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May 14-20, 2003 naked city First Look: The Moshulu
For a 99-year-old, touristy locale, the Moshulu has become the hippest thing around town, or, rather, in the water. New owner Marty Grims (Tango, Passerelle) and designer Barbara Balongue (Bourbon Blue) took the Moshulu from Polynesian kitsch to a multilayered set of restaurants, subtle and stately in tone and texture, luxurious yet relaxed in attitude. The Moshulu is dark, filled with orchids, gardenias and violets, cut-glass partitions, German flatware and crystal and rich, dark mahogany. Nothing piratey. The lounge is flush with dark, rattan deck chairs, black marble tables and a soft, plasma-screen fish tank for just a touch of camp. Turn left and you hit the the cafe, a long, bowed-ceiling restaurant with a mix of gorgeous suede and brown-leather banquettes, stoic columns and windowside tables with soft bamboo-weave chairs and shades. In the café, there is a stage, a maple dance floor, a baby grand piano and a bar with a massive skylight. The main room -- for not formal, but adventurous dining, says Grims -- has naturalistic reed walls, brown corduroy booths and rows of tables with cane furniture. While several differently sized private rooms (for 32, for 60) exist within, the finest spot in the main dining room is the Captain's Table, which is long, topped by yet another skylight, lined with woven wicker chairs and a delicate mural of cool mermaids, and backed by a private bar. Another VIP spot, the Chef's Table, is beyond the massive silver kitchen, a hideaway of couches where you get the chef explaining each course, and an eyeful of the massive steering mechanism encased in glass. Then there's the deck, where you can see the lit Ben Franklin Bridge. Topside holds 1,000 as well as an elevated bandstand where Cuban rumba bands will bounce, four long drinking bars and the Chart House, a private inner sanctum where you can nip in for a sip while fiddling with the steering wheels. But remember -- there's no ahoy anything. The Moshulu has finally grown up, graceful and cool. Moshulu, 401 S. Columbus Blvd., 215-923-2500. 
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