Who

The former doorman at Bungalow 8, Amiri was the one thing standing between you and rubbing up against the Olsen twins. He now runs the Cuban-themed Socialista.

Backstory

Born in Iran to an actress mother, Amiri was considered "non-conformist" as a kid, and was shipped off to school in Vienna at age 12. He moved to New York in 1992 to pursue an acting career, and studied under coach Susan Batson (who schooled Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise) at the Actors Studio. To make ends meet, Amiri started bartending, and worked at Chaos, Raoul's, and David Rabin's Lotus before he was picked up by Bungalow 8 owner Amy Sacco to man the door at her exclusive Chelsea nightspot. After thwarting thousands of pedestrian douchebags' dreams of mingling with elite douchebags during his B8 tenure, Amiri bade Sacco adieu in 2007 to run a spot of his own, the West Village "peasant-style" Cuban café-lounge Socialista. Don't let the name fool you: tables come with a $600 minimum tab and the venue features a long list of heavyweights as investors: In addition to the venue's principal backer, restaurateur Giuseppe Cipriani, Trudie Styler (aka Sting's wife), NBC honcho Ben Silverman and Harvey Weinstein have all put money in.

On the side

Amiri has kept up with his acting career. He appeared in Factory Girl as Warhol pal Ondine, but only just: As the part of Ondine grew over time, he was almost replaced—apparently, studio execs wanted a bigger name—but got to stay after Sienna Miller vouched for him. He also appeared in the thriller Reservation Road with Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly.

Drama

Social fixture/pariah Fabian Basabe accused Amiri of beating him up outside Bungalow, and had the doorman arrested on assault charges in July 2005. Prosecutors had the case adjourned after they were unable to locate the jet-setting Basabe to serve as his own witness. Previously, in May 2005, Amiri was approached while having dinner at Café Habana by a guy who'd previously been turned away from Bungalow. Amiri attempted to calm him down; when that didn't work, the two went into the street to fight and, according to eyewitnesses, Amiri delivered a sound beating before heading back inside to finish his meal.

Personal

Amiri lives on Suffolk Street on the Lower East Side.