for surfing and beach volleyball, sports that define the Santa Monica Bay lifestyle and still dominate the sun-soaked hours along the pier every day. Manhattan Beach may be roughly 4 square miles of CEOs and market leaders, but this weekend it will host the International Surf Festival. And the granddaddy of beach volleyball tournaments, the Manhattan Beach Open, will draw tens of thousands next Thursday through Aug. 13. Volleyball winners become local icons, with their names enshrined on the pier alongside those from every tourney from the last 40-plus years.

But the face of Manhattan Beach, particularly after the sun sets and the volleyball nets have been put away, has been changing. Shade is more than just this town’s first boutique luxury hotel and the Zinc Lounge more than just its first open invitation to the hipoisie; the nightspot and the new downtown area development it anchors, the Metlox Project, are evidence that Manhattan Beach’s legendary beach town nightlife has expanded in important and not so subtle ways.

In this new Manhattan Beach, 90266 is going to give 90210 a run for its money. Oh, the college kids and beach rats still have their Shellback Tavern and Harry O’s to hook up and spill beer on one another, but an outbreak of new nightspots, restaurants and services is drawing in the Prada crowd while somehow weeding out the devils among them. A chic clientele is flooding in looking for a safe, walkable place to laugh out loud, float on clouds of pheromones and rage till near-dawn, but it’s all happening without upsetting the delicate vibe of the place, where sandals rule and families crowd the sidewalks even after dark.

“Look, the price of a house in Manhattan Beach went from $700,000 to $3 million; there was no lounge for more affluent people to hang out at,” says Zislis, at 40 years old already a local entrepreneurial force, with his successful Rock’n Fish and Manhattan Beach Brewing Co. restaurants. “I just decided my rooms would be $50 more than across Sepulveda, and we’re at 93% occupancy. It’s just exploded.”

In the lounge, he points out, drinks are $2 more than in his pub down the street. But instead of pub appetizers, $15 will get you small plates such as lobster rolls or crab cakes or little lamb chops. A self-described foodie, Zislis hired chef John Enright to move his menu away from standard hotel fare.

“Some people come here three, four nights a week,” says Damira Bacic, as she walks up the staircase that is decorated, like the rest of the place, with well-chosen details: handmade lamps that look like sea urchin skeletons, cool slate-like tile from Spain, smooth egg-size stones from Indonesia, cyclone fireplaces in the bar. (TV decorator Christopher Lowell oversaw the hotel’s design.) “It’s a fancy place, but it’s fun -- in the penthouse, there’s beer on tap. It’s always booked,” Bacic adds. On the rooftop, groovy couples linger by the stainless-steel pool, sharing more private conversations by the blue of hidden footlights.

The entire gesture is toward elegance, but not exclusivity. And that, says one Zinc Lounge regular, is the key to understanding the draw.

“I’ll tell you why a lot of people come here: They’re looking to change their life,” says Allen Selner, a foot surgeon who calls himself the “social mayor” of Manhattan Beach.

“I talk to everybody, and it’s lifestyle that they seek,” he adds effusively, a tall man in a polo and khakis who says he’s friends with people who are worth $100 million and people who are worth 50 cents. “There’s a lot of people that are miserable. You know, on the front, everybody’s got an image. They’re trying to solve their life’s problems by spending money, buying a Fendi or a Rolex, hoping that will give them the answer, and it never does. This community says: ‘Wait a minute. There’s a different way to live your life.’ ”

That way, he notes, is to be welcomed in as one of the gang. It may look like a Hollywood-by-the-Sea, but it’s different.

“You know why? That’s not a community,” he adds. “The concept of being cool is vastly overrated. Hollywood is all about image, and it’s not about substance. There’s no community in any of that.”

“We don’t even advertise,” says Jeffrey Bacic, 27, the son of Milo and Damira, who also works at the 38-room hotel. “But there’s more and more people. And lots of girls.”

