Tommy Bahama Wailea
June - July 2009
Bask in the fun-meets-fashion lifestyle of the famed brand’s Maui cafe
There is food. And there is fashion. Seldom do the twain meet, except when, in a clumsy moment, a drop of gazpacho falls from your spoon and onto a previously impeccable pair of white linen pants.
But there are exceptions to every rule. Tommy Bahama is one of those exceptions.
The most-often asked question regarding this unique marriage of food and fashion is: Who is Tommy Bahama? The answer: Tommy Bahama is not a person, rather, a lifestyle.
Since its inception 17 years ago by a trio of enterprising retailers, Tommy Bahama has evolved into a brand that embraces many things, each with a common theme.
Specifically, according to Doug Wood, Tommy Bahama’s president and chief operating officer, it is a concept based on an “upscale tropical lifestyle” that now includes men’s and women’s sportswear, golfwear, swimwear, furniture, accessories, scents and so much more.
As Wood tells the story, the owners opened the first retail/ restaurant in Naples, Fla., some 13 years ago because they wanted to become more than just an apparel company.
“The idea was to create an environment and a brand that catered to ‘island attitude’ in people’s minds. There’s something magical about going to a place … where the only requirement is to relax,” Wood explains.
We recently had the opportunity to visit the Tommy Bahama retail store and its adjacent Tropical Café in Wailea. It is one of a dozen such locations dotted around the country in places such as Sarasota, Scottsdale, Newport Beach and Las Vegas.
These, in addition to the more than 80 retail locations around the country, comprise a business model that is based on the motto that “life is a long weekend,” and the word “relax” appears as a reminder on many of the clothing items and accessories.
We already were aware of the clothing aspect of the business. I had received a couple of shirts as gifts in the past, and it never failed to surprise me when someone would confidently – and accurately -state, “I like that Tommy Bahama,” although there were no visible logos to identify it as such.
I just put it off as a case of observant fashionistas with an eye for such things, just as jazz aficionados don’t require liner notes to identify a particular jazz lick as being laid down by John Coltrane or Thelonious Monk. For those in the know, you can “see” and “hear” such things – like Tommy Bahama’s trademark nuances.
“There’s a distinctive sophistication to our prints and our color palette that people recognize,” Wood says. “There’s an art to executing these designs on silk/rayon fabric that our designers have refined.”
What I was not as familiar with was how the Tommy Bahama brand has evolved into more than a clothing store.
“The moment you enter one of our shops, you instantly realize this is a very unique place,” says regional manager Doug Wee, a Hawaii-born-and-raised veteran of the local retail scene. “Once you buy one item, you become a fan of Tommy Bahama.”
A tour through the casually, but elegantly appointed shop quickly reveals that this is not, as Wee notes, a stereotypical “aloha shirt” store, featuring garish patterns and loud colors that announce to anyone with a pair of eyes that a) you don’t get it, and b) you have little in the way of taste.
After purchasing a couple of items we simply could not resist – a shirt and a well-tooled leather belt – we adjourned to the adjacent restaurant for a dining experience we will not soon forget.
“Running a store and running a restaurant require two very distinct styles of management,” Wood notes. “It’s not as easy as simply running the cash register.”
The service at the restaurant was attentive without being cloying. The ambience was elegantly informal. The music, provided by a single guitarist/singer, evoked a Kenny Rankin/ James Taylor vibe – cool, but hip. And the dining experience was simply divine.
We sampled a number of items from the kitchen of chef Brandon Shim, a native of Maui who has mastered the art of combining local flavors with fine dining.
Particularly enjoyable was a chicken tortilla soup with a hint of spice. You can’t go wrong with the crab bisque, either. There’s a wide selection of excellent appetizers, including a crab cake that was both simple and tasty, as well as an interesting tuna prepared in a poke-like style, layered over guacamole. There are several salads – featuring locally grown greens – to choose from.
On the night of our visit, we sampled the beef ribs laced with a honey-based sauce, and a macadamia-encrusted opakapaka (snapper) that was to die for. Topping off the meal were a sampling of two desserts, most memorably a huge, decadent brownie with vanilla ice cream.
So if you happen to visit Maui anytime soon, make the time to visit Tommy Bahama. More advice: Be sure to budget for a couple of purchases at the shop, and come with an appetite in order to savor an excellent meal.
“Our goal has always been to create a cool place to hang out,” Wood says. That goal is achieved at the Tommy Bahama in Wailea.
There are no comments
Leave a Comment