\u201cThe world has definitely gone bonkers!!!\u201d wrote<\/a> Olga Ospina McDonough, adding a barf emoji.<\/p>\n Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel<\/p>\n The C.L.A.S.S. Soiree Steakhouse in Hollywood is shown on Thursday, July 30, 2026. (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n For the record, dining in the buff at a restaurant is legal in Hollywood if that dinner stays private and only the guests (as opposed to employees) are undressed, says city spokesperson Joann Hussey, who consulted with city attorneys this week about C.L.A.S.S.\u2019s minimalist soiree.<\/p>\n \u201cThis restaurant with its blackout curtains isn\u2019t in the public view, so it\u2019s allowed,\u201d Hussey says. \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to keep the public safe.\u201d<\/p>\n Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy, for one, is a fan of Ali\u2019s cuisine and does not begrudge the restaurant\u2019s new revenue stream.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a great chef, the food is delicious, and we\u2019ve enjoyed our dinners there for years,\u201d he says. \u201cIf there\u2019s a market and the shades are drawn, hey, different strokes for different folks.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you probably won\u2019t find me there on the first Monday of the month,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n C.L.A.S.S. isn\u2019t Hollywood\u2019s only establishment to feature nude parties: There\u2019s also the Rooftop Resort<\/a>, a so-called \u201cswinger\u2019s nudist hotel,\u201d which organizes\u00a0rooftop events overlooking\u00a0the beach near the Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort. And a few sociable dinners around the United States even make nudity a requirement, including the F\u00fcde Dinner Experiences<\/a> that have popped up in New York and Los Angeles.<\/p>\n \u2018Some people will be too timid and scared to bare it all\u2019<\/p>\n Ali has carefully monitored online criticism about his Nude Dining Experiences, particularly questions asking whether it\u2019s sanitary, and says protections are in place to make the event \u201cwelcome for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Upon arrival, a security guard posted outside checks prepaid tickets at the door before allowing entry. Guests can doff their drawers the moment the door shuts behind them. At 500 square feet, C.L.A.S.S. has no dressing room, just a coat rack and a corner bench for folded clothes.<\/p>\n The windows have blackout curtains and shutters to prevent \u201cpeeping Toms,\u201d Ali says. And everyone is provided with a silk bathrobe, a lap towel and custom leather seat cushions that are cleaned after service.<\/p>\n From there, diners squeeze around a warmly lit communal table draped with cream-colored linens, gold-rimmed dinnerware and wine glasses. For those worried that hot courses like steaks or bowlfuls of soup can harm their unprotected unmentionables, Ali says all guests should exercise common sense and use their lap towel.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody should know that when you sit down and eat soup, you bend over the table \u2013 that\u2019s why God gave you a neck,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you go from table to mouth, you\u2019ll burn your friggin\u2019 self.\u201d<\/p>\n The evening kicks off with a celebratory Champagne toast to \u201cbeing free,\u201d says Tosheba Hart, a hostess and nudist who greets arrivals already undressed.<\/p>\n Patrons unwilling to feel quite so liberated can leave their bathrobes on all evening long, Hart says.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people will be too timid and scared to bare it all compared to those in the nudist lifestyle, so there\u2019s definitely going to be a learning curve,\u201d says Hart, who\u2019s also in charge of the steakhouse\u2019s social media. \u201cI\u2019m already nude, so when they see me, they\u2019ll feel comfortable to follow my lead, maybe after a drink or two.\u201d<\/p>\n Ali, however, remains fully clothed, as do his back-of-house cooking\/serving staffers. While he\u2019s bemused about the whole business of dining naked, the $150-plus dinners have been profitable, going beyond the average customer check.<\/p>\n He charges men more than women to \u201chave a balance of the sexes,\u201d adding \u201cthis isn\u2019t a dating event or a place to gawk. It\u2019s a fine-dining event \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if you\u2019re not cool,\u201d he adds, \u201cyou\u2019re [kicked] out.\u201d<\/p>\n Ali is a Johnson & Wales graduate who worked at Shula\u2019s Steak House and the Fontainebleau Miami Beach before turning private chef for celebrities (including Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson and Lil Wayne) and eventually opening his own spot.<\/p>\n He says he knew the nude dining idea, which came together with input from Hart, would be risky.<\/p>\n \u201cAt first, we talked about doing a marijuana dinner, but I said, \u2018No, that\u2019s illegal.\u2019 So instead we did a nude dining experience,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n When he brought it up to family earlier this summer, \u201cmy mom didn\u2019t like the idea because she\u2019s a Jehovah\u2019s Witness and she thinks it\u2019s ungodly,\u201d Ali adds. \u201cBut I\u2019m unmarried, and business is business, and it\u2019s legal. The price of goods are up about 30% and every market is demanding top dollar for their stuff. I have five longtime employees and six new workers, and they depend on me and we depend on each other. This will make us last.\u201d<\/p>\n The next Nude Dining Experience at C.L.A.S.S. Soiree Steakhouse, 121 N. 20th Ave., Hollywood, is set to take place from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday, Aug. 3. Tickets cost $150 for women, $250 for men, and $300 for couples via Eventbrite.com<\/a>. Call 786-290-7295 or go to ClassSoireeSteakhouse.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sun Sentinel senior features writer Phillip Valys can be reached at pvalys@sunsentinel.com<\/a> or Twitter\/X @philvalys<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Behind the blackout curtains of a Hollywood steakhouse, 10 men and women recently met for a candlelit evening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1593,506,104,684,1594,28,688,249,251,250,686,114,687,109,685,106],"class_list":["post-359887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-bars","tag-broward-county","tag-entertainment","tag-events","tag-explore-florida","tag-florida","tag-food-and-drink","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-hollywood","tag-latest-headlines","tag-restaurants","tag-social","tag-the-eat-beat","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/TFL-L-NUDE-DINING-EXPERIENCE-01_265214547.jpg\")
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