The Red Buddha Lounge, a new nightclub at the old Goldfingers, is just what Hollywood needs right now. It's easy on the eyes, easy on the pocketbook and, more important, easy on the ego.
"Everyone's trying to be exclusive right now," says owner Gianni Capaldi. "We want to be the place you go when you just want to have a good time, where you feel invited without any of the hassle."
Hollywood's boomtown status has led to dozens of new nightclub openings, and many more are on the horizon. People have more options than ever, but depending on what night you hit the town, you'll find yourself standing in line, going face-to-face with a clipboard-toting fascist.
Not at the Red Buddha.
"I've been here eight times," says Julian Pagano, an actor and filmmaker originally from New York. "I never have any problems getting in, and they make a point of remembering you, which makes you want to come back. Even though it's an upscale Hollywood club, it feels more like a neighborhood bar."
That's what Capaldi was going for. Only 18 months ago, he was fresh off a plane from his hometown of Glasgow, Scotland. He didn't know one person when he got to L.A., but he knew the nightclub business, having worked his way from doorman to promoter at a variety of Scottish clubs and pubs. The first thing he did was buy a gay bar in Sherman Oaks, Gold 9, and transform it into Green Frog, an Irish pub with no attitude.
"In Scotland, the scene is very compact," Capaldi says. "You'll see the same people three or four nights a week and you have a chance to be more personal, to get to know their drinks, their mates, to be hands-on. We could do that in the Valley."
Then he entered the dragon: Hollywood.
"I learned quickly that everything's 'exclusive.' How can everything be exclusive? I want to be realistic," he says.
Opting for a sleek, Asian vibe, Red Buddha is warm, intimate and very, very red. It's small -- the official capacity is 160 -- but there are plenty of nooks and crannies to hang out in. Gone is the gold flame that covered the walls of Goldfingers. In its place, you'll find red-glazed walls and ceilings draped with silk. Details include door handles from a Tibetan temple and an outdoor patio (once a blackened rock 'n' roll hang) that is light and bright, with blue-gray walls and plush red booths.
"I love the interior," says Renee Stone, a professional dancer who's been a Buddha regular since its June opening. "It's fresh and sexy, very open and friendly. It's really very un-Hollywood."
