PESO'S KITCHEN AND LOUNGE

When Peso's Taco Lounge opened January 28, 1998, on lower Queen Anne (or perhaps we should say Uptown), it was all about taco-stand tacos and a rough-and-tumble cocktail lounge. Although highly successful, especially that lounge, Peso's morphed into a more physically comfortable space over the next year and a half and changed their name to Peso's Kitchen and Lounge in 2000. In spring 2003, the wall between the lounge and restaurant came down and booths in both spaces went in. The next evolutionary step is now at hand—a menu that includes far more than solid Mexican favorites, a vastly expanded wine list and some new decorative touches. Loyal customers shouldn't worry—Mexican standards will stay on the menu and the lounge will always dominate.

Brian Hutmacher (pictured at right) is now the sole owner having bought out his brother Allen's share. Brian acknowledges this change as kicking off the recent modifications. "As long as we were co-owners," explains Brian, "the restaurant would have stayed in a more traditional Mexican camp. This is a natural growth pattern. We cut our teeth on mastering the lounge ‘thing;' we're the best at it. We're highly capable at food as well and can add to the lounge experience. The current staff now wants to bring in the dining-side skill sets we learned elsewhere."

For Brian, those skills were learned at Wild Ginger where he was on the wait staff for several years. "I knew the restaurant industry was my business," he says. "I learned how to be successful, how to have a unique but focused theme from them. But as an owner, I had to learn how to manage people, new concepts and principles. Peso's is a much more easygoing environment than Wild Ginger. It's an escapist environment—it doesn't look like your work place or home or any other restaurant. It's like a mini vacation." Dan Olsby, general manager, honed his skills at the Palisade and other RUI restaurants. Charles Maddrey, executive chef, worked in seafood restaurants on the East Coast, the kitchen at Campagne and was the chef at XO on Capitol Hill. Larry Monaco has also joined the team. His background includes several management roles in the kitchen at the Gramercy Tavern in New York, top-rated in the Zagat guide for several years in a row. He'll be involved with the execution of the menu as well.

Another recent change that has moved Peso's in the food direction is the smoking ban. "It made the place more cohesive," explains Brian. "The dining room is more upbeat; you're not dealing with smoke from the lounge while you eat."

The lounge itself won't change much. It shouldn't—it's a huge success. "I can say with a straight face," says Brian, "that in a 12-month period in a five-mile square radius, no one sells as many alcoholic beverages as Peso's Sunday through Thursday. We have the most reliable and consistent bar business, especially considering we're not a club and have no live music. We knew from the beginning that we shouldn't get wrapped up in the hype of being the hottest place in town. We made a conscious decision that food had to be good." Success in the lounge has a lot to do with a happy hour that takes place seven days a week twice a day and offers $4 eats (no beverage discounts). As Brian explains, "The food helps capture beverage sales and also allows people to see how great the food is. Although we just break even on food costs, it keeps the lounge busy." The bar menu and happy hour menu items will change somewhat. The menu is fairly extensive already and items will be added/changed to reflect the overall menu revisions. There's a strong belief in taking care of neighborhood folks and restaurant industry people at Peso's. They know they have to keep prices down to keep the locals coming in without having to stop and think about how expensive the evening will be.

Changes will be much more apparent in the dining room. The original philosophy was to have a simple Mexican theme with family-style basics. These basics will continue to be covered and affordability will still be in evidence. Emphasis on food quality, more interesting options and a higher-energy dining element have taken shape. "We don't want to get rid of our Mexican dishes, like our original signature dish, carne asada," says Brian. "There's no need. People love them and should be able to have them when they come in. But we want to get back to some of our fine dining roots and offer a different experience in the dining room."

Dominant elements are still Mexican and Latin. Twists on traditions are being offered with Mexican ingredients being put into French or European dishes. For example, black pepper weathervane sea scallops over poblano lentils de puy with lobster bisque, basil pistou and lime crème fraiche. Not exactly a Peso's Taco Lounge dish. "We're food people and want to offer full-flavored dishes," says Brian.

The new menu items are wine friendly; these changes demand more wine options and Peso's is working on a grand scale. They've increased to about 140 bottles now and will be growing to approximately 250. "We've looked at every wine list in the city," laughs Brian. "For a place that hasn't really stocked wines for ten years, our list is as good as any dinner house. We look for good wines that are price accessible." Eventually the wine list will have tasting notes for each wine, the idea being to take some of the uncertainty out of ordering for the uninitiated and hopefully give new knowledge to wine enthusiasts. In addition, Peso's is up to 65 types of tequila and has a nice port selection.

Changing the look of Peso's is a project that is taking place gradually. "We're adding sophistication, but won't change the inviting feel," says Brian. Some upholstery will change and wrought iron arches will take the place of curtains that now hang at ceiling level between the dining room and lounge.

Breakfast items won't change much—benedicts, pancakes, steak and eggs, chicken fried steak. "We may add more foodie type items once the dinner menu has settled in, although our most successful breakfast items are the ones most recently developed," says Brian. "But we acknowledge that most people want breakfast items they can recognize." The bigger change will be that they offer breakfast every day versus weekends only starting April 17, 2006.

Lunch is wide-ranging, from deli-like items of soup, salad and sandwiches to Mexican favorites to entrees like seared monkfish medallions with tarragon-lemon piccata.

To make all these changes easier on customers, the staff training program has been ramped up. Intensive training on each dish and new wine happens on a weekly basis. "We just want people to have a great time and have more options both food-wise and alcohol-wise. Service is a big part of the experience and our staff needs to be ready to answer any question. We're still adding more items, so it's an ongoing process. We don't want to bite off too much too soon. We'll be more advanced in a year as we slowly add items," says Brian. "We want to make sure that people know they won't get the same food and experience anywhere else."

Peso's has come a long way from its original concept. It will be fun to watch (and taste) where it goes next.

Connie Adams/April 2006