Naughtiness rules night at Ocean's Piranha Room

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer

•	The Piranha Room 8 p.m.-4 a.m. last Saturday of each month Ocean Club, Restaurant Row $5 cover 531-8444

"Well, we're the Ocean Club," said Emi Tottori, marketing manager of the stalwart Restaurant Row nightclub. "And what are piranhas? They're, like, flesh-eating fish. They're, like, the bad fish of the sea, you know what I mean?"

Actually, they're more like the devilish denizens of a few South American rivers, but Tottori's point is well taken. We'll just call the Piranha Room the normally "collared shirt, no jeans and no slippers" club's monthly attempt at getting down with its occasionally bad self.

Since December, Tottori has dressed the club's final Saturday of the month in a sea of scarlet naughtiness.

"We do red material on the ceilings, red candles everywhere, red roses, and the staff is dressed up in red Chinese costumes," Tottori said. Ocean's tables, seating and walls are also draped in carmine, with scattered Japanese lanterns throughout the club lending a soft glow to the proceedings.

"It's Asian, but it's not entirely Japanese- or Chinese-themed," Tottori said. "We wanted things that were really sexy, really exotic-looking and shocking. I just wanted people to come in and be wowed."

In its last three outings, the Piranha Room's entertainment has included lion dances, fashion shows, drag queens, go-go dancers and scantily-clad women perched on ceiling swings, among other things.

This weekend's event features a Pink C swimwear fashion show and the Piranha's own Red Light District go-go troupe. Partial door proceeds will go to fashion photographer host Russell Tanoue's Project Shine charity, which offers free photo shoots and makeovers to the terminally ill.

"We're going to change the whole theme in a couple of months to keep it fresh and different," said Tottori. "We haven't decided the theme yet, but just expect something wild."