Rob Elder: Satay

COEUR d'ALENE - Remember Chelsea's?

It was there, at 2501 N. Fourth, from the mid-1970s to the early 90s, one of the Lake City's beloved watering holes. It featured live music, often blues, and drinks for $3 that were 90 percent whiskey. It attracted a loyal following who loved stopping in for conversation, a bit of blues, and yep, a shot of Jack Daniels.

Rob Elder remembers it - not that he ever hung out there.

"Oh no, not me,?? he said, laughing.

Little different today.

Not only does he spend his days on the property of that closed Chelsea's, he owns it and he's proud of it.

Still, he admits it's nothing he would have ever expected.

"If you ever told me I was going to open up a restaurant in the old Chelsea's, I would have went, 'You're kidding me,'" he said Monday.

Not kidding.

Rob Elder, along with son Robbie, recently opened Satay Bistro. The name, Satay, is the same as his catering company, is a type of Thai kabob. It offers what he calls American fusion - beef, seafood, chicken, steak, pasta, a lot of marinated flavors, lot of sauces.

"If you order a marinated steak, it's going to be infused with a lot of flavor," he said while sitting in his warm restaurant that features a comfortable bar with a big screen TV. "It's not going to be boring."

Elder, a CHS graduate, got his start in the restaurant industry at the age of 13 when he washed dishes at Tony's Supper Club on Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive. He later worked at the Northshore restaurant owned by Bob Templin on Lake Coeur d'Alene, before going on to own Cricket's in downtown Coeur d'Alene for 12 years. He owned and operated the Hot Rod Cafe in Post Falls for 14 years before it closed in 2011.

"It's been a rollercoaster ride," he said.

With the opening of Satay, Rob Elder is rolling ahead once more.

He employs 47 at the dimly-lighted restaurant that he vows will wow customers with its offerings, both food and wine. In by 8 in the morning and not often out the door until 9 at night, Elder is involved with all aspects of the business, from the menu to the design to the service.

Despite the long hours and responsibility that come with your own business, the Coeur d'Alene native is enjoying life these days. He works out mornings at 360 Fitness. He hunts. He still loves the Rams of the NFL and speaks with passion of that 70s team with Roman Gabriel and Jack Snow. He is thankful for the thousands who have worked for him over the years, and who have touched his life along the way.

More importantly, he's glad to be back doing what he loves, and even more thrilled to be joined by son Robbie, who is eight years in remission after being diagnosed with cancer.

"It's been a helluva year," he said. "I'm really excited to be here with my son. That's every dad's dream, to have your son be mature enough to manage and partner with you, that's what it's all about. That's been really cool."

How's it been since you opened Satay?

It's been great. Honestly, it's been awesome. It's been so cool to have this kind of a small style restaurant so well received. I know every restaurant guy tells you the food quality is always great, but the food's been a four-month collaboration between myself and the chef I hired. It's been a collection of recipes and flavors, American fusion. The word on the street appears to be really good.

How does it feel to be back in business?

The economy took a pretty good right turn in the last four years. It feels great. It feels great to have a job. I've been in the industry 32 years. I love it. I made my career choice when I was 17 years old. I was hatched to be a restaurant guy.

Ever think of leaving the industry after closing the Hot Rod Cafe?

No. It wasn't just Hot Rod that closed in our economy. In my mind, I don't care whether you were selling shoes or selling restaurant stuff, this has been a brutal four years. I didn't feel like 'Oh my gosh, I failed, I hate this industry, woe is me.' I mean that from the heart. I love this industry. I love the people. It's nice to see America's palates being more educated. They're allowing you to be more creative with the food playbook, just building things that people are going to try. People have really, really come a long way with food. You see it all over TV with the crazy restaurant shows, Gordon Ramsey stuff. I think the media has finally made this a serious career choice. It's really not just a stepping stone in people's careers anymore.

How tough was it for you to close the Hot Rod after 14 years there?

