How best to transform the ginormous, labyrinthine Hollywood Athletic Club into, well, anything that will draw enough people to fill it up? International restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow (with co-owner Melissa Richardson) attempts to divide and conquer.

The entrance on Sunset Boulevard opens into a crisp black-and-white lobby, where sharply dressed employees lead a very Hollywood crowd along their differing journeys. To the right is the bar and, through the curtain in the back, the bathrooms and large special-event space. Up the stairs are various VIP and member-only areas including game rooms with PlayStations and Xboxes, a bar, a screening room, a "green room" with a private dining room, and a "velvet room" for dining and/or meeting. And to the left of the lobby—still with us? this is what you came for—is the main dining area, dubbed the "Moroccan Room." The fresco ceilings have been restored, the fireplace lit, the large space sectioned off with lattice and Moroccan screens to create a sense of flow, intimacy and neck-craning. (Diners alternate between jovial conversations and hushed curiosity about the cackling around the corner.) In terms of atmosphere and experience, the price is steep for those not writing off the night as a "business meeting," but we can't say we didn't find several recommendations on the menu from chef Joseph Ojeda (formerly of Chodorow's Asia de Cuba). The scallops and sweet crab cakes with gazpacho shooter were enticing; entrees like roast duck in sweet-and-sour orange glaze and lamb chop and shank on polenta were quickly polished off. —Lonny Pugh