The Trident Restaurant

Welcome to the Trident!

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2013-06-03T21:48:53Z

Welcome to the "original" Trident Restaurant's web log! This site would like your help collecting photos, stories, and memories, from employees, patrons, and anyone that frequented this unique establishment/ experience from 1966 to 1976.

The Kingston Trio's Trident, at 558 Bridgeway in Sausalito, uniquely reflected what was going on in the late 60's and through the mid 70's in the Bay Area. Janis Joplin had her own table when she came in. In 1972 and 1975, after their concerts, the Rolling Stones held private parties thrown by Bill Graham. The night the Trident closed in 1976, most of the employees had taken some sort of mind altering substance ,and the "kind" was freely indulged in throughout the evening ... without any incidents or trouble from the Sausalito Police who were in attendence.
What a trip!

Have the times changed? Your thoughts, stories, photos, and memories are welcomed!

Email photos, stories, or videos to : Endorfunns@aol.com or post your comments on the site, and enjoy the conversation.

Trident Flashback

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2013-06-01T22:01:00Z

Do Your Brain A Favor

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2013-05-30T21:49:00Z

Do Your Brain A Favor, Let It Rest Every Day.....
Any chance they'll bring back the Message Sign?
People use to drive into town just to see the daily message because they were oftentimes off the wall, and hilarious!

The Trident 1963

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2013-05-10T18:24:00Z

What ever happen to the Neptune Spears that lined the walkway to the entrance of the Trident Restaurant?
(Trident Drink Coaster)

I got my drivers license when I was 16 and my first car when I was 17. The first place I took my high school sweetheart was a road trip to Sausalito. I was a major fan of Nick, Bob, and John, The Kingston Trio. The Trident was a bit expensive for high schoolers but we could get a Coke Cola. My high school girl friend, now my wife of 43 years, still has a coaster and napkin from The Trident. When I was drafted, Sausalito is where I told her. When I asked her to marry me it was the little village by the bay. After I returned from Vietnam we where married and we honeymoon at the Alta Mira. Thanks for reopening a little piece of my heart. David Willey, Sacremento
Bob Shane 1963

David Crosby

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2012-11-11T18:04:01Z

From an interview with David Crosby in this month's Santa Barbara Magazine David ends the interview with a wonderful compliment about the Kingston Trio. At the time of the interview David and CS&N were playing at the Santa Barbara Bowl. David was asked, "You're playing the Santa Barbara Bowl - which I'm sure you love and have played many times before. Do you remember the first concert you went to there?" And David replied, "The first show I saw there was the Kingston Trio and I was absolutely thrilled. I was folksy, I loved it! They were very good! I think that's how far back it goes - my relationship with the Bowl. I consider Santa Barbara my home. I love it very much, and hope to live out my life here."

(Image from Santa Barbara Magazine)
Excerpt lifted from David Crosby's "Since Then" How I Survived Everything And Lived To Tell About It:
     "After a series of adventures, the Mayan and it's crew sailed into San Francisco Bay and found moorings in Sausalito. David lived upon the boat and recorded his solo album "If I Could Only Remember My Name" at Wally Heider's studio in San Francisco. He made the Trident (a local restaurant and bar) his personal watering hole.
      Built on pilings over the water on Sausalito's main street (Bridgeway), it had a deck with an expansive view of all of San Francisco Bay and the most gorgeous waitresses north of the Playboy Mansion. No airbrushing and no implants. Trident women had rings in their noses and tattoos of flowers and butterflies where you could see them, and sometimes where you couldn't. There was no house uniform so waitresses could wear anything from Victorian Velvet to see-through Indian gauze. Some shaved, some didn't.
      The line between staff and clientele often blurred: beautiful women would hang out waiting for an interview or a job opening, and female staff would stick around after work, fraternizing with guys who could afford the tab (it was not a cheap place to eat). If sex, drugs, and rock and roll had caused a revolution, the Trident was it's Reign of Terror!"

Trident Preview Party November 16, 2012

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2012-11-01T14:56:48Z

The "New" Trident is Open! Formerly Horizons, and formerly the Kingston Trio's and Frank Werber's Trident (circa late sixties through late 70's).
Here's the new Trident's web site for reservations, and email updates for events:

The Trident Restaurant

Trident Preview Party
The World Famous Trident Restaurant has reopened in Sausalito, and owner Bob
Freeman invites Historical Society members and other locals to a preview
party on Friday, November 16. From 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, enjoy $3.50 wine
and well drinks and complimentary hors d'oeuvres, as well as music by The
Rowan Brothers.
Started by the legendary Kingston Trio, the iconic Trident restaurant was
famous for its music, food and "anything goes" atmosphere. It was a "home
away from home" to famous (and infamous) musicians, artists, actors and
eccentrics. The Trident developed a reputation as "the" place to be. The
restaurant changed hands during the late 1970s and became known as Horizons.

