The Des Moines-based restaurant Scotch and Vine is expected to open this spring at the city of Kent-owned Riverbend Golf Complex.
City staff and consultants have been looking for a new tenant since Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub & Restaurant closed in June. After interviews with three potential tenants, city officials picked Scotch and Vine.
“We identified the strongest candidate, it is Scotch and Vine,” City Parks Director Jeff Watling said at a City Council Operations Committee meeting on Jan. 5. “We have been in negotiations the last couple of months. They are in Des Moines and are very, very interested in expanding into Kent and very, very enthusiastic to be on a golf course and understanding what it means to be on a golf course.”
Scotch and Vine opened in 2011 in downtown Des Moines along Marine View Drive. The restaurant features steaks, chops, pastas, chicken and specialties. The menu includes Kobe beef, buffalo and elk burgers. It also offers 250 scotch labels, selections of bourbon, rye, Canadian and Irish whiskeys, more than 200 wines and eight craft beers.
Watling expects to bring a lease agreement between the city and Scotch and Vine owners to the Operations Committee later this month or in February for approval.
“The target we all are shooting for is an opening in early April,” Watling said.
Councilmember Dana Ralph looks forward to the new restaurant.
“I cannot tell you how excited I am that it is Scotch and Vine,” Ralph said at the committee meeting as she and her husband eat at the establishment. “That is one of our favorite restaurants. Mayor (Dave) Kaplan of Des Moines took great pleasure that we spent our anniversary in Des Moines and not in Kent. I can’t wait to see him again and let him know maybe it was research.”
Council President Bill Boyce asked Watling about the hours of operation.
“We will have that spelled out in the lease,” Watling said. “We want breakfast, lunch and dinner in peak season from April to October.”
The city hired Kirkland-based Restaurant Group, Inc., as a consultant to look at the restaurant model at Riverbend and help determine whether the space should be re-sized to better fit the needs of a long-term tenant with an interior modification.
Changes were made to the restaurant entrance to improve access. The exterior of the restaurant will be painted to help it stand out from the rest of the golf complex.
“I’m excited to hear about some of those changes,” Ralph said. “It was a little bit awkward getting into that space. I think it is important as you drive by that it is set apart as a place to go eat, even if you are not going to golf. There was signage, but I am excited to hear we are doing things I think it will help the restaurant be successful.”
The consultant contract will cost the city $20,850. The consultant helped market the property to find a new operator and will receive $15,000 of the fee when a new lease agreement is reached.
City staff notified Mick Kelley’s in early 2015 that it wouldn’t extend the five-year lease because the owner was behind in lease and utility payments to the city which led to a breach of the contract. Owner Mick Purdy complained about how the city billed him for utilities because the facility had no separate meters for the restaurant and 18-hole clubhouse.
Because of those problems, the new lease will include changes. Watling said the fees for rent and utilities will be based on a percentage of sales rather than identifying utility costs that the city doesn’t have without separate meters.
Watling said Scotch and Vine gets great reviews.
“If you see Yelp reviews, they are highly, highly regarded,” he said. “Part of our negotiation was to find a menu that fits the current model and fits within a municipal golf course.”
Ralph expects a good fit.
“If what they are doing in Des Moines is any indication, with excellent food, great variety and that balance between casual and anniversary dinner, they’ve done a great job of finding that balance,” she said.
The owners of Scotch and Vine didn’t return a reporter’s phone call for comment about the new location.
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