AsiaSF is coming to Palm Springs: Get to know the legendary transgender performance venueAsiaSF, a storied transgender performance space that’s been wowing crowds for 22 years in San Francisco, has chosen Palm Springs as its first location outside the Bay Area and will open a venue here by early February.
The club — which offers patrons drinks, prix fixe dinners and up to four cabaret shows a night — is taking over the former Hacienda Carina and Beach Club on South Palm Canyon Drive owned by Grit Development.Larry Hashbarger, who co-founded the original location with Skip Young, said the company has long considered expanding to a second city, with a strong preference for Southern California location because AsiaSF is popular among visitors from Los Angeles and Orange County. After a few visits to Palm Springs — where he met with tourism officials and heard from locals longing for new nightlife options — they decided the desert was a natural fit.
Inside, the AsiaSF team has transformed the location with jewel-tone velvet curtains, gold trim, sleek bars and a catwalk-style stage cutting through the center of the main moon.
“When you walk in, there’s no windows, because for this brief moment in time, this is your world,” Hashbarger said. “And it’s a perfect microcosm of a world where everybody comes together and just celebrates who they are.”AsiaSF performers, who are all transgender women, bring their own personalities to lip-synced renditions of party playlist classics like Madonna’s “Vogue,” plus other pop and Broadway favorites. And they interact with the crowd throughout the evening, introducing themselves and toting signature cocktails to tables.
Prix fixe menus will have a price range of $55 to about $90. The menu is a California-Asian fusion style featuring dishes like blackened tuna sashimi and crispy caramel pork belly, concocted by Executive Chef Jen Solomon, who is one of the original co-chefs at the San Francisco AsiaSF.With Vegas-style choreography from San Francisco-based Ronnie Reddick and costumes from designers in Los Angeles and Chicago, Hashbarger said the Palm Springs shows are aimed to wow locals and tourists alike. AsiaSF hopes to lure bachelorette parties, birthday parties and anniversary celebrations.
Initially, AsiaSF will host two seatings on Friday and Saturday nights, and one seating on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. A chic bar area called the Lotus Lounge will be open seven days a week, and a late-night dance club called Forbidden City will open up from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. for weekend dance parties, replete with a 40-inch mirrorball suspended from the ceiling.Next to AsiaSF’s outdoor patio is The Sonoran, a venue that can be rented for special events with a pool, cabanas, bar, and a spacious flat lawn facing the mountains.
Hashbarger, who was partly inspired to co-found AsiaSF after travels in Thailand, said the venue’s mission is to promote self-acceptance and “to find the courage to live your truth, which is something that everybody in life needs to do at some point, regardless of what your gender identity is.”
Hashbarger said the original location was a pioneer in employing people who are transgender, a community that faces discrimination in the job market because of transphobiaand a lack of job protections in many states.
Before working at AsiaSF, some of the women performed in drag shows, Hashbarger said, which meant they donned wigs and costumes and had to perform as a character instead of themselves. At AsiaSF, they can show off their true personalities, he said.
They’ve hired around 15 transgender women as performers, with an entire staff of about 50 people.
“it’s all about womanhood and celebrating and saluting and being proud of the female gender,” Hashbarger said.
