Chain Leader

Lane Cardwell

Paradise Found
March 13, 2008

I just shook the chlorine out of my ears from the water slides and am sitting here at the keyboard still marveling at what one mind is capable of.  I am in Gurnee, IL, home of Key Lime Cove Water Resort, the latest undertaking of Famous Dave Anderson, now Capt. Dave.  Key Lime Cove opened Feb. 29 and has already been trumpeted on the pages of the New York Times.  Dave is the founder of Grand Casinos and Famous Dave’s of America.  The ideas inside of his head are too big to be contained inside a single restaurant.

Although Key Lime Cove is a $137 million undertaking with a 400 room hotel and indoor water park, perfecting food is still receiving a lot of his attention.  While sitting with Dave in the D.W. Anderson’s Eatery and Ice Cream Parlor that is the showcase restaurant in the water resort, you could see his eyes sparkle as he described each item on the menu and what he has done to make them unique and memorable. He has every right to be proud. The food was uncommonly good.

Dave has always been a student of barbeque. His decades of chasing down the best ribs, sauce, brisket, sides, etc. all over the country resulted in the food at Famous Dave’s.  Even though I am on the board of Famous Dave’s, I remain unbiased.  The food is excellent. While we were talking about the menu at D.W. Anderson’s we couldn’t help but talk about barbeque.  It was then that Dave detected a large gap in my barbeque education.  I have visited very few of the Chicago barbeque giants that shaped his thinking while he grew up in Chicago. The answer to that? Road trip.

9:00 at night and we are making the one hour drive to Lem’s Bar-B-Q House on the South Side of Chicago.  A legendary rib joint with a following and reputation that is well deserved. The staff recognized Dave immediately and came out from their side of the bulletproof glass divider to give him a hug.  After all, he is one them. A barbeque guy. Dave ordered and we stood there eating some of the best barbeque in the country.  There was a steady stream of customers coming in. It will be like that until they close at 2:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. on the weekend). Slide the money through the opening in the window, receive the food at the larger opening below.  A decades old tradition that remains unchanged.

Dave is a perfectionist and leaves nothing to chance.  His same approach to developing the menu at Famous Dave’s (taste the best available everywhere in the country and then make it better) has gone into his development of Key Lime Cove.  He developed all of the logos in use by the many stores and restaurants.  The colors selected were the result of great study and mockups inside of a barn.  He purchased all of the products available for use in the spa and then tried them all.  How else can you pick the best?

You could tell from the looks on the faces of the families that were here at the water resort that he has already succeeded.  Forget the frozen ponds and remaining snow outside. Inside here, it’s paradise.

Posted by Lane Cardwell on March 13, 2008 | Comments (0)