How did h.wood Group start?
I have been an artist my whole life (it is still my true love), and I also love people. I decided just out of law school that I would give it a shot and create my own venue that was both a restaurant and club. My goal was to [develop] a brand from the beginning. Eventually [Brian Toll and I] came up with the name h.wood, and then years later named our company after it.
How has your partnership with Hakkasan Group, which is majority owner, helped to evolve h.wood offerings?
We started h.wood Group 10 years ago, and two years ago, I set out to grow our company. I ended up meeting the heads of Hakkasan and loved them, so we bought out all of my old investors and partnered with them to take h.wood Group to a much bigger level. They help give insight and guidance on expansion as well as current operations.
Los Angeles’ the Nice Guy blends restaurant and club. Why a reservation-only concept?
We owe our success to our loyal friends and family, which is why we set out to build a place for them. The idea is to make it an invite-only place [where invites] have to be approved by us as the owners. It is a members place without the membership fee.
What do you look for in a design partner for your venues?
John Sofio of Built Inc. builds and designs all of our places with me. It is not a partnership, but it feels like one because at this point we are basically family, and I exclusively work with him. My co-founder Toll, and food and beverage director Adam Koral were also heavily involved with aspects of the design of each place.
You branched out of the LA market with Bootsy Bellows in Aspen. What other venues are in the works?
Aspen is a market that goes hand in hand with most of our friends and clients in LA. We saw a void in the market there for nightlife and most importantly, we fell in love with the town itself. We are [also] opening a new restaurant-lounge in West Hollywood as well as expanding our upscale karaoke lounge, Blind Dragon, in Dubai (tentatively September) and Arizona (tentatively winter).
