Aaron Russo’s Son Opens Club/Restaurant In Los Angeles

Wall Street Post
L.A.’s Answer to Soho House
By MARSHALL HEYMAN
Feb 22, 2013

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For New Yorkers in Los Angeles this weekend for the Oscars, there are several new things to check out, including an Isabel Marant store on Melrose Place and a power restaurant called Hinoki & the Bird, in Century City.

Slightly more off the beaten path, by the beach, is a new 5,000-square-foot private club and restaurant called 41 Ocean in Santa Monica that is building buzz and membership since opening in late January. Locals are labeling it the West Side’s alternative to the popular local branch of Soho House in West Hollywood. They are also wondering if it can achieve anything like the Soho House’s grip on the entertainment industry.

Max Russo, a 31-year-old native Angeleno who previously owned treatment centers for young adults with drug and alcohol problems, co-founded 41 Ocean. Mr. Russo grew up in a Hollywood household–his father helped discover Bette Midler and went on to produce “The Rose” and “Trading Places.”

“I wanted to create an old Hollywood environment,” said Mr. Russo, of the impetus behind 41 Ocean, “a place that paid homage to California, where successful entrepreneurial people and creative people could eat great food and be entertained.”

Mr. Russo started with 10 to 15 friends, who each brought in 10 members to start. Membership is currently hovering at 300 members with an annual fee of around $2,000.

Magic and comedy acts have become a part of the scene at 41 Ocean, he said. As of now the club is open Wednesday through Sunday most of the day, serving lunch and dinner, with a menu that includes typical club favorites like burrata cheese and tuna tartare.

As membership increases, “the plan is to open full time.”

Mr. Russo’s goal is to approximate “the old Rat Pack days,” he said. “We want to provide something to watch and to talk about.”

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3 thoughts on “Aaron Russo’s Son Opens Club/Restaurant In Los Angeles

  1. My God, the guy used his dead father’s connection to Miss M to help his business! One does use all the cards in the sleeve.

  2. Hello Max …..I was a good friend of your dads, I was his river guide on the middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho. He and Heidi stayed in my boat for the whole week, and got to know each other very well. I stayed at your house in Hollywood with him and Heidi and he introduced me too Jack Nicholson warren Beatty and Danny Devito. He was a great man I miss him

    1. Hey Jack, this is a Bette Midler fansite. Max will never see this here, but he is on Instagram. You should look him up there. I bet that was a fun time, though.

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