Wednesday, February 4, 1998
Duet cited for illegally cutting footloose
WESTWOOD: Police bust restaurant-nightclub for having dancing
without permit, violating ordinance
By Rachel Munoz
Daily Bruin Staff
Duet, the restaurant and nightclub, is facing the wrath of
Westwood for allowing an act the Village hasn’t seen in years:
dancing.
Thursday night, the West Los Angeles Vice Squad paid a visit to
and cited Duet. The police were tipped off by several Westwood
homeowners, one of whom is Holmby Westwood Property Owners
co-president, Sandy Brown. She claims that she has seen people
dancing inside Duet and that the restaurant-nightclub actually
advertises it.
Although nightclub owner Chris Mallick feels that as an American
he has the right to run a business, the fact is that dancing is not
allowed in Westwood. It has not been permitted since the
development of the Westwood Specific Plan, a document put together
over 10 years by Westwood residents.
A special conditional use permit as well as a dance hall permit
is required for dancing in Westwood.
However, when Duet came to the village Mallick did not initially
know about the Westwood Specific Plan.
Although Mallick said he couldn’t comment on Thursday’s events
upon advice from council, it is rumored that all the guests were
asked to go home.
What Mallick did say is that he doesn’t know who has been
calling the police but he has a sincere invitation for them. "I
would love if some of the people who are calling the police …
come by and talk about this face to face. I will talk to anybody at
anytime."
Mallick is coming to terms with the fact that someone has
notified the police about the dancing that takes place at his
restaurant-nightclub, but that doesn’t mean he understands it.
"I would have never assumed that dancing would be illegal
anywhere in America," Mallick said. "I want someone to give me a
compelling reason why dancing is so bad."
"We assumed and it was the wrong assumption," added Charlie
Hassanger, general manager of Duet.
According to Madeline Biesty, the Westwood Field Deputy for
Councilman Michael Feuer, Mallick was informed a few months ago
that he needed a permit for dancing.
"We met with the owner in November of 1997," Biesty said of
herself and her boss. "At that time we looked at all of his permits
and paperwork. We told him that he was allowed to serve alcohol and
he was allowed to have live entertainment."
But nothing was said about dancing. Two weeks later, when people
had complained about dancing taking place in the restaurant,
Mallick called to clarify if dancing was permitted. Biesty informed
him that it was not allowed.
Duet had hired a representative in September to handle the
dancing permit, but the representative developed cancer and was
temporarily unable to continue his work.
"The permit should have been filed in September," Mallick said.
"We paid all the money but he has just now put everything
together."
During this same time period Duet was doing very little business
and were not promoting or advertising dancing, so Mallick felt it
wasn’t necessary to fire the representative with cancer just to
hire another man to continue to push the dance permit.
However, Biesty notes that the citing Thursday was not the first
one the restaurant-nightclub has received.
Duet was cited for dancing in December as well. "They do not
have permission … to dance," she said. "And the police do have a
problem with that."
The police certainly do have a problem with that. "Our officers
did go up to Duet," said Sergeant Doug Abney of the West Los
Angeles Vice Squad. "The West Los Angeles Division is investigating
Duet to determine whether they have the proper permits to operate a
nightclub that offers dancing."
Although the restaurant-nightclub has been cited and is under
investigation, Abney assures that Duet can continue to stay open
and serve its customers. "They are still in full operation," he
said.
Duet hopes to receive the necessary permits for dancing in the
next four months, but are aware that it could take longer.
While Duet is in the midst of legalizing dancing, they might
want to consider the signs for the restaurant-nightclub.
Terri Tippit, the chair of the Westwood Design and Review Board,
says that Duet’s signs are in violation of Westwood’s signage
policies because they never came before the board to get them
approved. All street-facing signs must come before the board to be
approved before they are displayed so the board can decide if the
sign is something it would want for the Village.
"We don’t want conflict," Tippet said. "But we have been
notified by several people that the sign has changed." Duet’s
original sign was presented in front of the board and passed.
In the meantime, Duet would like nothing more than to be
considered a part of the community.
"Who can we call that will welcome us?" Mallick asked. He
assures that his customers aren’t driving through the homeowners’
neighborhoods and that his prices don’t invite ‘the criminal
element’ — both of which are issues that he knows concern the
Westwood community.
Mallick insists that he is like every other business owner in
Westwood hoping that the village is on its way to revival.
"I think we are good for Westwood," he said. "And I hope that
all the other restaurants are packed every night."
Finally, Mallick relays something his father once told him:
"Pioneers get slaughtered and settlers get rich. I don’t want to be
a pioneer and get slaughtered just because of dancing."