By David Kaufman Photography by Ryan Forbes/avablu.com island outpost A different type of Luau for Beverly Hills Back in its f irst incarnation, the Beverly Hills restaurant Luau was a hangout for Rat Pack-era royalty like Frank Sinatra. Yet much like the old Hollywood Sinatra ruled, the restaurant went out of style. So last fall, Il Sole Ristorante owner Andy Hewitt decided to breathe new life into the restaurant—reinventing Luau with a 21st century take on its classic “tiki” theme, updated with a cool contemporary edge by Los Angeles architect George Kelly (he handled the interior architecture) and jewelry designer Loree Rodkin (in charge of the décor). Developing Luau required them to imagine its entirely new form while not exactly forgetting its old. “The genre has become mundane and lost its cache,” Kelly says. “It needed change, but no one was exactly sure where to go with it.” Kelly virtually started from scratch, stripping the space literally down to its bare bones to make way for the new décor. The excavation revealed unexpected details including a pair of false ceilings, which Kelly removed to create a main dining room 14 feet in height. Down below the main challenge was to fill the space with luau-themed color without falling victim to kitsch. “We couldn’t let the 120 hospitalitydesign www.hdmag.comhttp://www.hdmag.com