Donna at the Trident
in 1968 I went to work for the Kingston Trio at the Trident when it was a jazz club…it was a happening scene..Mills Davis..Sergo Mendes and all the Jazz greats..I was a cocktail waitress..a bad coctails waitress…this was pre LSD and Tune in ..Turn on..Drop out…when that happened The Trio and Frank Werber decided to close it down and hip it up…the finished Restaurant was amazing..I was the first hired because I had previously worked there…Many beautiful women were hired…Frank of course oversaw everything but we had a manager who’s name I can’t remember now..a gentle older man that I adored…It was the “IT” place..I would be serving people likeNeil Young as he wrote lyrics on a napkin…dealing with David Crosby and his over the top fun personality…if there was a celebrity in San Francisco they would cross the bridge to have the Trident experience…many good times..many friends..Helen stands and of course Gretchen and her homemade cookies…but Frank was my very very dear friend…loved him and he was always there for me…there were some bad times of course…cooks who were grouchy…and bartenders that were so demanding..I wasn’t a very good waitress but because I was well liked I kept my job..even during the times I needed to leave to go to Maui and other places ..I would always have a job waiting for me when I returned…it is also where Bill Cosby decided it was me that he knew he wanted and it is a horrible memory of what he did to me..I couldn’t tell anyone because he was so beloved and no one would have believed me…there were many great times with big stars with big egos and some with very big hearts..Lily Tomlin comes to mind….and of course the night we closed for the Rolling Stones..What an honor to be chosen to be there that night..with all their bad boy reputation they were total gentlemen..I left at the end of 1972 with fond memories and gratitude for my time there. Donna Motsinger email: binkybaby78@gmail.com
Donna and her son Jeff “back in the days” when she was working at the Trident
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Thanks for your post. It took me on a temporary side-path along memory lane and eminded me of people I hadn't thought of in years. I remember Gretchen. We worked together (well, simultaneously) for, seems like, a couple years - up until and a little after she opened the Pine Street Bakery (?) with Nancy (?) with whom I worked during the same time span. And Helen. Didn't rally know her (kitchen gnome, was I, at the time) but she was nonetheless a pleasure to be around, as were Gretchen, et.al.
And the guy: Lou Ganaploer. The main guy. A god in guy's hip clothing. Kind and strong. Exemplary guy. Loved him.
Thanks again.
I found out the managers name was Lou..what a sweet sweet man..so kind to me and all of us..
Wow! That is awesome. Thanks for sharing!
Donna,
I believe that I remember you well. You turned us on to Dr. Jeff Anderson who did house calls and was my Dr. for years in Mill Valley. I was living with Skip Cuddy and we exchanged houses one night. You were in Stinson and we in M.V. I also remember you having a massive crush on Graham Nash, I believe. Or was it Neil? In any case, those were special times.
Linda
I've read the sweetest mentions of Lou here (Deserved). I hope he or someone dear to him has read them too.