If anyone knows how to create fun at a nightclub, it’s T.J. Stone, who’s no stranger to Renton.
If anyone knows how to cook a gourmet meal, it’s Benjamin Vahdati, who’s been known as the European Gourmet.
Together, they are the fun side and the food side of the Stix -n- Stones Restaurant and Lounge on Main Avenue in Renton, which opened in July.
They promise fresh food and fresh entertainment every day.
Stix -n- Stones follows in the footsteps of some successful and not-so-successful restaurants at 317 Main Ave. One of the successful restaurants was McGowan’s, owned by Ron McGowan and who still owns the building.
Stix -n- Stones is chockfull of something to do on an evening out or for lunch or for a Sunday brunch. There’s a bar, with the restaurant on one side and the entertainment venue on the other side.
If you like to sing, there’s karaoke. If you like to dance, there’s a dance floor. If you like to laugh, there are comedy nights. If you like jazz, then listen up.
If you like to eat, Chef Vahdati, with more than three decades of experience, offers an extensive menu that caters to Northwest tastes, featuring everything from simply prepared salmon to gourmet burgers at lunch to an entree of your choice, if you give the chef enough advance notice.
“You can get a wonderful dinner for an affordable price,” said owner Stone, who is the restaurant/lounge’s operations manager. He’s a 1981 graduate of Lindbergh High School.
Stone has a long history entertaining people, starting as an 11-year-old singing and playing drums in local clubs. He went on the road with a band for six years.
Then he got into karaoke. That was around 1990, in the same spot where he now oversees the Stix -n- Stones’ operations. Only then, it was known as Rifflestein’s Restaurant. He was booked for five nights for six months as the host.
He went on to such places as the Golden Steer in Kent, where he says he packed ‘em in on Friday and Saturday nights.
He booked entertainment in the 1990s for nightclubs and became a consultant for clubs, earning the owners, he said, “a lot of money.”
He went into general contracting. But he never really left the club business behind.
“The next club I do this for will be my own club,” he said.
Stone works alongside his wife Jennifer. His 11-year-old stepson Tanner came up with the restaurant’s name, after the adults played around with how to use their last names in the title.
Stone’s business partner is Alex Atwood of University Place, who handles the books.
But the food is all Vahdati’s.
“He’s very picky,” Stone said. “He created all our food.”
Vahdati himself has an extensive background in the food and entertainment industry, opening clubs and restaurants. He was an executive chef in Europe for 3 1/2 years.
He grew up in Italy and traveled extensively with his father, a civil engineer, in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. He arrived in the United States at age 23.
For sure, he’s committed to his restaurant.
In the midst of opening his new restaurant, he had open-heart surgery. He was supposed to take a year off, but he was back in the kitchen two days after surgery.
“I just couldn’t sit down,” he said.
The food has one well-known fan.
In Renton, Stix -n- Stones is “my new favorite restaurant,” said Shannon Waters of Renton, AKA Shambo of TV’s “Survivor.” She recommends the Portofino Steak rib eye.
Waters’ family is a regular at the restaurant. She works for a restaurant-equipment supplier.
Vahdati does all the heavy lifting in the kitchen. He doesn’t have many canned goods.
“Everything is fresh in here,” he said.
That fresh product someday could include lobster from Maine and Mahi Mahi from Hawaii.
He puts his customer first. That includes getting just the right meal, even if it’s not on the already-extensive menu.
“This is your night,” he said. “What would you like to have?” He can adapt “the main center of the plate” on the spot and, with advance warning, can fix something not on the menu. He has 17 years in the catering business.
He spends a lot of time interacting with customers. “It’s part of the entertainment,” he said.
Stix -n- Stones Restaurant and Lounge
WHERE: 317 Main Ave. S., downtown Renton
RESTAURANT HOURS: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
LOUNGE HOURS: 11 a.m.-midnight, Monday-Tuesday; 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Wednesday-Friday; 9 a.m.-2 a.m., Saturday, and 9 a.m.-midnight Sunday.
KARAOKE: 9:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m., Wednesday-Saturday
CONTACT: 425-282-4173; info@stixnstonesplace.com
