David Moye | Downtown News

Nicole Dahm Kelly is best known for her nude photos in Playboy as one-third of the Dahm triplets, but these days she’d like to be known more as a “Lucky Bastard.”

Or, more accurately, for owning the Lucky Bastard Saloon, the Gaslamp’s newest nightspot, which just had its grand opening Aug. 28 after a two-month soft launch.

Located at 840 Fifth Ave. in the former San Diego Hardware location, the Saloon is the fulfillment of a long held dream.

“I grew up cooking and I love sports, so I thought it would be great to have a big playground,” Dahm said.

“I thought it was worth a shot. I didn’t want to spend my life wondering what would happen if I didn’t give it a shot.”

There is a story behind the somewhat edgy name, which is a tribute to the band that Dahm’s husband, developer Michael Kelly, was a member of when they met.

“We were brainstorming, and I thought the name was so great,” she said, laughing. “Everyone has a period in their life where they feel like a lucky bastard – or lucky bitch! We’ve had such positive feedback. The merchandise with the name is doing really well.”

There have been some grumblings on local foodie websites suggesting that Dahm’s Playboy past might not be good training for running a restaurant, but she confronts those preconceptions head on, both online and in the restaurant.

“I don’t have experience running a restaurant, other than a cookie business I did with my sisters, Erica and Jaclyn,” she admitted. “But my husband opened The Bitter End [now the Tipsy Crow] Downtown, as well as the Ivy Hotel [now the Andaz San Diego], and he is there to offer advice.

“However, this is my baby, my project,” she said.

But Dahm Kelly is doing much of the work herself.

Many of the recipes are hers, including the chili recipes and the desserts, and she came up with the clever design ideas, such as the chandelier made from Jack Daniels bottles and the leather chaps worn by the female wait-staff.

“I wanted something that caught people’s attention,” she said. “There are also some antlers on the wall and that reminds me of hunting with my Dad back in Minnesota.”

The entire population of the Minnesota town where Nicole, Jaclyn and Erica lived until 1999, when they moved to Los Angeles to capitalize on their Playboy fame, couldn’t fill San Diego’s Downtown area.

However, she does think San Diego, where she moved in 2006, is a good fit for a small town girl.

“It’s a warm, friendly town,” she said. “It’s very family-oriented and there seems to be a slower pace than Los Angeles.”

Not for her though. The last few months have been a whirlwind of activity as she has been working to make her dream a reality.

She feels she has had a chance to stop and smell the roses, though.

“Just envisioning something and making [it] a reality is great, and seeing my dream go up in lights,” she said. “I really enjoyed my first drink at the bar – vodka and Diet Sprite. It’s not fancy, but that’s my drink.”

Along with her husband’s encouragement, Dahm Kelly also has the full support of her two sisters, but admits that the Lucky Bastard Saloon represents a brave, somewhat daunting experience for her.

“Being a triplet, I grew up with people around me,” she said. “It can be a security blanket and a crutch. This is the first thing I’ve done that is all mine.”

Lucky Bastard Saloon is open nightly between 4 p.m. and 2 a.m. For more information, check out luckybastardsaloon.com.

San Diego native David Moye writes Weird News for the Huffington Post. You can learn more about him at huffingtonpost.com/david-moye.