The building was constructed in 1898 and served as the first Yacht club in
the Bay Area. It has been refurbished but Bob has kept integral parts of the
original Trident, including most of the custom built wooden interior and the
1960s ceiling mural, painted by artist David Richards. Renovations include
the addition of a Sky Deck on the 2nd level that boasts one of the premier
views of San Francisco and the bay.
An "official" opening is being planned for some time in the New Year, or
sooner, but here's a chance to preview this historic Sausalito landmark with
friends and neighbors.

The Trident is at 558 Bridgeway (415) 331-3232.

National Geographic Trident Article 2012

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2012-10-12T19:19:00Z

The National Geographic's article on the creation of the Tequila Sunrise, and the Rolling Stone's connection thereof.

Click here for the whole article: The National Geographic Trident Article 2012

The Legend of Bagger Larry

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2012-10-12T19:10:43Z

"Long-haired freako" embraced by the Mill Valley golf society By Jason Walsh
This article appeared in the Pacific Sun in March of 1977

   One of Marin's finest golfers of the 1970s was facing something of a personal dilemma - should he give up Marijuana if it would lower his handicap?
     Larry Kimzey, a "confirmed pot head" of eight years, according to Sun reporter George Frazier, wasn't taking lightly the possibility of sacrificing his passion for the "greener" in favor of his passion for the greens. But alas, he worried his frequent lighting of the chronic was hurting his short game.
     "It's affecting my memory," lamented Kimzey, whose average score was then in the 80s. "And what is putting the memory - trying to remember that 'touch' of 'feel' of putting" The 26 year old held dreams of going pro, but was concerned the he too often "ends up looking like a spazo around the greens."
     Kimsey, at the time, was living in a diplapidated truck near Sausalito's Gate 5 and he estimated his cost of living at about $250 a month. He was also the newest member of the prestigious Mill Valley's Golf Club.
     "That long hair freako often seen hitch hiking between Sausalito and Mill Valley with a bag over his shoulder is Kimzey," wrote the reporter.
     But why, in the words of Frazier, would the posh Mill Valley's Men's Golf Club "totally accept...a stoned golf nut?"
     Kimzey put it down to two primary qualities his fellow golfers were looking for in a club member: "I don't run off at the mouth in a crazed manner...and I don't smoke dope with the older guys."
     At this juncture in his life, Kimzey considered golf his chosen profession. " I don't play golf for pleasure," he said. "It's like a job...this is what I do." But it wasn't long before that when Kimzey was juggling a pair of careers that may have ultimately kept him out of Mill Valley "High Society": selling pyramid schemes and dealing drugs.
       When the pyramid scheme/drug dealing scene turned sour ("people were getting killed"), he took a job scrubbing pots and pans at the famous Trident Restaurant. Just when it seemed his career in the service industry might be taking off (he'd been promoted to vegatable slicer) Kimzey's fate took a turn: He cut his foot on a piece of glass while leaving the Trident. Several months and one worker's compensation suit later Mr. Kimzey was $10,000 richer.
     Still, that kind of money doesn't last too long being an out of work golf fanatic in Marin. " I pinched pennies, but I'm spending money and I just don't like it," said Kimzey. "Golf, food, and chicks, my money just dribbles away."
     Kimzey, now 56, currently lives in San Francisco and has upgraded from a truck to an apartment. Aside from that, not muched, has changedc.
     "I'm still the last of the independents. I didn't go corporate. I'm still just a small time chisler just like I was then," he says.
     Kimzey still hits the links with regularity - he's won flights in the San Francisco City Golf Championship and has an 8 handicap. All this despite never having abandoned the loco weed.
     "The one thing that has been universal in my life these 30 years has been golf and pot," reflects Kimzey. "Your right, that's two things."

Special thanks to Jason Walsh and the Pacific Sun Newspaper for permission to reprint their article here!
And, Larry, how the hell are ya? Check in when ya can....will ya?

The "Other" Trident Story

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2012-10-01T19:58:00Z

Special thanks to Jay Daniel for his contributions here. Jay is listed as the principal photographer for Black Cat Studios: jay@blackcatstudio.com For those in the know this was an extension of the Kingston Trios and Frank Werber's Trident restaurant.

