The Seattle Times’ Food & Wine section has an excellent article today on the impending arrival of Trader Vic’s in Bellevue, directly across Lake Washington from Seattle. Seattle once boasted Trader Vic’s second location, which started out named The Outrigger. The location was a Seattle institution, located at the base of the Benjamin Franklin Hotel, which later became the Westin Hotel, from 1948 until its closure in 1992. The article does a great job of describing the important place that Trader Vic’s had on the Seattle culinary scene, and ... gives a great view of what the hospitality was like. In particular, great tribute is paid to the restaurant’s long-time manager, Harry Wong: