Giving Them 51 Reasons to Stay
Lucy’s 51 is Toluca Lake, Calif.’s Foremost Taste of New York 

After only six months in business, Lucy’s 51 is accredited with being the place to get a taste of New York –– from drinks to conversation to atmosphere –– in sunny climes of Los Angeles, specifically the Valley’s Toluca Lake region.    
    Once home to the first IHOP, Toluca Lake has shed its middle-class past in favor of a more upscale flavor over the last decades, and Lucy’s 51 is upping the ante of this continuing the trend with a rather lascivious personality. Owner and operator Richard DiSisto’s enthusiasm for vintage décor, the perfect New York steak and impressing the hell out of guests has come to the forefront and rave reviews are spilling as glasses continually are hoisted.

Stepping Out and Stepping In
    “It’s best described in one word. ‘Swank,’” says Owner Richard DiSisto. Leaving it to one word, however, wouldn’t do the dame justice. Before even making it inside, many a patron gazes up at the front of DiSisto’s building. Announcing Lucy’s 51 is a 12-foot, neon pin-up girl leaning against the ropes of a boxing ring. 
    Lucy’s interior design is equally outrageous, and it instigates and inspires conversations prior to consumption of spirit or cuisine. A blend of old Hollywood and old-school Soho, the space has a bordello feel to it. The lighting scheme encompasses a 400-pound chandelier and sultry, red lighting, which bounces off the black and gold-flecked floors. Giant diamond shapes cut from steel adorn the walls as guests relax on leopard print barstools and at high-top tables amongst heavy velvet drapes.
    “What this place became was an outlet for my personality in a way,” DiSisto says.
His love of vintage and detail is obvious, with many guests telling him each evening that they have spotted something in the restaurant or lounge for the first time.
    “In the soffit of my ceiling,” he says, “I have 60 1959-Cadillac taillight lenses. Just as they (guests) start to figure out what those lights are, they realize there are gold frogs mounted on the ceiling with LED lights in their eyes and mouths.”
    DiSisto came across his idea for the frogs on a junkyard hunt, and he says that his amphibians on the ceiling are just one of the many things inside of Lucy’s 51 that “blow people away.”

Eat, Drink and Make Merry
    The drink list is no wallflower either with options such as the Porn Star, which contains X-Rated vodka or the High Roller, which has Grey Goose and jalapeño-stuffed olives. “I spent about three weeks with my staff,” says DiSisto. “with the intent to recreate the Martini. I wanted to come up with the best Martini list ever. We worked on it for a month and came up with 51 Martinis, and I think we have the best in the city.”
    In addition to Martinis and exceptional bottle service, DiSisto also stocked 22 beer labels at Lucy’s, as opposed to draft because he felt bottles kept the space cleaner in appearance overall.
    For those who are craving more than an olive or two, Lucy’s 51 offers a menu full of selections by Executive Chef James Leach. Upon DiSisto’s insistence, he refrained from creating any of the dishes until the place was finished.
    “I said, ‘Don’t tell me your menu ideas until you sit in the room and take a look at the place.’”
    Like everything else, the menu is a mix of Hollywood and Manhattan. Fried ravioli in a homemade Italian sauce, an Ahi-tuna salad, bacon-wrapped shrimp and Chicken Piccata all made the final kitchen cut. Above and beyond these selections, the steak is moving faster than the rest, and DiSisto says his pork chops have been editorially rewarded by three separate publications.

Landing on 51
    DiSisto is aware that impressing guests once is not his biggest challenge. His return business is due to all of the aforementioned perks of a night spent in Lucy’s 51 as well as his promotional savvy.
    Upon arrival, DiSisto looked to the studios such as Warner Brothers, Disney and NBC as potential customer bases. Their proximity was a bonus, but he knew he would have to be inventive to capture the attention of some of the world’s most creative minds.
    “First, I went to the men and women of the unions, saying ‘my father was a union man,’” says DiSisto. “Then I created a burger for the people in the unions. I named it after them and gave a 15-percent discount to anyone with a union card.” After that, he sent out “employee discount cards” at Christmas to local studio people, offering another 15-percent discount upon presentation of the card at Lucy’s 51. He says the discounts have only helped his business in the long run.
    “They give it back to me ten-fold. They frequent my place –– four or five times a week sometimes.”
    For those at the bar ordering a Lady Luck or High Roller, DiSisto’s servers have some extra fun as well promotionally. Each order receives a pair of dice. If a 51 is rolled in any combination, the next round is on the house.
    “A lot more people land on 51 than I thought would,” DiSisto says.
    It seems that statement could also be applied to the picture overall for this flashy newcomer.       NCB