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Trader Vic’s

A Classic Returns to the Northwest

An amazing number of Seattleites have Trader Vic tales—certainly the drinking stories abound. Who hasn’t had more than their fair share of a Scorpion or started their drinking days with a 21st birthday celebrated at Trader Vic’s? Maybe the numbers aren’t so surprising considering that Seattle’s Trader Vic’s opened in 1949 and closed approximately 40 years later, just as The Westin began construction on the second hotel tower.

Photo: Trader Vic doing what comes naturally

 Why did they leave, where have they been and when are they coming back? Seattle DINING! spoke with Paul Reder, general partner of Trader Vic’s Bellevue, and John Mark, general manager of the site to be.

“As I understand it,” says John, “Seattle was the site of the second Trader Vic’s, the first being San Francisco. I believe it was called the Outrigger and was really more of a Tiki lounge. The restaurant portion was added later and the name changed.” It was always in the hotel setting and that may or may not have been its eventual downfall. As Paul explains, “Generally if a restaurant is in a hotel it’s run as an amenity to the hotel guests. The main goal of the hotel is to offer their guests a place to eat within the hotel. It’s not to promote the restaurant.”

In the late 80s when the Seattle site closed, the Vancouver B.C., Portland and Colorado restaurants also closed. But the concept never went away. The original San Francisco restaurant still exists as well as two more in the area—Palo Alto and Emeryville. There are currently 21 restaurants worldwide with more planned and potential openings than you can shake a stick at—Bellevue in March and Las Vegas in October 2006; Scottsdale, five locations in China and one in Amman, Jordan in 2006. A location in Dallas is under negotiation now as well as a Mai Tai Bar & Bistro (scaled down version of the normal restaurant) in Honolulu. Trader Vic’s is one of the oldest continuous restaurant chains in the US having opened their first restaurant, Hinky Dinks, in 1934. Victor Bergeron (the “Trader”) had four children, all of whom worked in the restaurants over the years. His granddaughter Eve is on the opening team for Bellevue.

How did Bellevue manage to draw Trader Vic’s back? As with many things in Bellevue, Kemper Freeman is involved. When he took over the building of Lincoln Square in downtown Bellevue, he wanted to bring Trader Vic’s in, but was insistent on it being run locally. Restaurant consultant Arnold Shain was brought in and he approached Paul Reder who owns the Tap House Grill in Bellevue (see the Seattle DINING! interview). Kemper, Arnold and Paul went to San Francisco to look at the concept, menus, etc. and decided they wanted to proceed. “My plan has always been to manage multi-concepts,” says Paul. “Although the Trader Vic’s concept is obviously not mine, it’s still helping me grow the way I want. I’m the general partner and we have equity investors who are silent partners.”

Photo: Trader Vic's Bellevue General Partner Paul Reder

Location-wise, why Bellevue? “I think Trader Vic’s is really working now to put forth their brand,” explains Paul. “They will go into hotels at times, like in Las Vegas, but the hotel is not the restaurant operator. It’s good for both a hotel and the restaurant to be near each other. In Lincoln Square, we’ll be next door to The Westin and down the street from Hyatt. We’re also across the street from the very successful mall in Bellevue. Plus you have large, predictable growth in the area with known quantities of office space and hotel rooms coming in the next five-seven years. And Bellevue has become a restaurant town.”

Staffing is still in process, but a number of key positions have been filled, primarily with local people. John Mark (general manager) just spent five years as GM at Dragonfish Asian Café in downtown Seattle. He also spent five years at the Woodmark Hotel, working as director of catering and director of property operations. He opened the Golf Club at Newcastle. “John came highly recommended,” says Paul. “He had the qualities we were looking for—he knows the area, he has lots of opening experience, pays lots of attention to detail and has fine dining experience. The qualities we were looking for are second nature to him.” John’s background also includes attending the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, six years with Four Seasons Hotels in five different cities and the Hilton Hotel in Buffalo.

“I’m enjoying this new challenge,” says John. “I’ve been working in San Francisco getting to know the company and the menu. The presentation of food is wonderful. There’s nothing in Seattle like this right now. My background is fine dining and it’s great to be back in that arena. But the nice thing about Trader Vic’s is that it’s fine dining that’s not stuffy. There’s a fun factor here that I like. When I was with Four Seasons, I opened in Maui and the Caribbean. It’s like I’ve come back to the island feeling.”

Photo: Trader Vic with some of his toys

Another familiar face can be found in the kitchen. Michael Weeks has been hired as Executive Chef. He also is from Dragonfish Asian Café. “When you’re looking for someone at this level, you know they’re all great chefs. So you start looking at the other qualities you need,” says Paul. “We were impressed with Michael’s energy level and his ability to encourage and motivate staff. Since he had worked with John for the past five years, there was no mystery. We knew his history.”

“I’m really pleased to have a great assistant general manager in Natalie St. Aubin,” says John. “She was the general manager at Fandango until it closed and then moved to Coho Café in Issaquah. She also has private dining and catering management experience from the Gotham Bar & Grill and 11 Madison Park in New York. My evening dining room manager is new to Seattle. Sylvain Berthe worked in the French-themed operation at Epcot and then Disney had him open at Euro Disney. He also worked at Moulin Rouge.”

For those who remember the drinks more than the food at Trader Vic’s, you’re in for a pleasant reminder. Trader Vic’s has a corporate chef who oversees the core menu, but they continually work on menu development. In addition, there are fresh sheets at lunch and dinner. Those are left up to the individual chef. “The company wants top notch chefs,” says Paul. “They understand that they can’t retain that kind of talent if they’re just executing someone else’s menu.” John adds “Preparation is what sets our food apart. We have steaks, but they’re prepared in a Chinese oven. In fact, there’s two kitchens in the restaurants, one Chinese and one continental. It gives us a broader appeal than just being a steak or seafood place.”

On the other hand, the cocktail menu has not changed at all. Paul recently saw a cocktail menu from 1946. “It was amazing—the artwork is still exactly the same, the names of the drinks are the same; the menu is identical to today’s.” There are 70 proprietary cocktails on the menu. “There are more cocktails than that,” says John, “but they can’t all fit in the menu. Our bar manager comes from the San Francisco restaurant and is very knowledgeable about all the drinks.”

Here’s what we can expect in the next few months:

Opening is scheduled for March 6, 2006. Lunch and dinner will be served seven days a week. There will be an early and late happy hour with special prices on both food and beverage.

Watch for the 20 foot Tiki statue that will appear in front of the restaurant (sorry, no burning Tiki torches are in the works).

There is a web splash page up where you can leave your contact information to get on the mailing list.

In December, gift cards will be available for holiday stocking stuffers.

Private dining reservations will be taken starting in December, although private dining won’t begin until April 1. There are two private areas: a board room that will seat 8-10 and an area that can be partitioned off that will seat 36-40.

At the December 3, 2005 (sorry, it’s already happened), Fred Hutchinson charity event, there were 100 Trader Vic’s certificates worth $250 each in the silent auction that allow the winning bidders a sneak peek at the restaurant.

Interviewing and hiring will begin January 2, 2006.

Welcome back, Trader!

 Connie Adams/December 2005

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