Q&A: Craig Trager

(Credit: Victor Rodionoff)

There are L.A. bars. And there are Craig Trager bars. The difference? Shelf life. Bars fade out quickly in this town—in Hollywood especially, as soon as the place is name-checked in the tabloids, it’s beyond over among the trendy crowd. But Trager's places—The Well, Bar 21, NoBar—just get more popular with age. When the city forced him to shut down his most legendary spot Daddy’s (they claimed eminent domain; he’s claiming foul and suing) Trager hooked up with Michelle Marini to reinvent her Lava Lounge into The Woods. The result is a forest-themed lounge with a vibe reminiscent of summer camp. Cumbayah.

What’s your trick for establishing longevity?
I’ll never let Paris Hilton into one of my bars. That crowd is turn-‘em-and-burn-‘em. They might make a place really popular in the beginning, but when they stop going to that bar, no one wants to go to that bar anymore. I’d rather deal with the first $54 Tuesday and build a crowd over time.

How do you cultivate a crowd?
Mostly it’s word-of-mouth. My regulars come four days a week. It’s all about having a place to blend in, where no one gives a s--t.

You’re also known for your jukeboxes.
Yeah, the jukebox at The Woods is vintage; it’s from the ‘70s and 90-percent of the discs are classic rock. There’s everything from old Iggy Pop to new Mickey Avalon.

Unlike your other bars, The Woods has a definite theme.
The concept came from Michelle. She’s kitschy and ‘70s and I’m more upscale and refined.

How’d you blend the two aesthetics?
Instead of traditional chandeliers, we put in chandeliers made of elk antlers. The tables are made from actual tree trunks and the top of the bar was made of rippled brass—something that is usually impossible to find—and is meant to look like tree branches.

An artistic interpretation of the woods?
Yeah. And the ceiling is painted black, but we put fiber optics, which looks like twinkle stars. [Ed. note: This is true. After a few drinks, I felt like climbing into a sleeping bag and staring at the stars until I drifted off.]

Are you happy with how it turned out?
Of all the bars I’ve built, it’s as perfect as it can be right off the bat. There hasn’t been a lot of tweaking.

What’s the big seller on the cocktail menu?
The mint julep is the signature drink, made with Jack Daniels. Vodka and Jack Daniels are always the two biggest sellers at my bars. We also have the Hollow Point, named after a most lethal kind of bullet. It’s a really strong shot served with two straws—the straws are meant to look like a double-barrel shotgun and the idea is that, ‘it only takes one to kill you.’

Is it hard to get into The Woods?
There’s no guest list and there’s no velvet rope. But across the board, I won’t let in guys wearing wife beaters—wife beaters are like underwear and if you can’t bother to put on a shirt, you can’t come in. No bandanas, ripped clothes or pants hanging off your ass either. And no athletic wear.

What if it’s really nice athletic wear?
If it’s a $400 Adidas track suit, OK.

Alexandra Le Tellier is Bars & Clubs editor for Metromix Los Angeles.