Corrections or additions?

These articles by Barbara Fox were prepared for the October 18,

2000 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.

Restaurant News

Ray and Elsie Pang are opening two new restaurants

in their new building at 235 Nassau Street in the spaces formerly

occupied by Zanzibar and Fork by the Side of the Road. Meanwhile,

the liquor license that Steve Willis had used for Zanzibar is being

sold to the owners of Les Copains of 18 Witherspoon Street for a

reported

$550,000.

In the big Zanzibar space the Pangs will have an eatery called Alma

Mater, decorated with plenty of orange and black and with the

atmosphere

of a less-than-usually-boisterous sports bar — though the place

is replete with television sets tuned to sports venues and business

news, it has no liquor license. The Pangs hope this will be a BYOB

establishment for both families and the college crowd.

The Pangs have enlarged the kitchen for the Alma Mater space (which

was first occupied by the Emerald Coffee House) and will have seating

for 72, with outdoor tables available on the balcony in good weather.

The menu will be Continental, with dinner entrees from $8 to $13.

In the smallest space at 235 Nassau, what was formerly just a takeout

spot, the Pangs will have a 10-seat eatery called Waikiki, focusing

on fish dishes. The Pangs also own and run the Thai Village restaurant

at 235 Nassau plus the Orchid Pavilion across the street.

Zanzibar was upscale, expensive, struggling, and lasted less than

two years. At the opening, Zanzibar’s chef had warned that investing

in a restaurant is "the perfect way to turn four million dollars

into one," but owner Steve Willis had been ultra optimistic about

his potential for success (U.S. 1, October 21, 1998). Willis

attributed

the perception that restaurants are risky to the fact that "the

people who ran them didn’t have a financial background, but had a

food background." Both Zanzibar’s and Willis’ other restaurant,

Harriet’s, closed earlier this year. Harriet’s is now called Les

Copains

and one of its owners, Michael Lauren, is the authorized agent on

the transfer application for the liquor license.

The grand opening of both Waikiki and Alma Mater will be Friday,

October

20.

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