Step into another world

NAILS polished? Check. Hair, after hours of work, looking suitably comme il faut? Check. Faux tan achieving the proper shade of dark gold? Bra strap not showing? Everything tucked in that should be? Grab a gossamer shawl to cover the shoulders, should the evening turn chilly, and, with the latest brutally ugly but swooningly expensive bag tucked under the arm, make your entrance at Social Hollywood.

At the entry to the former 1920s Hollywood Athletic Club on Sunset Boulevard, lights are set up along a walkway, paparazzi with cameras at the ready. Paris? Britney? Who, then? Famous gamers, the security tells me. The sprawling complex, which includes a ballroom, a disco, private lounges and gaming rooms upstairs, is hosting an Xbox party, and invited gamers are out in force.

Our destination, though, is the Moroccan Room, Social’s restaurant. Past a couple of carved alabaster thrones and glass cases stuffed with silver Moroccan teapots and other exotic treasures is the dining room, and it is beautiful. The vaulted painted ceilings high above have been rediscovered. Carved Moroccan wood screens divide the room into smaller groupings of tables. Some tables have old mosaic tops; others are swathed in linens. The chairs have a luxury campsite feel, like something you’d find on an exotic safari outfitted by Vuitton.

A captain in a white linen suit introduces himself and his waiter. Everybody here seems to have gone to charm school, my urbane friend Tyrone feels compelled to comment. And I have to agree that for such a trendy spot, where the buzz started months ago, everyone is remarkably welcoming and, well, nice. It’s a big place. They’ve got to fill it.

The decor may be Moroccan, but the menu, as anyone here will explain, has global influences. The globe is large; nevertheless, you’ll find a good many dishes you’ll recognize, even if you don’t own a passport.

Chef Joe Ojeda, previously of Asia de Cuba, sprinkles grapes over a watercress and goat cheese salad. His beet salad in blood orange vinaigrette is dressed up with a blue cheese espuma, or foam, and candied pistachios. He turns out a napoleon of smoked salmon and horseradish cream, but the dish I was taken with is much more down-home: beautifully cooked sweetbreads with black-eyed peas and bacon. I also liked the Turks and Caicos conch, served in four pretty shells “a la escargots.”

Finding a wine you’d want to drink for less than $50 can be a challenge when choosing from a list that moves quickly to ever higher figures. That’s about when the cocktails begin to sound more appealing.

A main-course short rib tagine blends the Moroccan theme with Oaxacan mole to good effect. Roast duck breast with the leg confit and a sweet-sour orange glaze makes the cut too. Lighter seafood choices include a seafood tagine, wild salmon filet with artichokes and loup de mer with a shaved fennel and lemon slaw.

The natives are dressed to the hilt. The cocktails are enticing and, well, if you know somebody, maybe you can manage to slip upstairs, past the giant mirrors on the staircase, up to the velvet room, a lounge that floats high above the boulevard, cocooning members and their guests in comfy Midcentury furniture and yards of velvet. Sort of like a social club. Be there, if only to see the extraordinary transformation of the once-decrepit Hollywood Athletic Club.

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Moroccan Room

Where: 6525 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood

When: Dining 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily. Valet parking, $8 upfront.

Price: Appetizers, $13 to $24; main courses, $24 to $35;

sides, $8.

Info: (323) 462-5222, www.socialhollywood.com