EVEN if you stop after the crab-stuffed cremini mushrooms at Christian Shaffer’s ambitious new restaurant, Avenue, your night is off to a flying start. The crisp mushroom caps, lightly salty crab and creamy chive glaze pair with a glass of one of their well-chosen small-vintage wines, such as the 14 Hands cabernet from Washington state. If you carry on with a full meal, going for the popular braised pork shoulder with white beans and cilantro gremolata -- and don’t forget the hot chocolate cake (with a spoonful of toasted homemade marshmallow on the side) -- you’ll be expecting a bigger check than at other local spots. But for Manhattan Beach, it’s a rare foray into haute cuisine.

Shaffer made his reputation at Chloe in Playa del Rey, but he has had his eye on Manhattan Beach for some time.

“At Chloe, we were starting to see a lot of people from the South Bay, and particularly Manhattan Beach, as the biggest contingent. Also, that neighborhood had food that would be priced high-end, but nothing that was really all that creative. So we felt that we could make an interesting mark,” Shaffer says.

Manhattan Beach, it seems, was ready for the adventure, as Avenue’s smallish 60-person room is booked tight. But not everyone is excited about boutiquing the local food offerings; some are afraid of losing the essence of beach town living.

“There’s a lot of old-timers who got serious sticker shock there,” said Richard Foss, food critic for the South Bay Easy Reader, who notes that certain beach denizens are used to getting a decent dinner for $15 or $20 and are more likely to frequent hideaways such as Bora Bora, a tiki lounge with pan-Asian food in El Porto, the northern end of town.

Manhattan Beach is full of unusual pub food, whether it’s the ponzu burger (thin-sliced beef cooked shabu-shabu -- a Japanese method of cooking in boiling water -- and piled on a bun) at Ebizo’s Skewer or the popular seafood at Rock’n Fish. But, in fact, the ante was already pretty well upped, if you swing by either Michi or Cafe Pierre anytime from Thursday to Saturday. All decked out in blond wood and a chatty martini bar, chef Michi Takahashi’s clean and boisterous sushi-and-stock-options playroom is a power-partyer institution. The bar opens at 5:30 and stays open long after the kitchen closes, a happy hunting grounds where the brave skirt and flirt.

Similarly reliable, and home to its own late-night martini die-hards, Cafe Pierre continues to serve Cal-French bistro fare such as an onion gratin soup and a loup de mer, a fish somewhat similar to a sea bass, imported from France and served grilled with a Sicilian caponata and roasted fingerling potatoes. Local secret: There is no guy named Pierre; the owner’s name is Guy Gabriele. The current name is a twist on the original deli and crepe joint, Le Creperie. (For its 30th anniversary, look for special guest chefs to turn up this fall.)

The newest addition to the area’s fine-dining pantheon is Petros, an upscale contemporary Greek spot in the Metlox complex. There’s a kind of spill-back-and-forth effect with Shade, as people fall out of the Zinc Lounge to mingle on the big open plaza next to the diners on Petros’ courtyard patio. It’s Greek for Greeks, with charred octopus salad and spanakopita so labor-intensive it’s available only once in a while.

The Metlox Project, in fact, has changed the character of Manhattan Beach: It’s made the downtown even more like a big, fun campus -- everything is within walking distance. If you haven’t been there in a while, you’ll hardly remember the 2.2-acre site as the big empty lot on Manhattan Beach Boulevard across from the ancient Vons only three blocks uphill from the pier. Once the site of Metlox Pottery, one of the country’s premier manufacturers of ceramic dinnerware and art pieces from 1927 to 1989, the land was polluted by lead from pottery glazes and, after cleanup, was the center of a political battle over its future use.

The new development is an airy mall built over tons of badly needed parking -- in fact, the now plentiful meters around the place are actually free after 8 p.m. Sunset Strip, eat your heart out. Nightclubbing is a joy when you’re not sitting in traffic and valet parking every 90 minutes.

Manhattan Beach Mayor Mitch Ward says planning for the Metlox Project began about seven years ago, and the city chose to include high-end shopping and services, such as a Design Within Reach furniture shop and the flagship store for True Religion Brand Jeans (think $372 “destroyed” denim).

“We prefer more of the high-end or upscale businesses,” the mayor says. “That’s just our preference, and it has been for over a decade. We just want businesses that are going to be around and add a lot to our community.”

