Trader Vic's Lounge in BH - General Tiki

A aquarj Tiki Socialite SF bay area, CA Joined: Apr 02, 2002 Posts: 1125	A aquarj Posted posted on Tue, May 8, 2007 5:22 PM This whole episode is sad. Some of the venting on TC is kinda sad too, but understandable. The thing is, it's a little puzzling to me exactly what the community, or even just our corner of the community, would want the owners to do. Purely from the perspective of OUR interests, the ideal thing would have been if the owners could have been convinced to WANT to keep running TVics there. But the owners apparently decided they wanted to use the site for something else, whether the reason was profitability, or Uranus passing through Orion's belt, or whatever. Supposing that the community successfully imposed some kind of restriction or designation on the property, what would that mean? The owners have to run the restaurant there in perpetuity, against their wishes? Or they may sell, but any buyer would also be required to run a restaurant there? And not just "a restaurant", but specifically Trader Vic's? Or...? In the discussion about HOW they closed it, there definitely has been a genuine element of, "gee, they didn't even give us a chance to have one last celebration there." I personally felt the same way. But to be honest the discussion has also had a major element of, "gee, they didn't even give us a chance to really gunk up their plans." If you look at some of the rather extreme talk on TC both before and after the closure, it seems to validate the method the owners chose. When people talk about staging protests and even (jokingly I hope?) theft, vandalism, and destruction, it makes a stealthy course of action seem like the only practical option. Maybe the owners were conscious of this talk or maybe they weren't, but it's hard to imagine why they would want to extend the opportunities for gunking up from an increasingly confrontational community. The place was a true gem though, and I'm terribly sad I'll never see it again. The neon sign was a classic, as was much of the exterior detailing. I didn't catch - has anyone heard if the artifacts from the restaurant are going back to the legendary warehouse? -Randy

This whole episode is sad. Some of the venting on TC is kinda sad too, but understandable. The thing is, it's a little puzzling to me exactly what the community, or even just our corner of the community, would want the owners to do.

Purely from the perspective of OUR interests, the ideal thing would have been if the owners could have been convinced to WANT to keep running TVics there. But the owners apparently decided they wanted to use the site for something else, whether the reason was profitability, or Uranus passing through Orion's belt, or whatever. Supposing that the community successfully imposed some kind of restriction or designation on the property, what would that mean? The owners have to run the restaurant there in perpetuity, against their wishes? Or they may sell, but any buyer would also be required to run a restaurant there? And not just "a restaurant", but specifically Trader Vic's? Or...?

In the discussion about HOW they closed it, there definitely has been a genuine element of, "gee, they didn't even give us a chance to have one last celebration there." I personally felt the same way. But to be honest the discussion has also had a major element of, "gee, they didn't even give us a chance to really gunk up their plans." If you look at some of the rather extreme talk on TC both before and after the closure, it seems to validate the method the owners chose. When people talk about staging protests and even (jokingly I hope?) theft, vandalism, and destruction, it makes a stealthy course of action seem like the only practical option. Maybe the owners were conscious of this talk or maybe they weren't, but it's hard to imagine why they would want to extend the opportunities for gunking up from an increasingly confrontational community.

The place was a true gem though, and I'm terribly sad I'll never see it again. The neon sign was a classic, as was much of the exterior detailing. I didn't catch - has anyone heard if the artifacts from the restaurant are going back to the legendary warehouse?

-Randy

Post #304976 by aquarj on Tue, May 8, 2007 5:22 PM