Mar 25, 2008

Steakhouse opens at ex-nightclub

Owner: Employee experience as important as good service

By Kristina Peterson / Daily News Staff Writer

Palo Alto resident Tim Reynders spent years working in mergers and acquisitions, but his latest investment required the purchase of some unusual assets: Two giant rotisseries that can each handle up to 76 large skewers of meat.

And today, the black walnut bar moves in.

This spring Reynders and his wife will open Pampas, a Brazilian steakhouse, at the site of the former Q Cafe, which closed in early 2006, five years after a drive-by shooting killed Maria Ann Hsiao, a 21-year-old art student standing outside the nightclub.

The 529 Alma St. location remained empty until Reynders signed the lease last April, after spending two years looking for the right amount of space in downtown Palo Alto.

In deciding to open their own restaurant, the former financier and his wife agreed to look out for employees as well as the business. Every employee will receive pension benefits, health care and opportunities to take enrichment classes.

"People talk about good service, but not about the employee experience," Reynders said.

In addition to paying for employees to take English as a second language to help them ascend Pampas' career ladder, the restaurant will fund classes that let employees improve their art, such as a pastry-making class for a sous-chef.

"Where a lot of restaurateurs make mistakes is, they don't run a restaurant like a company where you let your people grow," Reynders said.

"That's huge," said executive chef John Karbowski. "It enables people to stick around - you can train them."

General manager Saeed Amini, who formerly worked at Kokkari in San Francisco and Evvia in Palo Alto, said the philosophy is groundbreaking in the restaurant industry.

"Nothing is worse than turnover in any business, especially in the restaurant business," he said. "This keeps everyone together, like a family."

Scheduled to open late next month, the three-story space will be wired with video-conferencing technology for corporate parties. Reynders also plans to invite families with relatives in the military to chat with loved ones stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan through the screens.

"I look at it as a service to the community," he said.

Joyce Yamagiwa, a partner with the building's owner, Keenan Land, said her company reviewed several proposals to lease the space, but settled on Pampas because of its dual focus on corporate groups and families. Among other features, children dining at the steakhouse can borrow portable DVD players and make a selection from the restaurant's film library, Reynders said.

"There were a number of concepts that came across our attention, but we did in fact want to have a restaurant which was unique," Yamagiwa said.

Following the Brazilian concept of the churrascaria, Pampas waiters will circulate the room with skewers of roasted meat. Diners can flip a medallion to green when they are ready for more food, or red to take a breather. To round out the menu, the restaurant hired a vegetarian consultant as well as consulting pastry chef Marisa Churchill, a contestant on the second season of "Top Chef," a reality television show.

While Pampas finishes up its construction - so far builders have removed 90 dump trucks full of dirt - Reynders said local companies have already jumped on board.

"Someone already booked us for their Christmas party for this year," he said.



E-mail Kristina Peterson at kpeterson@dailynewsgroup.com.