Summer Brown

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2012-05-19T19:44:15Z

From Edwin Brown, "We were Hippies living in the Haight. Summer would hitchhike across the Golden Gate Bridge to work. She always got a ride!"

The Trident Movie

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2012-05-11T20:43:38Z

For those of you that follow this site you may have noticed a lack of activity the past few months. What happened? I moved ending my forty year love affair with Marin, and have moved down to the Central Coast - Santa Barbara.

With the re-opening of the Trident this year there is much to report. Jiro/ Melvin has come up with some new photos from "Benny" that will be posted here shortly.

But, the biggest news is Trident alumni Ed Gutekunst has written an amazing Movie Treatment/ Short Story (currently 36 pages - Treatments are 20) about three women coming of age in 1974 while working at the Trident. One of them is the Manager (Dagny?), and the other two...well, you'll just have to wait and see. Ed would love Robin to play Lou Ganapolar. Possibly with the "Benjamin Buttons" effect he could play Lou and himself back in the day?

More about The Trident movie to follow...

Happy New Year!

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2012-01-01T15:33:14Z

Trident Re-Opening in 2012?

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2011-12-27T23:11:41Z

For decades now, Sausalito's Horizons has been a place for tourists to sit on a sun-filled, Bay-bordering patio, while paying a premium for average renditions of shrimp Louis and friends. Now owners Ron Davis and Bob Freeman, who also own Wharf fixture Buena Vista Cafe, have a plan to switch things up. Since the America's Cup will be bringing big crowds to the area next year, it's a perfect opportunity to revamp and bring back some of the luster of years past. Freeman has hired former Michael Mina sous chef James Montejanoto help. (Yes, that's the same chef who just turned down the Lot 7 gig.) Next year, they'll shut down Horizons and reopen as Trident—a restaurant last seen at this address during the drug- and music-loving counterculture heyday of the 60s and 70s, when Janis Joplin had a regular table inside.

The move resembles Moonraker's recent revival in Pacifica, and the history of Trident is certainly a fun one. Led Zepplin, Santana and Vince Guaraldimade regular appearances, and Bill Graham would hold regular private parties, many of them with the Rolling Stones. You can read a lot more about the good old days right here.

When Trident reopens next year, Janice Joplin obviously won't be there, but ahuge new upper level deck will host prime seats for watching the America's Cup, and the existing decor downstairs will have enjoyed a much-needed refresh. Montejano has already spruced up the menu, fixing classics like cioppino and Nicoise salad with an eye towards sustainability and local sourcing. He'll continue doing this in the new year, bringing in local oysters,Brandt beef, Mary's air-chilled chickens, and more. There's a Humphry Sloclombe Irish coffee ice cream in the works, and there may even be a totally separate menu upstairs. "Tourists are a given here with the views and everything," says Montejano. "But we also want to cater to locals and the industry."

After meetings with the Sausalito City Council in mid-January, the powers that be will know a lot more about what exactly can be done to the decor, and how quickly. Horizons will stay open as is through the new year, until the exact plan is nailed down. Expect an update on all this early next year.

The Jiro Collection

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2011-08-25T17:34:06Z

Special thanks to Jiro Yoneshige aka "Melvin" and the many photo contibutions he's made here. Kadi Kiss featured waitress alumni here.
Like the sign says, "Do Your Brain A Favor, Let It Rest Each Day."

The Tequila Whisperer and The Barfly

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2011-08-14T18:07:55Z

Special thanks to the Tequila Whisperer aka Michael Lipman "Lippy" and Jeff Burkhart aka the Barfly! Might need to turn the volume up here a little. This first appeared "live streaming" on Thursday August 11, 2011 on www.TequilaWhisperer.com which broadcasts "live online" every Thursday night at 7pm. This video is 15 minutes long. Excerpted from the 112 minute show. Go to the Tequila Whisperer web site and click on "Archives" for the whole show.

Rodger, Lisa, and Michael

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2011-08-14T17:54:38Z

Photos provided by Ruggero Milano (back in the day Rodger) the owner of Milano ristorante at 1 Blackfield Drive in Tiburon, California (415) 388-9100 www.milanotiburon.com
Rodger, Michael, and Lisa. And, Rodger and Bobby!

Tales From The Trident

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2011-08-01T22:13:47Z

MIGHT NEED TO TURN THE VOLUME UP, LOT OF BACKGROUND NOISE, BUT A GREAT STORY NONETHELESS!

