Retail Scene: Marina Park Grill to replace DaVinci's

KIRKLAND -- Out with the old, in with the new.

DaVinci's, a hot spot on the Kirkland waterfront for pizza, drinks and dancing for the past decade, closed its doors in March.

Mike Brown, who ran DaVinci's for more than a decade, along with two partners, plans to replace his former restaurant with a new offering called the Marina Park Grill.

The new restaurant will be co-owned by Brown and his partners Dan Williams and Kelly Simonson, who were also co-owners of DaVinci's.

The trio also operate two other downtown Kirkland restaurants, 21 Central and The Shark Club.

The new restaurant, which will be located in DaVinci's old space, is expected to open early next month, as soon as renovations are completed.

Brown said Marina Park Grill will feature Northwest cuisine, including seafood and steaks.

Marina Park Grill will be the latest in a string of restaurants that has resided at 89 Kirkland Ave. since the 1930s. Of the restaurants that have been there, The Happy Clam, which closed in the late '70s, had the longest run -- 20 years.

Other restaurants that have occupied that address included Rodney's, Moss Bay Yacht Club and Lenny's, which was partly owned by former Seattle SuperSonics coach/player Lenny Wilkens, who continues to reside on the Eastside. Wilkens now coaches the NBA's Toronto Raptors basketball team.

Brown, a former kitchen manager at Ray's Boathouse restaurant in Seattle, opened DaVinci's in 1989.

DaVinci's was a pizza-and-pasta restaurant/dance club, which appealed primarily to the 21 to 30 age group, Brown said.

During the Seattle Sonics appearance in the NBA finals in 1996 the place was packed so full that the crowd had to be thinned out to meet the fire code occupancy limit.

The dance club and bar upstairs was popular, a scene that Brown described as a ``meat market.'' In 1993, it was named ``favorite singles bar'' by Eastside Week newspaper.

But the young crowd that frequented DaVinci's ``can't afford to live in Kirkland now,'' Brown said.

The business had fallen off in the last few years as Kirkland's demographics changed and competition for nightclub business increased.

``We just lost our niche and it was over,'' Brown said. ``Our group of customers grew up and had babies.''

The 4,000-square-foot restaurant/cantina that will replace DaVinci's will feature a menu with entrees ranging in price from $15 to $25.

``It's an upscale neighborhood. That's who lives here,'' Brown said.

But Brown is looking forward to the change, with fewer late nights, liquor liabilities and holes punched in the bathroom walls.

``Yes, I'm looking to dealing with mature adults,'' he said.

The restaurant will seat about 70 inthe dining room, 20 in the cantina and there will be patio seating in the summer.

``It will be a small intimate restaurant,'' Brown said.

The cantina upstairs will feature Mexican food, chairs and tables imported from Mexico and Mexican movie posters. Brown also bought an antique, 1930s-era bar over the Internet for $12,000, which is designed to give the downstairs dining area a bistro feel.

Ricardo Jimenez, the head chef at 21 Central, will also oversee the operations at the Marina Park Grill.

Keeg's closing at end of August

BELLEVUE -- Keeg's Home Furnishings, an independent family-owned furniture store, will close its doors at the end of August after nearly a half-century in business.

The reason, according to Keeg's owner Penn Kerr, is the increasing cost to rent in downtown Bellevue.

``The rents went really, really high on us,'' Kerr said. ``We weren't able to keep up with the pace.''

The store, located at 10575 12th Ave. N.E. in the Bellevue Shopping Center, was unable to negotiate what it deemed a favorable lease when its 10-year lease with landlord Wallace Properties ran out this year. A three-year lease was offered at a 50 percent increase over the current rate, Kerr said. However, Bob Wallace of Wallace Properties, said the increase was actually 18 percent.

Eight employees at the store will be affected by the closure, Kerr said.

Keeg's opened in 1953 in Seattle and moved to Bellevue in 1990, said Kerr, a second-generation owner of the business.

Business increased when the store moved to Bellevue, but not enough to keep up with the cost of real estate, Kerr said.

``We've had a lot of great loyalty over here and dependable staff, `` Kerr said. ``We're closing down the Keeg's store and retiring the name.''

In September, Kerr will open a smaller furniture store under a yet-to-be-determined new name that will be located in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood. ``I really wanted at this point get into something more comfortable (with) less pressure from high rents,'' Kerr said.

Retail Scene runs Wednesdays. Tony Dondero can be reached at 425-452-3032 or tony.dondero@eastsidejournal.com.