When asked which nightclubs he likes to go to, he proved he was still a politician. “All of them,” he said. “We’re lucky. They’re all good.”

PERHAPS the best part about the new Metlox area, however, is it’s all downhill to the heart of Manhattan Beach’s serious clubland. As Selner points out, men meeting women and women meeting men is the currency of the place, and that energy drives the clubs. If your experience of L.A. nightlife is all anonymous Hollywood megaclubs, the friendly, easy-to-mingle vibe in the 90266 will be like a blast of ocean breeze. Well, a breeze carrying a strong whiff of sweet martini.

Snockered women know exactly how far they can wobble in their heels after places like Avenue and the Zinc Lounge close, and that’s to Chakra. It’s the weekend’s most reliable party, and a recent Saturday night demonstrated the key to its success: a tight DJ, a friendly but particular doorman, a dark room and flagons of alcohol. At midnight, the windows are steamed and the 20-by-30-foot dance floor is bumper-to-bumper.

“It’s good to know there’s still Shellback and the shorts-and-sandals crowd,” says Jeff Collins, 24, a regular. “But people are finding out what a great scene this is, so it’s inevitable that this upscale club vibe is going to come here.”

DJ Josh Mele has the place pumpin’ to Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” and two thirtysomething ladies in skirts and mile-high heels taking a break at the bar don’t want to give their names but shout out between bursts of laughter.

“We just came down here from Santa Monica,” says one. “We’re looking for a guy down here we know,” says the other, adding, “And we’ll find him too, because people know each other here. It’s kind of like a big, dysfunctional family.”

A block closer to the ocean, on Manhattan Avenue, an almost identical situation unfolds at Towne. Like Chakra, it’s a restaurant with a good reputation that transforms into a crowded little dance scene after 11 p.m., when you’re likely to be crushed up next to someone whom you really don’t mind being crushed up next to.

If you actually want to talk to your date, though, mosey down Manhattan Avenue a couple of blocks south to the Side Door. At the tiniest and by far most romantic room in town, lucky couples will snag a little booth in the cozy dim light and drink their current signature drink, the Summer Hummer: a concoction of strawberry vodka, citrus vodka and concentrated pink lemonade. You might even get in free “if you say that the bartender is hot,” jokes Vanessa Mariscal, the bartender.

And since you’re in the building, it would be a shame not to try to peek into the room upstairs from the Side Door too. The 900 Club is a private affair for dues-paying members, so you probably won’t get in, but the room is a cathedral-like ‘70s anomaly, with roughhewn cedar paneling and tall stained-glass windows from a church. After hours, the local chefs smoke cigars and drink wine, which makes this Manhattan Beach’s secret gastronomic heart.

The wonderful thing about Manhattan Beach’s fancy fun, of course, is that it’s partly powered by the unfancy partying going on all around it. The carloads of USC frat boys and Loyola Marymount sorority sisters who used to bomb the place have mostly moved south into Hermosa, but bikini-bottomed beer-bonging is still readily available at any number of spots, whether at Beaches -- one of the first buildings up the hill from the Manhattan Pier -- or the hard-partying bar quartet of OB’s, Harry O’s, Pancho’s and Baja Sharkeez north on Highland in El Porto.

While DJ Josh has the crowd rocking at Chakra, for instance, a ritual as old as life itself plays out by the waterfront at the town’s classic surf pub, the Shellback Tavern: A big SUV pulls up in the alley about 1 a.m. and disgorges about a dozen young women, well on their way to the worst hangover they’ve had in a week. One of them, apparently a bride-to-be -- seeing as she’s wearing a bridal veil and a T-shirt that says “Bride” -- ends up in a pushup contest on the sidewalk. As the Shellback’s Internet jukebox pumps out a hip-hop track, a bunch of well-soaked well-wishers help her count ‘em out: “One! Two! Three! C’mon, more!”

That’s the spirit of the place, and it filters into all the clubs, no matter how well-heeled the clientele.

After 2 a.m., sorority sisters and resident CEOs alike are going to end up at the Kettle anyway -- Manhattan Beach’s venerable 24-hour diner, with just the right atmosphere to carry on with an uproarious night (if you can get a seat -- yes, even at 2 a.m. it’s packed).

