In late April 2024, opening plans started to go awry for Tamara Fox and her fiance Jordane Andrieu’s Rideau Speakeasy, located directly behind Arden restaurant in West Hollywood. They initially planned to open the bar in February, then follow it up with the restaurant Jade in May inside Andrieu’s former Beverly Hills restaurant Paris Tokyo. The months-long buffer would allow Rideau to gain momentum, while the final touches would be made on Jade. But as timing would have it, Rideau experienced major construction delays and Jade progressed more quickly than expected. Both businesses opened just 11 days apart.

Fox and Andrieu unveiled the red-lit speakeasy Rideau on April 27, where magicians perform card tricks and illusions while bartenders mix intricate cocktails, and opened Jade, a modern Japanese fusion spot along one of the busiest strips in Beverly Hills, on May 8. Operating one restaurant is difficult in Los Angeles, especially for independent owners without investors, so undertaking two is no small feat. It’s easy for money to evaporate while finding patrons to walk through the door, securing payroll, and paying rent.

“It’s been a pretty crazy time,” says Fox, a professional photographer, the head of marketing at both establishments, and a relative newcomer to the hospitality industry. “A lot of work and so many late nights in the bar and restaurant. But Jordane is used to working nightlife and restaurants so this is nothing new to him.” Andrieu opened the restaurant and bar Arden in West Hollywood in August 2023 along with co-owners Roman Rey Chavent and David Marvisi. The France native moved to Los Angeles 11 years ago, working at the now-closed Heritage Fine Wines and Paris Tokyo Sushi. He is a partner at Ocean Fathoms, a company that ages its wines on the sea floor.

Fox and Andrieu recruited chef Matteen Khalifian to consult at Jade, which serves traditional sushi like its predecessor, plus fusion options like Korean corn cheese and hamachi crudo. The dishes are designed to appeal to a more affluent crowd along with uni, caviar service, and a $485 “467 Carat Premium Dragon” platter that includes sushi rolls, nigiri, and sashimi with Kaluga Hybrid Reserve caviar served on a massive dragon-shaped vessel over dry ice. Cocktails fit the theme of the green-tinged room with twists on classics, like a yuzu margarita and a Tokyo mule made with rice vodka. The scene should attract Instagram-ready crowds with its vibrant green back-lit bar.

Following a 2.5-mile drive across Santa Monica Boulevard lands one at Rideau. Reservations are required when approaching the host, who greets guests at a flower-lined door. Upon entry, the darkened 30-seat room is cloaked in red velvet banquettes and drapes. “We have a couple of seats that were bought from an old theater,” says Fox. The room could be mistaken for a boudoir or even a supper club.

Bartender and actor Farron Marcus, who appeared in Season 1, Episode 2 of American Horror Story, designed the cocktail menu while executing magic tricks inside Rideau. Drinks bear Parisian names like the gin-based Moulin Rouge and the Pigalle with Remy VSOP, Benedictine, lemon, blackberry liqueur, and a cherry wrapped in a candied orange peel. Magicians, some of whom appear on the Magic Castle’s roster, perform at 9:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., making whole decks of cards disappear and reading minds in front of the room or tableside.

Beverly Hills and West Hollywood are some of LA’s wealthiest neighborhoods. Andrieu finds crowds are more open to newer businesses in West Hollywood than in Beverly Hills. However, newcomers like Funke and La Dolce Vita are challenging old-guard establishments like Spago and Il Cielo and shifting the mindset of diners. “I’ve had the Jade location and relationship with the landlord for 11 years,” says Andrieu. “I’ve watched places open and close that showed that Beverly Hills people weren’t always open to new things. That’s changing. Having someone that I admire [Fox] to work with always helps too.”

Rideau Speakeasy is open from Wednesday through Saturday from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. at 8289 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA, 90046. Walk-ins are welcome, but reservations secure a seat. Jade operates 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and opens at 5:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday at 467 N Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA, 90210.