The Article from the Tribune:
Trader Vic's closing--for now
Phil Vettel
Published December 3, 2005
The bad new is that Trader Vic's, a fixture in the Palmer House Hilton hotel since 1957, will close at the end of the year.
The good news is that it may not stay closed for long.
Trader Vic's canceled its management contract with the Palmer House, effective Jan. 1. But according to Trader Vic's President and CEO Hans Richter, the company is about to sign a deal with a Chicago developer to build and operate a new Trader Vic's.
"We're committed to a new party, and are very much looking forward to finding a new location," Richter said, adding that two locations are being considered. "I'm optimistic that we're moving forward, and it makes me extremely happy to know there's a future for Trader Vic's in Chicago."
Here's two articles from December Third & the Fourth from the Sun-Times:
Harry Caray's to bail out Trader Vic's
December 3, 2005
BY DAVE HOEKSTRA Staff Reporter
Holy Mai Tai!
Harry Caray's Restaurant Group is stepping in to own and operate a new Trader Vic's Restaurant Boathouse and Bar after the current location closes Dec. 31 in the basement of the Palmer House Hilton.
"We want to move as quickly as we can," Harry Caray's president, Grant DePorter, said Friday. "The time frame could be six months to a year. We're looking at one current restaurant we would convert, which would speed things up." Trader Vic's will stay in Chicago. The Magnificent Mile and River North are likely locations.
The late "Trader" Vic Bergeron and Caray were kindred spirits. Bergeron invented the rum-laced Mai Tai. Caray never liked to wear a tie. "We've always loved the Trader Vic's concept," DePorter said. "It seemed like a no-brainer for us. It's been undermarketed, and we'll update it a little bit." As part of the franchise agreement, Harry Caray's will bring along the current restaurant's bamboo, dimly lit shell lamps and original tree-carved tables.
Did DePorter ever see Caray hoist a Mai Tai?
"I have to ask Dutchie [Caray, his wife] on that one," he answered. "Remember, he had 300,000 alcoholic drinks in his lifetime, so the odds of him not having a Mai Tai would be pretty low."
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**Trader Vic's still seaworthy **
December 4, 2005
BY DAVE HOEKSTRA Staff Reporter*
South Side resident John Gabrysiak finds a South Seas respite at Trader Vic's Restaurant and Boathouse Bar, 17 E. Monroe.
Gabrysiak, a marketing consultant, has been going to Trader Vic's in the basement of the Palmer House Hotel for 15 years. He had his 30th birthday party there. Guests included Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Neilsen. "He walked out of here feeling no pain," says Gabrysiak, 42, sipping on a Scorpion with a fresh red flower. "I keep coming back because of the atmosphere, the bartenders and the fact they make a truly great drink."
The sands of time have washed over this outpost on the Trader Vic's island chain -- the famed Chicago restaurant will close Dec. 31.
But Harry Caray's Restaurant Group is rescuing the islanders.
On Friday, group president Grant DePorter said Harry Caray's will own and operate Trader Vic's as part of a franchise agreement. The new Trader Vic's will be relocated within six months to a year. The Magnificent Mile and River North are likely locations.
Trader Vic's was started in 1937 by Victor J. Bergeron. The late Bergeron and Caray are kindred spirits. Bergeron invented the rum-laced Mai Tai. Caray didn't like to wear a tie. The Chicago Trader Vic's opened in 1957 -- and it prospered in a simpler time. Eyes were wider and appetites were bigger in the 1950s. "South Pacific" was a hit on Broadway. People were reading Thor Heyerdahl's The Kon-Tiki Expedition. Since-defunct spots such as Kon Tiki Ports restaurant on North Michigan Avenue and the Kona Kai Restaurant at the O'Hare Marriott were extravagant affairs. Detailed tiki totems were imported from the islands. Sometimes diners were greeted by miniature waterfalls. The finest rum cost up to $125 a case.
