Letters from Marin …

Nation's Restaurant News, June 8, 1987 by Alan Liddle

Letters from Marin . . .

Talk about value.

Restaurant designer-builder and sailor Pat Kuleto, of Sausalito, Calif., recently told NRN about a tasty meal that he, his fiancee, Pam, and friend Paul Carlson had in a coastal town in Venezuela.

The table was set with a roasted chicken, little tamales, and nine beers. The total tab: "About $4.50,' Kuleto said.

We weren't sure if it was appropriate to point out that a chicken dinner--two half-chickens lightly smoked and finished on the rotisserie--and nine beers recently sold for about $35 at Kuleto's in San Francisco. Kuleto designed that restaurant for hotelier-restaurateur Bill Kimpton.

It should be mentioned that while Kuleto's prices might occasionally scare off a thrifty Venezuelan fisherman, it is one of the busiest spots on shop-happy Union Square.

Classy delivery: Not too long ago this column reported seeing an Audi 5000 being used as a Domino's Pizza delivery car in Marin County. We recently returned to find Stephano's take-and-bake pizza operation in Mill Valley using a Chrysler LeBaron convertible.

Does your chicken, Chinese, or prizza ride in a stylish or speedy vehicle? If so, drop up a line.

Speaking of Marin: Many of us have read about cargo cults, but how many people know of the waterfront restaurant cults in Tiburon, Calif? Followers of the movement can be found swarming over the patios of Tiburon waterfront restaurants on any given sunny weekend afternoon.

A particularly fanatical faction worships at Sam's Anchor Cafe. These are not lazy picnickers but serious throw-on-the-swimsuit, zinc-up-the-nose, stake-out-a-table, let's-spend-hours-drinking-and-eating-in-the-sun folks.

One is tempted to leave a few textbooks lying around Sam's to see if Playboy names it the No. 1 party school in America.

But do these Anchorites spend money? Yes, indeedy. Though a full breakdown of sales was unavailable, NRN was told that the restaurant goes through between 160 and 200 cases of beer on a weekend when El Sol is smiling.

Free boat docking plays a big part in Sam's popularity, we're told.

Sam's II: Steve Sears and Brian Wilson, owners of the Sam's in Tiburon, recently celebrated the grand opening of their new Sam's Beachside Grill in Lahaina on the island of Maui, Hawaii.

Designed by the aforementioned Pat Kuleto, the new $1 million-plus two-level Sam's II features an ambitious menu of baked, sauteed, and kiawe-wood-grilled seafood, poultry, and salads.

The trip from the mainland did little to dampen Sears and Wilson's party spirit: Grand opening tunes were supplied by five bands, including country-blues guitarist Elvin Bishop, and guests had front-row seats for swimsuit contests, team tug-a-wars, and kayak races.

A quick side trip: We wrote a while back about an encounter with a concerned Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif. She was bothered by the appearance of a pea dish on the menu weeks before the start of the natural-pea season.

We're happy to report that the peas, and not chef Paul Bertoli, ended up in hot water. Bertoli said that he decided to offer the dish only after a Waters-approved supplier came up with some superb specimens.

Back to Tiburon: While Chuck Frank, president of Spectrum Foods, is happy with the response to a margarita-taco bar called Cafe Arriba that Spectrum recently opened on the patio of its Tiburon Mexican seafood restaurant, Guaymas, he is unhappy with NRN.

"I really get angry when I read things like this,' Frank said of NRN's lead article in the April 6 issue: "Tax rule fails to curb expense-account meals.'

That story indicated that despite predictions that the new tax law limiting business meal deductions would cripple the industry, so far it appears to have had little impact on spending.

First of all, said Frank, NRN talked to the wrong people when it interviewed the management of mostly big-ticket restaurants. People who go to those places, he indicated, are not concerned about prices or tax breaks.

The operators of mid-priced table-cloth restaurants, such as Spectrum's Harry's Bar and American Grill or Prego, where middle management is likely to eat, would probably tell a different story, Frank said.

Spectrum, he said, has seen a dropoff in per-person averages of about $1 at its restaurants where most of the business is tied to expense accounts. Overall sales have held, Frank said, because of increased traffic.

But regardless of the top line, in Frank's mind the new law has hurt Spectrum.

His second concern about such articles is that an unsympathetic legislator might use them to support contentions that additional spending limits are in order because this year's tax-law change did not harm the industry.

S.F. by Way of Marin: Jeremiah Tower, credited by many with being the first to serve up "California Cuisine' in the mid-70s while he was the chef at Chez Panisse, is moving on to new regions. Beginning June 2, his San Francisco restaurant, Stars, will begin a series of "state' dinners by showcasing Florida-inspired fare.

Kathleen Shy, Tower's aide, said Stars will import regional specialty foods for the series,