CLUB REVIEW : LunaPark an Eclectic Venue Without Westside Snobbery

In the ten months since L.A. club veteran Jean-Pierre Boccara opened his latest night-life venture, West Hollywood’s LunaPark, the Parisian entrepreneur has consistently given club-goers an elegant and eclectic night out.

Despite the hoopla that accompanies a new “scene” in L.A., LunaPark has managed to maintain a trendy, chic atmosphere without the snobbery that plagues too many Westside clubs. The 400-capacity supper club is a lush-looking, gold and amber place, with a tiny, Euro-style cabaret room downstairs and a generous stage and dance floor upstairs.

The music mix is ambitious: from acid jazz to world beat, from pop to torch singing, LunaPark’s weekly lineup manages to be varied while still maintaining a classy through-line. Although the crowd varies with the evening’s performers, the Hollywood bimbo squad tends to roost elsewhere most nights.

Both supermodel Milla and actress Karen Black have found LunaPark a hospitable setting to test their singing aspirations, and a recent Saturday was typical of the club’s variety-act tone: While a Brazilian 12-piece band moved dancers upstairs, an “Arab-Turkish” group wowed the downstairs audience with sword-wielding belly dancers of both genders.

* LunaPark, 665 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood . Cover varies, 21 and over . (310) 652-0611.