James Weimann

Working in restaurants put James through college. He earned his Masters in music, but felt he exhausted the possibility of earning a living through it and returned to working in restaurants. In Chicago, he worked at a restaurant with Alice Hughes. She was the bar manager, he worked the front of the house. They decided to partner and open their own place in Chicago when James got cold feet, almost literally. He couldn't live in Chicago forever.

Alice had gone to college in Washington, so they moved to Seattle. James worked at Wild Ginger. After five months in Seattle, the Classic Tavern in Fremont went up for sale. They bought it and opened the Triangle Tavern in 1992. In 1996, they opened El Camino in Fremont. When the partnership dissolved, he took the Triangle and she took El Camino. He eventually sold the Triangle (it's now closed), and Alice still owns El Camino.

At the same time the partnership was ending, James was busy opening Peso's on lower Queen Anne. After two years, he sold it to two brothers, one of whom, Brian Hutmacher, still owns it. In 2000, he opened Ballroom in Fremont with the former Triangle bar manager Dave Brownell and Auzie Oxford. Then in 2003, he and Auzie and May Chaleoy opened May Thai Restaurant in Wallingford. A year later, they sold it to May, who has since sold it and opened a restaurant on Vashon. In 2006, he and Dave Brownell opened Talarico's Pizzeria in West Seattle.

In June 2009, James and Deming Maclise partnered to open Bastille Café & Bar in Ballard. March 2011 saw the opening of Poquitos on Capitol Hill. December of 2011, they opened Macleod's Scottish Pub in Ballard. Von Trapp's on Capitol Hill opened in February 2013, and Stoneburner will open in Ballard mid-2013.

James and Deming also own JWD4 Design: design/layout/atmosphere of restaurants, cafes, hotels and bars.

www.ballroomfremont.com

www.talaricospizza.com

www.bastilleseattle.com

www.vivapoquitos.com

www.macleodsballard.com

www.vontrapps.com

March 2013