Donald Trump - 1989 - Trader Vics is 'Tacky'

The following is from a 1989 New York Times article, about Donald Trump's decision to close the New York Trader Vic's bar, then located in the Plaza Hotel.

Trader Vic's, the Polynesian bar in the Plaza that has played host to generations of moneyed gadabouts, prep school students on R&R and fans of its Samoan Fog Cutters, has "gotten tacky" and will be closed, the hotel's owner, Donald J. Trump, said yesterday.

"Trader Vic's does not fit in with the image of the hotel that I want to achieve," Mr. Trump said.

...

President Richard M. Nixon said it was one of his favorite restaurants, and he dined there during a visit to New York in 1972. Nixon Laments Its Closing

"My entire family will be very sorry to see it close," Mr. Nixon said yesterday through a spokesman. "It was always our daughters' favorite restaurant, and it quickly became mine too."

The article states that the image of this Trader Vics took a blow when actor Yul Brynner sued Trader Vics for $3 million, claiming that he caught trichinosis from undercooked spareribs.

Mr Brynner may have been following in the steps of actress Gina Lollobrigida, who successfully sued Trader Vic's for $90,000 (she wanted $10 million) from a 1980 incident, after biting into a shrimp and damaging a tooth on a 'brown, pebble-like substance.'

Trump article
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=950DE7DE1539F936A15752C0A96F948260

Lollobrigida article
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E7D91139F932A25752C1A962948260

ha ha!! that's good!! trump stating that something is tacky as if he were the authority on good taste!! he would know, right?? got his ol' fat finger on the pulse of what's hip, exciting and culturally cool does he??...nice hairdo, dude....

" 'There will definitely be a Trader Vic in New York, even if it's closed at the Plaza,' said a surprised Mr. Peyron from his office in San Francisco, where the company is based."

Well what the hell, man...where is it?

It must be one fantastic place since construction has been going on for 17 years.

What's a "moneyed gadabout"? Can I be one too?

Vic's Tacky ??? Take a walk into Trump's Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City !!!
Enuff Said ......

Joe/Haole Kats

"... in an adjustment sure to give some solace to grieving patrons - a bar, under Trump ownership, that will serve tropical drinks."

In keeping with The Donald's tradition of naming things after himself, here is the drink menu.

Trump Tai
Samoan Trump Cutter
Trump Bowl
Blue Trumpaiian
Trump-apore Sling
Trump Grog
Mystery Trump

and the speciality of the house

The Suffering Trump (or The Trump Bastard... make your choice).

A little more time on the NY Times website found a review for a restaurant named 'Gaugin' that occupied the former space of the NY Trader Vic's.

From a July 1, 1994 article .....

"Wrapping my hand around the tall rum drink to keep it from toppling over on the wobbly table, I found myself clutching the naked breasts of the women who decorate the glass. Gauguin may be a Trader Vic's for the 90's, but not that much has changed.

Yes, the decor is different. Sort of. There are still bamboo ceilings, but now a large kitschy metal palm tree sparkles, star lights twinkle and orange cloth whooshes gently as sarong-clad waitresses brush past them. Combined with the darkness, they make the room look like a gym dressed up for prom night."

And this review of the same restaurant, from September 30, 1994 .....
First paragraphs:

"Gauguin is the perfect restaurant for children on expense accounts. Only a child could truly believe in this festive South Seas atmosphere, its fake palm trees ablaze with colorful lanterns and its murals working hard to conjure up an island image. Children can appreciate the juice drinks strewn with paper umbrellas and plastic dolphins, even without the alcohol, and they are not embarrassed by the naked ladies on the glasses or the waitresses wrapped in sarongs.

Unfortunately, only a very rich child could afford this particular pleasure, and seen through adult eyes the restaurant that now occupies the room that once was Trader Vic's can be vaguely disquieting. It is too easy to sense the smirk beneath the surface."

and the last paragraphs ...

"To children, all of this is enchanting. They gather up their piles of paper umbrellas and plastic palm trees and go dancing through the crowded dining room to the bridge at the door. "I loved that restaurant," said one little girl to her father, climbing the red-carpeted stairway to reality. Her father just looked sad.

I think I might know why: sitting in the midst of all this fake cheer reminds you that there was a time, not that long ago, when even grown-up Americans were not too old to believe in silly drinks and fake palms."

Another reference to the Gaugin resaurant was found in 1997, when a guide book for British tourists provided the following rule of thumb for NY restaurants..

"Avoid restaurants or bars named after famous painters (Gaugin, etc.) or any other kind of theme-u-raunts."

Vern

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00E5DB1739F932A35754C0A962958260
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E0DB1F3AF933A0575AC0A962958260

On 2007-10-10 01:23, ikitnrev wrote:
...a restaurant named 'Gaugin'
that occupied the former space of the NY Trader Vic's.
...

is the "gaugin" (oh god ... this name is so ridiculous) still there ?

sadly the tacky terrible website (www.theplazaresidences.com)
is 100% sense-/useless .

are there good pictures of the former tradervicsnyc somewhere ?

I remember the first season of The Apprentice and everyone went to Trump's penthouse decorated in faux Louis XIV furniture and other related decor. My first thought was, "Oh god, how tacky. Money obviously doesn't buy taste."

Trader Vic's would be a lot less tacky if it was chock full of gold-plated baroque fixtures and gaudy crystal chandeliers. Also, Vic's could vastly improve its classiness by merely installing comb-over wigs on each of the tikis, and hiring a scrawny, surgery-enhanced, plastic-looking, personality-free woman to stand, blank-faced, at a rhinestone-covered hostess's podium. Now THAT's class!