But it takes a lot of money to keep a good Polynesian restaurant afloat. "It is not an inexpensive restaurant to build," says Hans Richter, CEO and president of Trader Vic's, in a conversation from Marabella, Spain, where he was opening another Trader Vic's. "However, it has a very long life. [The one in] Beverly Hills is 55 years old and still going strong."
This is not a news flash for waiter Benny Moi. He has worked at the Palmer House Trader Vic's for 38 years. He guesses he has worked under 15 different owners.
"It is like I was born here," says Moi, 64. "I love the place."
But Moi no longer will be able to wear one of his 20 Hawaiian shirts. That's more than one for every management team.
Moi began his career as a chef and became known for his Volcano Shrimp, which was just taken off the menu in July.
"You use spicy garlic sauce, chili powder and mix six large shrimp with cream sauce," says Moi, born in China and reared in Hong Kong. Volcano Shrimp was served on a ceramic skull over fire.
Moi smiles and says, "It's pretty simple."
In August, Joseph Sitt, chairman of Thor Equities in New York, purchased the Palmer House from Hilton Hotels Corp. The new owners will use the 240-seat restaurant for retail space. "The Palmer House was one of the most beautiful restaurants we ever built," Richter says. "When a restaurant with a long history leaves a city, the city dies a little bit with it."
Gabrysiak nods toward head bartender Muhammad Elias. The bartender is Muslim and has never had a drop of alcohol. Gabrysiak then looks around the half-empty bar and says, "We are in the basement of the Palmer House. Not exactly a destination. But people go out of their way to look for something different."
Bergeron went to the big tiki bar in the sky in 1984. Before his death, he admitted he not only copied Don the Beachcomber's South Pacific decor when he opened his first restaurant in Oakland, Calif., but he borrowed the recipe for the Mai Tai. The Chicago Trader Vic's was Bergeron's third -- and the first one outside of California.
Moi met Bergeron when he visited here in the 1960s and '70s. Bergeron was married to a former Chicago model. He liked to be called a "saloonkeeper."
"He was a tough guy," Moi says. "I was kind of nervous. He drank wine. He liked Mai Tais."
When Moi started working at Trader Vic's in 1967, a Mai Tai cost $1.25. "There were lines out the door," he says. "We ran like a no-head chicken. That's how good it was."
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And a sidebar from the above article on the Empire Room:
Empire Room made Vic's the place for stars
Trader Vic's was home to the stars until the mid-1970s. Many acts who appeared at the Palmer House's Empire Room would adjourn to the basement bar. (The Empire Room closed in January 1976 after a 43-year run.)
Yow Low was the most famous bartender in the history of the Chicago Trader Vic's, holding court between 1970 and 2001. He's now retired and living in China. In a 1995 interview, he told me that his favorite customer was Johnny Weissmuller.
"He was like Tarzan," Low said. "But he drank straight bourbon. Old Blue Eyes [Frank Sinatra] was here. Sometimes he drank a Mai Tai, other times scotch. Debbie Reynolds was here. So was Don Ho."
When Trader Vic's celebrated its first Palmer House anniversary in 1958, Carol Channing gave the restaurant a diamond-studded coconut. She was appearing in the Empire Room. Well, hello, Bali!
In 1983, Queen Elizabeth ate at the (still standing) Trader Vic's in San Francisco. That was her first dining experience in a commercial restaurant.
Longtime Trader Vic's employee Benny Moi has waited on Channing, Jimmy Durante and Dick Clark.
"Frank Gorshin was real nice," he said earlier this week during a break. "He would always shake hands with you. One time Liza Minnelli was here. After she left the next table asked for her [empty] pack of cigarettes. I said, 'Why do you want her cigarette box for?' They said, 'Because she touched it.'"
Trader Vic's has touched a lot of people.
Dave Hoekstra
Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Freelance, Ph.D., D.F.S
[ Edited by: freddiefreelance 2005-12-05 07:51 ]
