Trader Vic's prepares to sail again
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, October 29, 2006
ALAN PEPPARD
Millions of dollars have been poured into the just-opened Hotel Palomar to make its rooms and interior spaces as beautiful and luxurious as, say, the W, without the attendant theatrics. The infinity pool with its Beverly Hills-style cabanas, the Exhale spa, the soon-to-open multimillion-dollar condos all reek of modern, moneyed sophistication.
But, darn it, some of us want at least a little reminder of the old days when it was the Mockingbird Lane Hilton Inn and Bob Hope was a regular. Palomar co-owners Kip Sowden, Jeff Berry and Phil Brosseau have just the thing: Trader Vic's.
Guests at the recent Palomar grand opening were asking about Trader Vic's, the
Hilton's dark, tiki-themed restaurant with eight-straw Polynesian drinks. Kip
and Jeff have formed Realty America Hospitality Group and bought the franchise
rights for the Dallas Trader Vic's. The new company will be run by Carlson
Restaurants (TGI Friday's) veteran Rusty Fenton. "We open on February 1st,"
Jeff says.
Is there going to be a grand-opening party? "Big-time," Kip says.
Taking bids on big tiki
And what about the big tiki? The giant tiki statue that used to welcome guests is in safe hands, being restored at a "supersecret location."
"Big tiki sat there on Mockingbird for years," Kip says. Once it is restored, they are going to auction the overgrown Polynesian tchotchke, with the proceeds going to Special Olympics.
Harper's piano reborn
The decision to convert the old Hilton Inn's Harper's Corner nightclub into a $3.5 million penthouse condominium roughly coincided with the beginning of Jeff Berry's kids' piano lessons.
The Steinway baby grand that spent decades in Harper's was battered but unbroken. Jeff promptly had it restored and moved to his house, where his kids now use the piano for practice.
"He could have bought a new Steinway for what it cost him to restore that old one," Kip says.
Apparently, the same piano tuner maintained the Steinway for years. "It's written on the inside that he first tuned it on 7-6-67," Jeff says. "Then he made a note as he tuned it every six months from then on."
E-mail apeppard@dallasnews.com