Paradise   

Partisans of the working-class rock stars the Jersey Shore is famous for (most notably Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and Jon Bon Jovi) may be surprised to discover that Asbury Park's Stone Pony has been eclipsed by a glitzier, more glamorous nightclub -- one where a vast majority of the regulars prefer Boy George to The Boss. Housed in the former Empress Hotel, Paradise is the pet project of Shep Pettibone, a producer who once mixed songs for the likes of Madonna and George Michael. Though few could have imagined that the derelict hotel (a haven for squatters as recently as 1999) had potential as a beachfront dance destination, Paradise's transformation has managed to achieve the impossible: reversing the flow of bridge-and-tunnel traffic, which generally goes only one direction.The secret of Pettibone's success is the club's judicious combination of intimacy and spectacle. Its 7,000-square feet are divided into a cozy piano lounge, a New York-style dance club and a quiet back bar for canoodling couples. For diehard exhibitionists, there's also a thriving pool and patio scene, where gym-cut singles congregate in scanty beachwear during the shore's warmer months. Also of interest is the club's exterior, which features Asbury Park's first and only neon-illuminated waterfall -- another slap in the face to the Stone Pony, which is still sporting the dingy awning it had when Bon Jovi ruled the charts. -- Julia Clinger