WORDS OF WISDOM IN MONACO
families . So we thought , why don ’ t we do a family style restaurant , with a sports bar because there are so many sports events in Monaco and a blues bar because we could do live music and have different celebrities come through . I just felt that it could work because I had another restaurant , « The Texan » and there were so many children and families , they had nowhere to go .
We didn ’ t really have any money . But we were very blessed because our friends and clients from our other restaurant asked if they could become investors and partners , so we were able to raise enough money to open the restaurant . And most of them made their money back in two years .
HM : How has it changed in recent years , has the concept changed ?
KP : Well , in recent years , we don ’ t have live music anymore and we became more green , a little bit more environmental , we even changed our logo .
HM : Did you change the menu ?
KP : Oh yes , we ’ ve changed the menu over the years , but recently we really changed it by becoming a little bit more green , a little bit more Eco-friendly , by not doing so much importing and becoming more local . We decided to also make a drink that ’ s been very popular for 2,000 years , it ’ s a probiotic called Kombucha . We make that in-house and it ’ s a natural vitamin drink that ’ s very popular .
HM : You also have a small garden .
KP : Yes , for the last four or five years we ’ ve had our own outside garden and we use it for our drinks and for the kitchen .
HM : Stars ’ N ’ Bars is a real success story . Can you tell us the winning formula of Stars ’ N ’ Bars ?
KP : I think first , it was doing something that we really felt was a need in Monaco . Something that , in our hearts we really felt : « Wow , people would appreciate this so much ». Doing something totally different : caring about families .
For me success is , once again , being able to do something I love .
This photo of Chuck Berry is very special for me because he came in the first night . Prince Albert surprised us and opened the Blues bar and said : « I have Chuck Berry with me », who was playing in Monaco . We had a band here at the time , a black band from America , and I said to them : « Is it ok if Chuck Berry plays ?» « Are you kidding ?! Of course it ’ s ok !» It was an amazing night , that was the first night that we opened and it was fantastic .
We love Nadal because he ’ s here often . I remember one time he came , last year I think , and we were full . The receptionist did not recognize him cause he was incognito . A client saw him and said : « Wait , take my table , don ’ t leave , come sit down , take my table ». So I thought that was very nice .
Kate with her two grandchildren Josephine and Stella
HM : I see that you have had a lot of celebrities here .
KP : Oh , more than three hundred for sure .
HM : Who do you remember the most , who surprised you the most ?
KP : Right here is a photo of when Stevie Wonder was here . I remember him because he came upstairs to the Blues bar after a concert in Monaco , and he said : « I ’ m hungry , can I eat something ?» I said : « I ’ m sorry , the restaurant ’ s closed ». He said : « I ’ m hungry », and I said : « Ok , if you play for me , I ’ ll feed you ». So he played all of his songs amazingly , we had a piano upstairs .
© Kate Powers
© Kate Powers
We also had Prince , who came and played two nights here . It was during the music awards in Monaco and he came and asked if he could play here . He played one night and said , ‘ I ’ d like to play another night ,’ so that was just amazing .
We ’ ve had Kevin Costner , Whitney and we ’ ve had somebody I remember well because he passed away not too long ago : Roger Moore . He had his 83rd birthday here , which was , unfortunately his last birthday , but he had it with us .
Kate with her son Shane , her daughter in-law Charlotte and her grandchildren at Stella ’ s baptism
Jude Law , he surprised me because I didn ’ t know who he was . When they called me and said : « Jude Law is coming », I thought maybe he was a sportsman . But that ’ s because I never go to the movies , I ’ m too busy , I don ’ t have a television . I said : « I ’ m sorry , I ’ m probably the only person in the world who doesn ’ t know you », and he said : « I don ’ t know me either ». So I thought that was very cute .
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