Restaurateur Wants Vodka Drinkers to Chill Out

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Larry Nicola, owner of Nic’s Beverly Hills restaurant and lounge, is a self-proclaimed “vodkateur.” He is turning over the restaurant reins to his son Luke, so he can focus on gettingt his concept of martini lounges and walk-in vodka freezers into some international hotels.

The Vodbox is a smallish 28-degree room where a handful of drinkers can sample more than 80 variations of vodka that are stored there. It was added to Nicola’s restaurant two years ago.

Nicola said he came up with the concept which includes giving guests fake fur coats and hats to wear while Vodboxing when the neighboring Crate & Barrel store was under construction. Nic’s was blocked from view, and once the scene cleared, he wanted to attract attention.

“I knew I needed to do something outrageous to come out swinging,” he said. Thus the Vodbox was born.

Now, Nicola is in talks with a few hotels to create a licensing deal to put his vodka freezer-martini lounge concept in them. He hopes to have deals completed within the next six months.

He wants to restrict the number of Vodboxes, though.

“I want to have five around the world,” he said. “I want to keep the luxury brand something special.”


Gift Giving

Jon Siegal, chief executive of Santa Monica-based startup Web Personal Assistant Inc., has built a gifting concept that he hopes will be an online hit.

Webgiftr.com tracks birthdays and anniversaries like other calendars, but also provides profiles that allow people to list their preferences and interests that might help gift-givers select presents for them. They can name specific retailers, brands, products, restaurants or charities.

The site was launched in mid-November and is the first product from Siegal’s company. The business is privately funded and former Gap Inc. chief executive Paul Pressler is on the board.

The site provides alerts when a birthday or other event comes along and the people in a user’s network can get a better idea of what to give by checking the profile. Friends can book restaurant reservations for the event through OpenTable.com.

The service can also be imported as a feature on Facebook.

“Our goal is to help people end to end for their gift-giving needs,” Siegal said. “We wanted to make the whole thing more fun and less work.”

Retailers and restaurants pay referral fees to Web Personal Assistant for any purchases made through links from Webgiftr. The company also sells ad space.


Accidents Happen

A case of expensive wine falls during delivery and one of the bottles bursts. The other bottles are perfectly fine, except for the purple blotches staining the labels.

The wineries and distributors can sell them to the Accidental Wine Co., an online retailer of what it calls “accidental” wine. The company then sells them at 20 percent to 40 percent less than retail prices.

The wine’s point of origin isn’t listed on the Web site so as not to upset the wineries, said David Forbes, chief executive of the downtown L.A.-based company.

“The wineries and distributors need to keep the price of their wine at certain levels,” he said. “We do them a favor by getting rid of the wine they can’t sell. But we don’t want to embarrass them by advertising our low prices.”

Instead, buyers choose from packages or from type. Because the wine that the company sells is the result of accidents, an exact brand or type can’t be guaranteed on demand. The company only stocks one month’s worth of inventory.

Accidental Wine Co. was founded by Forbes, a film business consultant; his son, Micah Forbes, a graphic designer; and Janice Lee, a marketing consultant.

They pooled about $50,000 and launched the site a year ago. The company now has 60 percent repeat customers.

“As the economy has turned down, our business has gone up,” David Forbes said.


News & Notes

Elie Samaha, film producer and nightclub impresario behind Roxbury and Sunset Room, has formed a partnership with club director Rob Vinokur to open Playhouse and Sweet Love Hangover, a nightclub and 24-hour restaurant, respectively. The two-in-one venture will open in the former Fox Theater space in Hollywood. The opening is slated for the end of January. Some local retailers will be getting space at the revamped Santa Monica Place mall. Kitson, Joe’s Jeans, BCBG Max Azria and True Religion will be tenants when the mall opens next fall. L.A. frozen yogurt chain Pinkberry will open a shop in San Jose next month, marking its first outpost in Northern California.


Staff reporter Maya Meinert can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.

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