Up at Avenue, a couple end their night with glasses of fine champagne, and within a few minutes, owner Shaffer is on the phone trying to help them find a hotel room for the night.

He hands them the phone and says, “This is a small town. We go out of our way. They’ll be back.”

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Dean Kuipers, author of the new book “Burning Rainbow Farm: How a Stoner Utopia Went Up in Smoke,” can be reached at weekend@latimes.com.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Navigating the 90266

The Manhattan Beach scene can be broken out into two main areas: downtown and, to the north, the El Porto area. An opinionated look at some highlights:

Downtown

1. Shade Hotel

1221 N. Valley Drive

(310) 546-4995

It’s an anchor of the new Metlox Project, which contains shops and dining. The hotel’s Zinc Lounge and roof pool lounge are the hottest scenes in Manhattan Beach: Hollywood in style, celebrity wattage and cleavage, but with a neighborhood hangout feel.

2. Petros

451 Manhattan Beach Blvd., No. B110

(310) 545-4100

A well-reviewed Greek restaurant, across from Shade in the Metlox complex.

3. Chakra

304 12th St.

(310) 545-1881

The crowds from Shade and the nicer restaurants pour in after 11 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays to dance, dance, dance.

4. Shark’s Cove

309 Manhattan Beach Blvd.

(310) 545-2683

A sports bar full of college kids and live bands.

5. Hennessey’s

313 Manhattan Beach Blvd.

(310) 546-4813

A young crowd, but not as rowdy as at Shark’s Cove next door.

6. Cafe Pierre

317 Manhattan Beach Blvd.

(310) 545-5252

A long-standing bistro and still one of the best places in town to eat.

7. Avenue

1141 Manhattan Ave.

(310) 802-1973

Ambitious food and a nice room by Christian Shaffer, formerly of Chloe in Playa del Rey.

8. Towne

1142 Manhattan Ave.

(310) 545-5405

An upscale crowd jammed around the loud bar and intimate dance area.

9. The Kettle

1138 Highland Ave.

(310) 545-8511

Perfect for anytime between 2 and 7 a.m., when nothing else is open, and for breakfast after surfing.

10. Beaches

117 Manhattan Beach Blvd.

(310) 545-2523

A dance bar packed with college kids looking to hook up.

11. Shellback Tavern

116 Manhattan Beach Blvd.

(310) 376-7857

Exactly what you’d expect for the flip-flops-and-beer crowd.

12. Rock’n Fish

120 Manhattan Beach Blvd.

(310) 379-9900

A classic seafood and steakhouse, by Michael Zislis, main partner in Shade.

13. Manhattan Beach Brewing Co.

124 Manhattan Beach Blvd.

(310) 798-2744

Right next door to Rock’n Fish, and owned by the same restaurateur, it’s a real pub.

14. Sun & Moon Cafe

1131 Manhattan Ave.

(310) 802-8855

Reasonably priced sushi bar becomes rocking party joint -- complete with beer bongs.

15. Ercoles

1101 Manhattan Ave.

(310) 372-1997

Great, 80-year-old beachy dive bar with jeans-clad regulars from the young to the aged eccentric.

16. Michi

903 Manhattan Ave.

(310) 376-0613

Somewhat pricey Japanese food and sushi with a late-night martini bar for the partying executive crowd.

17. The Side Door

900 Manhattan Ave.

(310) 372-1684

The city’s cutest and tiniest room, with good-looking young clientele.

El Porto

18. Baja Sharkeez

3801 Highland Ave.

(310) 545-6563

College craziness and more.

19. Pancho’s

3615 Highland Ave.

(310) 545-6670

A Mexican cantina with live music.

20. OB’s

3610 Highland Ave.

(310) 546-1542

An old-school pub with a beach town institution: Taco Tuesdays.

21. Harry O’s

3600 Highland Ave.

(310) 545-4444

Dancing, live music and a crowd that just might include a pro hockey player or two.

22. Bora Bora

3505 Highland Ave.

(310) 545-6464

Tiny but trendy tiki bar holds about 50 diners, but the pan-Asian menu is worth the wait.

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-- Dean Kuipers