How the West 5 Was Won

Imagine back to a pre-Internet time when
the telephone prefix WE5, or West 5,
denoted a call straight to serene West
Seattle. The cocktail, quite often, could aspire
to high art — in the right hands, with the
proper bit of mixing know-how, imaginative
experimentation and, ‘scuse the French,
je ne sais quoi. “Value” had true meaning
then, as did simply getting together and
chewing the fat over a tall cool one while
sharing a pleasant vibe that didn’t require
articulation or a crafty Madison Ave. slogan.
Now move the clock considerably forward
and add to the mix two returning native sons,
tired of corporate toil and big-city ways,
with a penchant for urban spelunking (read,
treasure-hunting for classic cultural artifacts)
and resuscitating a past that establishments
such as Trader Vic’s hinted at (remember, tikis, my friend, go far!). These owner/operator
gentlemen, Dave and Dean, salvaged, like
daredevil deep-sea divers, choice fixtures
and curiosities from lost and foundered
West Seattle establishments such as Vann’s
(see the large nautical painting) and the
Admiral Benbow Inn (check that choice neon
out front) — all to give them a new perch and
proper reverence. Our glittery crown? Let’s
just say that’s from an old Seattle hotel.
The West 5, at one time or another a
Gallen Kamp’s shoe store, a bowling alley
and West Seattle Speedway and Hobby, would be a new home for such bygone ways and quality cocktail-archeological artifacts. It being a new millennium and all, everything would be lent a fresh polish and slightly modern twist — CDs rather than vinyl, and comfort-food classics occasionally wholly organic, for instance. The West 5 would capture bygone West Seattle, and done right, would establish a new legacy all its own. And its fiercely independent nature just says NO to samey same corporate monotony, keeping
it local, keeping it real.