While THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS’ Bobby worked on cleaning up Marsino’s on July 15, his portrayer John Enos was getting ready for the grand opening of his own hot spot, his New York City restaurant, 17.
“It’s music and sushi,” Enos says of the new East Side club. “It’s a shoebox-type space. We only fit 200 people, so it’s not going to be that crazy or that hard to fill. We’ll be doing lunch, dinner and late night. There will be some bands on Monday nights and DJs on other nights. There’s a VIP playroom on the second floor, with pool table, large screen TVs and that type of thing. It’s like a living room, with hardwood floors.
“It’s been kind of crazy putting this place together,” Enos admits. “It’s like the opening of ‘The Restaurant,’ where they just came down to the last minute. There’s workmen flying everywhere. It’s all asses and elbows down there right now, so I had to get out.”
One fly in the opening night ointment was a delay in a major delivery — the club itself! “We had a lot of the interior built in Miami [by] this designer Andy Costas, who’s built clubs everywhere from Miami to Vegas,” Enos sets up. “It was brought up in a truck that didn’t get here till 2 in the morning, so there’s been people working around the clock. It’s all going to come together. I’m not letting myself get stressed out. I’m going to go out and have a couple of Bellinis. They’ll get it done or they won’t: either way I’m having a good time! I have a [day] job, so I have the option to still be calm.”
A bit of experience also helps with the jitters. He’s been working the nightlife scene with a group of business partners/friends for 15 years and this time, he’s leaving much in the hands of the New York contingent. “I’m not around to do the day-to-day stuff, nor would I want to it at this point,” Enos laughs. “I’ve done all that. At Roxbury [a Los Angeles club in the ’90s that was so infamous it became part of a movie title] I was one of the partners that did day-to-day work. This time, I’ve been involved in what it’s going to look like and the ambiance. I can just show up at 10 p.m. [for the opening].”
But that may not be the case for their next venture, a restaurant called Central opening this fall on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, which begs the question, with all the hard work and madness, what’s the appeal of this biz?
“You gotta love being able to walk into a place and own the place — but really own it!” he smiles. “17 is also an excuse for me to go to New York for ‘business.'”
