URBAN GURU
11 March 2006, 12:17 PM
The Dolce Group opened the Italian restaurant Dolce Enoteca in Hollywood nearly three years ago and quickly developed a reputation in Los Angeles for opening hip restaurants with lively bar scenes.
It didn't hurt that the group's core investors were A-List celebrities, such as Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson and Jamie Kennedy, who often made appearances. Mike Malin, the primary owner of the group with partner Lonnie Moore, also is an actor. He is known for being a cast member in the CBS reality show "Big Brother" and ensuing reunion shows as well as having roles in such movies as "Psycho Beach Party."
Dolce was followed by the stylish restaurant Geisha House, a futuristic Japanese concept that opened a year ago in Hollywood and is projected to top $10 million in sales. About two months ago, the group also opened nearby Bella, a more casual cafe concept that is seen as a "little sister" of Dolce. Recently, the group also opened The Lodge steakhouse in Beverly Hills with Adolfo Suaya, known for the Gaucho Grill and other restaurants, though Suaya later bought out the Dolce Group partners on that project.
Now Malin and Moore are aiming to broaden their portfolio with plans to open repeats of Geisha House and Dolce, as well as other new concepts, across the country.
What's scheduled to open next?
We're opening a Geisha House and Dolce in Atlanta in May 2006, along with Kingpin, a new concept bowling alley, bar/lounge and restaurant. All three will be in Atlantic Station in midtown, a mixed-use development that opened in October.
We're also opening a Dolce unit in Las Vegas at the Luxor hotel/casino in association with the guys who will operate the nightclub Pure there. And, in Dallas, we're developing an exclusive sports lounge concept for Victory Park, the mixed-use development by Ross Perot there. We're also planning a Kingpin Dallas, and we're looking into launching a seafood concept there, but we don't have a name for that yet.
In Los Angeles, we're also developing a tapas lounge in Hollywood. No name for that yet either.
In L.A. your restaurants are known for their "scene," but reviewers have written that they are surprised the food is as good as it is. How does that strike you?
It's a back-handed compliment, really. We're stepping into a realm which is more about being a restaurant, rather than a celebrity-owned, tastemaker-driven establishment. Our chefs may have taken a back seat, but the celebrities get people in only once. It's the food and service that keep them coming back.
We're aiming for the 35-year-old who may be done with the club scene. They want to go someplace with one-stop shopping: a vibrant bar scene and a great restaurant.
Do you have a contractual relation ship with your celebrity investors to show their faces at the restaurants?
Yes. It kind of grew up organically in Los Angeles. But I have invoked clauses in other cities to get celebrities to show up at least one time per year. Put a bowling ball in Ashton Kutcher's hand in Atlanta one time, and I'll take people's money there for a year.
It didn't hurt that the group's core investors were A-List celebrities, such as Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson and Jamie Kennedy, who often made appearances. Mike Malin, the primary owner of the group with partner Lonnie Moore, also is an actor. He is known for being a cast member in the CBS reality show "Big Brother" and ensuing reunion shows as well as having roles in such movies as "Psycho Beach Party."
Dolce was followed by the stylish restaurant Geisha House, a futuristic Japanese concept that opened a year ago in Hollywood and is projected to top $10 million in sales. About two months ago, the group also opened nearby Bella, a more casual cafe concept that is seen as a "little sister" of Dolce. Recently, the group also opened The Lodge steakhouse in Beverly Hills with Adolfo Suaya, known for the Gaucho Grill and other restaurants, though Suaya later bought out the Dolce Group partners on that project.
Now Malin and Moore are aiming to broaden their portfolio with plans to open repeats of Geisha House and Dolce, as well as other new concepts, across the country.
What's scheduled to open next?
We're opening a Geisha House and Dolce in Atlanta in May 2006, along with Kingpin, a new concept bowling alley, bar/lounge and restaurant. All three will be in Atlantic Station in midtown, a mixed-use development that opened in October.
We're also opening a Dolce unit in Las Vegas at the Luxor hotel/casino in association with the guys who will operate the nightclub Pure there. And, in Dallas, we're developing an exclusive sports lounge concept for Victory Park, the mixed-use development by Ross Perot there. We're also planning a Kingpin Dallas, and we're looking into launching a seafood concept there, but we don't have a name for that yet.
In Los Angeles, we're also developing a tapas lounge in Hollywood. No name for that yet either.
In L.A. your restaurants are known for their "scene," but reviewers have written that they are surprised the food is as good as it is. How does that strike you?
It's a back-handed compliment, really. We're stepping into a realm which is more about being a restaurant, rather than a celebrity-owned, tastemaker-driven establishment. Our chefs may have taken a back seat, but the celebrities get people in only once. It's the food and service that keep them coming back.
We're aiming for the 35-year-old who may be done with the club scene. They want to go someplace with one-stop shopping: a vibrant bar scene and a great restaurant.
Do you have a contractual relation ship with your celebrity investors to show their faces at the restaurants?
Yes. It kind of grew up organically in Los Angeles. But I have invoked clauses in other cities to get celebrities to show up at least one time per year. Put a bowling ball in Ashton Kutcher's hand in Atlanta one time, and I'll take people's money there for a year.