Just in time for Whale Week's Champagne Power Hour, going on right now, let's talk to Randy Masada, a seasoned club promoter for some of LA's hottest clubs. Here, he dishes on how Whales order, drink and spray their champagne.
Clubs are about music, money and bottle service. Among the levels of bottle service, Champagne Service is at the top in terms of current cultural relevance and Whale-worthiness. Club Promoter Randy Masada has seen it all while working with some of the LA's top clubs, including such The Cabana Club, Eden, Blok, and LURE. Masada tell Eater about what happens when the bottles start popping.
What's the most popular bottle that people order?
Most tables order the premiums, like Grey Goose, Patron or Henny (Hennessy), but whales always order champagne. Veuve (Cliquot), Moet (et Chandon), Dom P (Dom Perignon), Cristal (Louis Roederer), and Ace of Spades (Arnand de Brignac). I think I see "Dom P" go out for the most part. We also have magnum sizes and up.
Why do whales like champagne?
If we have multiple whales, we usually place them at the best tables and make them visible to each other, so they can see when another table is popping a bottle and all the attention is on that table. That way, they'll want to get that attention back on their table and pop more. Depending on the atmosphere, they go crazy with popping that champagne. That's when you see all the "moochers" running to that table to get their free drinks.
What's an usual request you've been asked to fulfill?
One night at the Cabana Club, there was a young poker player who wanted to wear a hat inside the club. Back then we didn't allow hats at the club. So he offered to pay $1,000 just to be able to wear the hat inside the club. We were sold out of tables that night, so he ended up buying a $1,000 bottle of Cristal at the bar... no table, no bottle service, just the bottle to enjoy at the bar.
What are some of the wackiest things you've seen whales do with bottles of champagne?
Whales often pop the champagne bottle and pour champagne into everyone's mouth at the table. And there's plenty of spraying of champagne. I'm guilty of it. My last birthday, we pre-partied at SLS Hotel with Ace of Spades and Cristal, then I had my party at Greystone Manor. I did 2 magnum bottles (Goose, Patron), 3 Ace of Spades and 2 other bottles of champagne that we used to spray everyone from our table and then I got up on top of the DJ booth. I got two bottles at once and sprayed everyone, but ended up breaking the bottles and cut my hand. It's okay though, the party still went on of course.
What extra service do Whales get when they order champagne? They get great service and some very attractive waitresses bring the champagne. Some clubs go above and beyond. Supperclub has acrobats bringing it down from the ceiling while LURE has this clear plastic half-circle chair that comes down from the ceiling with two girls holding the bottles.
How much are bottles of champagne?
Ace of Spades is anywhere from $1,100 to $22,000 depending on what size or what grade of you're getting. Dom P ranges from $700-$15,000 and Cristal is $1,000-$10,000.
·All Whale Week 2013 Coverage [~ELA~]
Loading comments...