THE ENABLER

The idea behind Kitchen 24 -- an all-night diner and bar lodged in the maw of the beast that is the Cahuenga Corridor -- is so blindingly obvious it’s amazing the place hasn’t existed until a few weeks ago.

Put scads of painted trollops and Drakkar-smelling dudes in the middle of the two-block strip that houses Hollywood’s most vacuous nightclubs, and it’s inevitable that they’ll want to take a break from dog-earing copies of “The Game” to gobble sweet potato fries and elaborate waffles. Or suck down more booze. You can do both at Kitchen 24, which is poised to become the Barney’s Beanery of the “Boys & Girls’ Guide to Getting Down” set.

With its lampshades made from kitchen utensils, peppy servers who throw back shots with customers and giant windows looking out on Cahuenga, Kitchen 24 is the most efficiently friendly stop on the block. It’s relatively cheap (except for the coma-sweet specialty cocktails), and can both alleviate and facilitate hangovers (except during the 2 to 6 a.m. alcohol blackout).

Just for kicks, at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday, the Enabler ordered a black coffee with a shot of bourbon. It tasted repellent, but in one swig it fulfilled all the promise of Kitchen 24.

1608 N. Cahuenga Blvd., (323) 465-2424

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-- theguide@latimes.com