MADAME ROYALE HOLLYWOOD

Madame Royale Hollywood is not a nightclub, but a lounge, claimed by Ian Shepp, one of the principal owners of Madame Royale Hollywood, about the latest arrival on Hollywood’s relentlessly competitive nightlife scene. “A nightclub is a place with moving lights, LED and all of that. There are lounges that try to be a club, and we’re definitely not that.”

Tucked away on a strip of Yucca just off Cahuenga between a check-cashing business and a laundry, Madame Royale Hollywood is what can be called genuinely old school. A collaboration between Shepp and L.A. club stalwarts Gianni Capaldi and Brad Hoss (along with celebrity investor Ryan Cabrera), the space is an intimate bar-lounge inspired by 1920s French culture, most notably the Moulin Rouge.

On a recent Tuesday night (and only the lounge’s second night open to the public), Madame Royale Hollywood attracted a young, sexy and refreshingly laid-back crowd of Hollywood party people. The striking interior is heavy with marble tops, dark wood and antique light fixtures creating a warm, inviting setting. The DJ is set up at a 19th century chest of drawers on a small elevated stage that also doubles as a VIP area of sorts with tables and a couch.

While the main room was packed with bodies moving to dance music, an even more social scene was buzzing in the lounge’s fantastic back patio. Replete with couches, a fireplace and full bar, the patio also boasts a wrought-iron balcony complete with hanging jasmine to create the feel of a New Orleans house party.

“I’ve been in this business for 15 years and opened multiple clubs, but this is my first baby,” admits Shepp of Madame Royale Hollywood. “I got my start at the Viper Room. Johnny Depp brought me in there and let me clean the floors, and I fell in love with the business.”

While exclusivity and celebrity sightings are a part of the lounge’s appeal (Lance Bass, Cheryl Burke, Evan Ross and Shane West have all been spotted, while “Twilight” actress Ashley Greene has already been there twice), both Capaldi and Shepp insist that Madame Royale is in tune with the current economic climate.

“We have lower drink prices than anywhere in our area,” boasts Shepp. “I’m trying to bring things back to where it was before places started price-gouging the consumer. So far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.”

Sometimes you’re looking for a night out that takes you to another era—like all the way back to 2001, when Moulin Rouge premiered.

Or, okay, maybe 19th-century Montmartre. Here, a sneak peek inside Madame Royale Hollywood, a Paris-inspired lounge that’s now in soft-open mode for a select Hollywood crowd.

Behind a nondescript door just beyond the Cahuenga Corridor gridlock, the exclusive sliver of space (you once knew it as Play) has undergone a thorough gutting to create a brand-new yesteryear feel—think brick walls, mismatched mirrors and peacocks. Lots of golden peacocks.

The leather banquettes up front are dance-ready, but push past those to make a pit stop at the central bar. Beyond that you’ll find a small stage in the rear corner. It probably won’t be graced by Nicole Kidman in a top hat anytime soon, but Ian Shepp and Brad Hoss (along with Gianni Capaldi, proprietor since the lounge’s Red Buddha days) promise an eclectic mix of sets from jazz greats and intimate acoustic-rock gigs.

Out back, though, is where we predict the most intriguing 21st-century revelry will go down—the walled-in patio, with greenery snaking through overhead beams and old-timey sconces providing the only light, has its own second bar, slinging absinthe cocktails under a New Orleans–style balcony.

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