Beijing Boyce

Two recent moves by TRIO remind me of the overnight transformation of the Boston Celtics into contenders - sorry, the NBA is about to start and basketball is on my mind. Before I get to that, a little background:

TRIO opened in May 2006 in the Lido area and featured three components:

• A reincarnation of the city’s oldest non-hotel bar, Frank’s Place, at ground level
• A seventy-seat New York-style grill and piano bar, The Park Grill, up top
• The high-end wine-centric The Cellar in, no surprise, the basement

Frank’s Place is doing fine, with regular improvements to the deck helping, but The Park Grill and The Cellar struggled. Two moves substantially shake things up.

First, The Cellar was rented to a company that operates eight wine bars in Seoul under the name Le Cave. Expect a diverse clientele as Cave aims to bring in the regulars and reach out to the large Korean and Japanese crowds patronizing the area.

Second, The Park Grill will transform into SALT, with former Alameda partner Gaby Alves and acquaintances taking over.

What does this have to do with the Boston Celtics? A few months ago, the Celtics were also-rans, with one all-star (Paul Pierce) and lots of players with potential. The team decided to win now, traded for two of the best players, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, and became instant contenders.

TRIO also has its star (Frank’s Place) and now it’s teamed up with a wine bar chain with a record (Le Cave) and a former partner in an award-winning restaurant (Alameda)

There is no guarantee of success with the Celtics - one of the stars could blow out a knee, the bench might be too weak - nor is there with TRIO - maybe the location doesn’t work or maybe the new relationships will bring friction.

But shaking things up with SALT and Cave is a good move. These places stand to bring a new crowd to TRIO and give the spot a second shot.

This story has been sleeping in the blog queue Rip Van Winkle style…

Gaby Alves, former partner in award-winning Brazilian restaurant Alameda, plans to open a joint on the upper floor of TRIO, in the Lido area. According to someone involved in the project, Gaby will team up with another restaurateur to launch SALT - you might have seen the ads in the city’s free English-language magazines. Rumor has it the place - to focus on contemporary cuisine - will open in late November.

Whew.

I first heard about this story eight weeks ago, but have avoided posting due to requests from several of the parties involved.

Being on board with a former partner of Alameda, one of Beijing’s perennial restaurant award winners, is a nice move by TRIO, and I expect SALT will bring in new clients to the benefit of all. I’ll have more on this in my next post…

Renovations were apparently done with super speed as China Doll is open again (see Tongli in Trouble). They had just enough time to change some light bulbs and buy new bottle openers for the bar.

Meanwhile, in Lido, The Cellar is now Cave or, to be less cryptic, the wine bar called the Cellar that was part of Trio,  which includes Frank’s Place and Park Grill, has been sold to a Korean company that is re-launching it as Cave. Tonight’s opening party drew a sizeable crowd and I’ll have more on this soon.

For now, it’s time for Halloween fun…

TRIO opened in May of 2006 and included: a reincarnation of the city’s oldest non-hotel bar, Frank’s Place, at ground level; a seventy-seat New York grill and piano bar, Park Grill, up top; and the high-end wine-centric The Cellar in, no surprise, the basement.

Frank’s Place has done well, particularly with the improvements made to the deck since opening day, but both The Park Grill and The Cellar have struggled. TRIO management reports the latter has been rented to a Korean company that operates eight wine bars in Seoul under the brand Le Cave. Look for a similar deal in respect to The Park Grill.

“The result is not that different from the original concept,” says one investor. “We’ve just teamed up with strategic partners.”

What it means is that the TRIO management can focus on its bread and butter - Frank’s Place - while its new partners can provide added marketing and sales power. This might end up being one of those win-win-win situations.

Also see Frank’s 1.2