It sucked. But it was a long process. You kind of have two hats. You have the fiduciary hat that you've got to make money, then you have your entrepreneurial hat where there's always 'I'll raise my sword, I'll get on my white horse, I'll make it through this. We'll change the menu, we'll do this, we'll have an ad slogan."

Then you have the fiduciary side, it says, 'Well, wait a minute. It's been four years of this.' I knew that year if we didn't hit a certain number by the end of September, you just can't keep operating a business that continues to lose money. At some point, the checks start bouncing. This is what it is. We tried really hard. We went from a very successful restaurant, to the last four years being just crazy. We've seen it in this economy in general. It's been a whole different ball game out there.

Did you go to the auction when the Hot Rod's collectibles were sold off?

I was there. It was difficult to watch it all get torn apart. I had high aspirations for that thing to take over the world. We were ready to franchise it at one point. I really thought it had the power to be the next Applebee's of the world.

I'll be honest. It was a little harder than I thought it was going to be. Until you put 15 years of your life into something, I don't care whether it's your dog or your business, when the dog dies, you cry.

What will it take to succeed today in this business?

The right mix of food. That was kind of the problem with the Hot Rod a little bit. It was a theme-style restaurant and once you were there and saw the cars three or four times, what brought you back? This place here is totally going to be built on food. Hopefully, we nailed it with the interior, everybody likes the look of it in here. But the real key is, are the food and service going to be strong enough to keep people coming in here day in and day out, in January and February? I think it's going to be. The model of this is way, way lower overhead, small little 60 to 70 seat restaurant. It doesn't require the craziness of a 300-seat place in Post Falls, Idaho. I think it will work because the food is great here. I'm very confident in our menu. I've very confident in our collaboration of flavors we've put together. Obviously, the proof is going to be in the pudding. We'll see when you come in for dinner if I can walk the talk and perform what we're going to do. That's what it's all about.

You'll be ready for the ups and down that come with this industry?

After 26 years, the seasonality of the Coeur d'Alene market, you know what you're in for.

see ELDER, C5

from C4

It's a different thing when you realize you're responsible for 47 people. They're counting on you to make sure that next check is good, they're counting on you for their livelihood, their house payment, their car.

What is it like working with your son Robbie?

Unbelievable. He worked with me for a little while before. He was with me when I had Fast Burger for three and a half years, that's when he was really young. He was cooking fries and making hamburgers. He's awesome. He's 26 year now. He was part of Texas Roadhouse's opening team. He opened some stuff for Sonic burger. He's worked for Red Lobster, he's worked for Applebee's. The kid's got a wealth of experience.

What are some career highlights for you?

A couple things. The Hot Rod Cafe, the Rod runs, being able to have Joan Jett, Poison, BTO, Three Dog Night, Eddie Money, Jefferson Starship, on and on, to produce that community event, obviously it was there to make money, but that really wasn't what it was all about. It was just really cool to produce a community event that brought a lot of economic impact into the market.

We've catered for Rudy Giuliani, Gingrich, the governor, many, many times. It's really fun to go out and do a lot of that stuff. Building the chamber of commerce building, unrelated to my business, that was a great project.

I'm really, really excited about this little restaurant. I'm excited to finally do a Rob Elder kind of style restaurant that really depicts my talent, if you will, and my culinary expertise.

People who don't know me might go, 'How can this Hot Rod Cafe, burger, mozzarella cheese guy know a damn thing about cooking a great steak?'"

I live, breathe, walk, die, this industry. I'm always collaborating with chefs and going to restaurants.

Do like to eat out?

I never eat at home. I really don't.

Do you get some good ideas when visiting other restaurants?

Absolutely. At Hot Rod, we would go, 'We're going to steal their wheel and put our hubcap on it.'

Restaurant people like myself, we're really touchy-feely kind of people. You've got to look at it, feel it, taste it, see it. 'Oh wow, I like that. We're going to put it on this plate, maybe we'll change this style, add this sauce.'

What's your idea of a great vacation?

My idea of a vacation would be to go to New York city and do nothing but restaurant hop for 10 days, gain too much weight and taste too much food.