The Padre: Class checks in, but has soul checked out?
| Wednesday, Feb 03 2010 12:37 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Feb 03 2010 04:22 PM
Images
Steve Marin looks through Brimstone on the first floor of the Padre Hotel.
Bold design stands out at the Belvedere.
Farmacy boasts a whimsically decorated ceiling at the Padre Hotel.
A trio of sliders are ready to take out to the Belvedere at the Padre Hotel. The kitchen is under the direction of Executive Chef Darrell Jensen.
The handmade pasta and bolognese sauce at the Belvedere.
The shrimp cocktail comes sliced in half and already mixed with cocktail sauce.
I'm the kind of gal who, waaay back in the day, was known to close out a night of bar-hopping at the Padre's Town Casino among an assortment of oddballs and characters, aglow from a cocktail or two, singing along as the piano player tinkled away. That room had vibe.
I miss it. So I wasn't sure how I felt about the swankification of the beloved landmark. After all, with its protest signs and mannequin-in-a-swing kitsch, the Padre was a monument to individuality -- and a pretty fiery brand of individuality at that -- courtesy of its most colorful owner. Isn't it sacrilege for a place with that much Bakersfield personality to go all boutique hotel on us with a dress code, $8 Orange Cosmo and jacuzzi bathtubs with LED lighting?
The truth is, even after a tour with Alex Shelton, the Padre's general manager, I still don't know. Gone are the rough edges (and there were many, no matter how rose-colored one's nostalgia may be). The mildly dank odor has been replaced with the perfume of lilies and about $18 million worth of "new" smell. The visuals -- murals, furnishings, gilded ceilings and polished floors -- will have your head doing a 360.
So, yes, change can be good, especially when you consider the entire building will be used, not just the few up-to-code floors of the old Padre. There's room for everyone, whether you're worried the soul has been tossed out like a crate of empties or prefer to pretend the place has no messy history and sprang, Greek mythology style, from the imagination of a San Diego developer.
And take heart, Padre purists: The place was one of a kind back in the day -- and it still is.
The highlights from my tour with Shelton, who is still feeling his way through logistics. Prices and hours are subject to change.
Prospect Lounge
10 p.m.-2 a.m. Thursday-Saturday (hospitality night, on Sundays, will offer incentives for patrons following the hotel via Facebook and Twitter)
Cover charge: $10; dress code; 114 capacity (Shelton is trying to get the capacity increased to about 150); upstairs VIP area seats 40; dancing
Vegas ultra lounge is the mantra here (think young and sophisticated). There will be a roving roster of deejays, all from out of the area. Shelton termed the playlist "cowboy/punk-cowboy/glam" and said it will be a mix of electronic, house and mainstream. "We're not trying to be a hip-hop joint,"Shelton said, though some rap might be rotated among other acts like Rascal Flatts, Rise Against, Lil Wayne, Nirvana, etc.
Shelton didn't rule out bands at Prospect, but he's really trying to push the Vegas ultra-lounge concept, so he's put live music on the back burner for now.
Prospect has the strictest dress code at the hotel: no athletic shoes, no hats, no jerseys; jeans are OK, but no rips or holes.
Reservations are accepted. Shelton threw out an example of how it works for a table of four: It's $50 per seat but the $200 is applied to the table's tab and can be spent on food or drinks.
Brimstone
11 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday and Saturday; happy hour 3-6 p.m., when all 16 oz. beers are $3;
No cover
Brimstone is the Cheesecake Factory-like grill. This is the place where lawyers and other downtowners will have lunch, Shelton said. There's a bar, dining tables and a billiard table over which is the piece de resistance: an image of Spartacus Miller looming above. There's also a cool remnant of the Padre's past in the form of an old phone booth that may find a new life as an ATM.
Menu highlights: Padre sliders (3), $8; grilled flat bread, $6; Padre Burger, $10; Chicken meatloaf sandwich, $10; entrees; pot roast, $6; trout, $14; NY steak (10 or 12 oz.) $24 / $27; chopped steak, $12; Pomegranate Margarita, $8; Orange Cosmo, $8; Blueberry Lemondrop, $8.
Farmacy
6 a.m.-10 p.m.
"Starbucks with a liquor component" is how Shelton describes this coffee/casual dining spot at the southwest corner of the hotel. "It has an interesting twist of a medicine man or snake-oil salesman -- tonic to make you feel better."
Breakfast is cooked to order and, as a mom touring the ritzy hotel, I can say it's one of the only spots where I'd feel comfortable bringing my children.
Welcome to downtown: The hooligans who ruin everything in reach of their spray cans -- or in this case knives -- have already etched their tags into a Farmacy window. Shelton says it will be buffed out.
Belvedere
Lunch: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner: 5-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 5-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday
Shelton describes the restaurant (a real stunner) as "Californian cuisine -- clean and locally grown." He raved about the duck with mushroom risotto and said the menu will change quarterly.
Executive chef Darrell Jensen said the menu's fare -- sea scallops, pasta, steaks -- are "things people recognize but will be prepared in a way they haven't seen before."
Interesting menu items: Grilled Venison Loin, $35 and Seared Atlantic Char, $24.
Shelton noted that leftover food will be donated to the homeless shelter.
Prairie Fire
Cover charge to be determined
Estimated completion date: March
This open-air bar, which looks over the north alley, is Shelton's baby. The plan is that in addition to being open to guests and the public, it will be available for special events like weddings. It will have a cabana for privacy, a water and fire feature and could host live music and dancing.
There will be a dress code, though probably not as stringent as the one enforced at Prospect.
Rooms
Even the basic rooms ($119 every day) have an upscale, urban feel. Peekaboo: The shower is visible from the bedroom through a window, but drapes will be installed for the privacy-minded. The nicer rooms have jacuzzi tubs with LED lighting but, look out! When you open the spigot, the water flows from the ceiling.
The pattern of the black and white wallpaper -- in fact much of the imagery throughout -- tips its hat to Bakersfield. There's an oil derrick, cowboy boot, bull's head, revolver, a lady's fishnet-stockinged leg, etc.
Ah, where's the outhouse ...
If you wander down to the basement to use the loo, beware: all you see at first are sinks, with nary a stall in sight. Turns out, the sinks are housed in a common unisex area, flanked by the men's and women's bathrooms. And if that weren't confusing enough, the faucets are motion-activated (no hands, ma!). A lot to remember when you're on your third Pomegranate Margarita. Shelton said the patrons so far have been shocked. "They're impressed but there's confusion on what to do."