Not Just Another Tequila Sunrise

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2011-06-29T15:11:08Z

This article appeared in the Marin Independent Journal on June 19,2011. The author is Jeff Burkhart. Two of Jeff's websites are: The Barfly Online Real Life Adventures in Bartending and Jeff Burkhart

ABOUT A YEAR AGO Mark Lomas, a former bartender who runs the Trident Restaurant website, and I had lunch. We sat in the main dining room of Horizons in Sausalito — the former Trident — and swapped bar stories. I had once worked at the briefly reopened Ondine, which was above the original Trident.

Owned by the Kingston Trio, the Trident was way ahead of its time. From 1966 to the mid- 1970s it was the place to be in the Bay Area. Famed for its beautiful waitresses and musical pedigree, it also featured such innovations as sashimi, a fresh juice bar and an espresso bar.

After numerous stories about rock 'n' rollers, waitresses, Robin Williams (once a busboy at the Trident), Lomas mentioned that the tequila sunrise had been invented there.

Now, I was reasonably sure that the tequila sunrise had been invented long before that, but I tucked away that information along with the phone number of the bartender who supposedly did that inventing.

From my research, I learned that:

• The Arizona Biltmore hotel claims that bartender Gene Sulit invented the tequila sunrise there in the late 1930s, consisting of tequila, lime juice, soda and crème de cassis.

• The recipe most people are familiar with; tequila orange juice and grenadine appeared for the very first time in the 1974 version of Mr. Boston's Bartender's Guide.

Hmmm.

Drink origins are always a little murky. Take the martini, for instance. The town of Martinez claims that it was invented there in 1874. In fact it put up a historical landmark to "certify" the event. It doesn't seem to matter that the drink invented there was called the Martinez Special, or that it included bitters, as well as a different kind of gin and a totally different kind of vermouth. There it sits, certified in stone: "Birthplace of the Martini."

Eventually I called the so-called inventor of the tequila sunrise. Bobby Lazoff, 63, splits his time between computer IT work and teaching tutorials while living in Hawaii. But back in 1969 he was a fresh-faced 20-year-old looking for work in Sausalito.

"I did about two or three days as a dishwasher," he said. "Then I was a busboy and when I got old enough I became a bartender."

He claimed to have taken the bartending very seriously.

"The Trident was a rock 'n' roll haven and tequila was the 'in' drink," he said. So he and another bartender, Billy Rice, started experimenting. "Anything made with gin or vodka we started making with tequila," he said. "A couple of them didn't turn out too well."

One drink that did turn out well was a resurrected tequila sunrise.

"We built it in a chimney glass; a shot of tequila with one hand, a shot of sweet and sour with the other hand, the soda gun, then orange juice, float crème de cassis on top, grenadine if you wanted, and that was it, the tequila sunrise."

Eventually, the bartenders simplified the recipe to just tequila, orange juice and grenadine.

"We had a Rolling Stones party (the kickoff of the media frenzy that was their 1972 tour) one Monday night when we were usually closed," Lazoff said. "The owner called me in and put me behind the bar. We had a select menu, a couple of the prettier waitresses and that was the party. Bill Graham brought in about 35 people, and you know the place holds several hundred. Mick came up to the bar and asked for a margarita, I asked him if he had ever tried a tequila sunrise, he said no, I built him one and they started sucking them up. After that they took them all across the country."

OK, I thought, all I had to do was get the Rolling Stones to verify that and we could reasonably assume that Lazoff might be indeed be responsible for the most recognizable incarnation of the tequila sunrise.

Rather unlikely. As a result, the story sat until I picked up Keith Richards' book "Life," published this past October. Chapter nine, sentence No. 1: "The '72 tour was known by other names — the cocaine and tequila sunrise tour ... " I could not believe my eyes.

I realized that I should probably be a little more trusting, and that Horizons might want to look into historical markers.

Hells Angels vs. San Francisco 49ers

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2011-06-12T18:16:06Z

John Stewart

Endorfunns@aol.com (Mark Lomas) — 2011-02-17T20:48:00Z

John Stewart who passed away three years ago, was recently honored posthumously as a member of the Kingston Trio. He replaced Dave Guard in the legendary group in 1961. His wife, Buffy Ford Stewart, acceptted the lifetime achievement Grammy for John for his work with the Kingston Trio. Paul Liberatore wrote a beautiful remembrance in today's Marin Independent Journal.
For the whole article click on the link here:
Paul Liberatore's John Stewart Marin Independent Journal article They Do Remember Him