Street Fare: Reserved McKibben lets food do talking at Grape Street Cafe

Ken Miller

Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2004 | 8:25 a.m.

McKibben has always been on the go, whether moving from city to city and state to state while growing up or tackling various interests, including baseball, basketball, football and fishing, while going to school.

The only slowdown in his life came after an ankle injury that sidelined his sporting aspirations forever. But McKibben didn't waste time dwelling on the loss. He kept moving forward, and found an occupation where actions spoke louder than words: cooking.

McKibben got hooked on making dishes from scratch and never lost his passion for cooking, eventually opening his own restaurant in Las Vegas.

Since opening Grape Street Cafe Wine Bar & Cellar at the corner of Buffalo Drive and Lake Mead Boulevard in Summerlin, McKibben has been putting his penchant for hard work to good use, sometimes working upward of 100 hours a week.

The restaurant he opened in 1997 has become so popular, it's not uncommon to see lines going out the door. He's been approached numerous times about opening another branch, and hopes to do just that in the near future.

"I haven't won any awards yet," McKibben said. "My award is having this place filled every night. Some of my regular customers eat here three or four times a week."

McKibben said he designed the restaurant to have "a Napa Valley feel." An open floor plan surrounds a bar with a concrete counter. Grapevine-shaped ironwork adorns the bar, a display case near the entrance and a gate to an area for private parties. The iron motif is continued in the tables and chairs (made in the Philippines), which provide seating for 150.

Brick trim throughout the restaurant contrasts with concrete floors, and the bistro effect is completed by a covered patio area outside the entrance.

The focus of Grape Street is wine, and McKibben doesn't skimp on that detail. More than 400 varieties are available, and wine bottles are spread throughout the restaurant behind the bar, on wooden shelves across one wall and laid sideways in wooden crates near the kitchen.

"On any given day, we'll have 70 to 80 wines by the glass available," McKibben said.

McKibben loves the furious pace the restaurant business demands, and for the time being he's happy in Las Vegas, hoping someday to raise a family here.

On the move

McKibben was born in Gulfport, Miss., in 1967, but he can't really call it home. His father, Don, was in the Navy, and the family had to pick up and move often. McKibben was less than 2 months old when his family moved to Virginia. By the time he was in junior high, McKibben had lived in six different parts of the country, including Del Mar and San Diego, Calif., Seattle and, finally, Honolulu, where he finished high school.

But where some children would be traumatized by such frequent moving, McKibben thrived.

"I loved it," he said. "You got to see different parts of the country and make so many different friends."

Along the way, McKibben fell in love with fishing when his father took him at age 4. It's a passion he continues to pursue to this day, usually taking off to Utah with friends three or four times a year.

"I love fishing, crabbing, digging up clams," he said. "I love being outdoors where it's peaceful and quiet, and when you feel that fish tugging on the line, there's no feeling like it."

McKibben, 37, loved eating fish almost as much as he loved catching them, and learned all about fish preparation from his father. McKibben's exposure to restaurants was minimal, as the family was on a tight budget, and when he wasn't cooking his catches, his mother, Judy, cooked most of the meals.

"I helped her cook occasionally, but only with prep work," he said. "I really didn't think about cooking as a career, ever."

Sporting life

Most of McKibben's energy went toward schoolwork and sports, and while he played baseball, football and basketball, he excelled at the latter. His 6-foot stature served him well as a point guard.

"I had college scouts from Gonzaga, the University of Hawaii and Washington State come and watch me play," he said. "I was hoping to someday make it a career."

At age 17, McKibben had to change his plans. During a basketball game he shattered his left ankle on both sides. He recovered, "but it was never the same. I couldn't run for almost a year, and I couldn't walk for 6 to 9 months," he said.

McKibben was still able to play at a certain level -- he plays pickup games where he can -- but by the time he recovered, another passion had taken basketball's place.

"When I was 16 I took a job at the McDonald's in Honolulu because I needed to make money," he said. "Dad said he'd pay for college, but I'd have to pay the other half."

After three months "doing everything that needed to be done" at McDonald's, McKibben went to work at The Wharf, a high-end restaurant in east Honolulu.

He started out as a dishwasher, but was soon being promoted after his bosses noted his all-work, no chitchat approach to his job. By the time of his accident McKibben had been promoted three times, first to the pantry (making salads and desserts), then to prep work and, eventually, to line cook.

"I just loved it, the experience of being there, creating something all by myself," he said. "Pretty soon my parents were asking me to cook for them. Once that experience gets in your blood, you never get it out.

"After getting to like it, I told my parents I wanted to someday open my own restaurant," he said. "They just said, 'You're crazy.' "

Quick adjustment

Upon graduating high school, McKibben had decided to attend UNLV because of its College of Hotel Administration.

"It's one of the top colleges for restaurant management, and that was all I wanted to do," he said.

He initially thought differently upon getting off the plane at McCarran International Airport in the summer of 1985.

"It was 117 degrees," he said. "I didn't know anybody here. I thought, 'What the hell am I doing here?' "

But McKibben's childhood experiences had prepared him to quickly adjust to anything. He majored in hotel and restaurant management with a minor in finance, and even though his father had decided to change their initial arrangement and pay for everything, McKibben still wanted to keep busy.

He got a job at now-defunct Carlos Murphy's, a bar and restaurant, for two years as a line cook. He left in 1988 to work for Carluccio's Tivoli Gardens, which opened that year.

After graduating in 1990, McKibben left Carluccio's to intern at Lancelot of Pasta at Excalibur.

"I was an assistant manager, but I didn't do any cooking," he said. "I missed it, but I wanted to learn about restaurant management, and Excalibur offered the perfect opportunity."

Six months into his internship he got an offer he couldn't refuse.

"Carluccio's missed me so much they brought me back as head chef," he said. "I opened and closed the restaurant and did the scheduling."

Seeds of success

McKibben stayed at Carluccio's until 1996, and met his now-ex-wife, Dina D'Amore, there in 1993.

"She was a waitress," he said. "The minute she walked through the door it was love at first sight."

D'Amore left Carluccio's in 1994 to work at the now-defunct Crocodile Cafe in the Green Valley Shopping Center on Sunset Road. They were married in 1995.

McKibben is currently going through divorce -- which becomes final in December -- but credits D'Amore with a large share of his success.

While working at Crocodile Cafe, D'Amore met Tabitha Kurofsky, a server there, and Tabitha's husband, Larry, who worked for a lighting company at the time. The four soon became good friends, and in 1996, Larry approached McKibben with a business opportunity.

"He wanted to open a small place that sells breakfast, cookies, muffins, coffee, retail wine," McKibben said. "At night he wanted live jazz trios. At first, he was just asking my opinion, but as we became good friends we kicked it up a notch to open a restaurant and retail business together."

McKibben quit Carluccio's in 1996, and Grape Street opened in late 1997.

"We had 17 investors when we started," he said. "We didn't put in any money. We just put our heart and soul into it."

McKibben served as chef and D'Amore was floor manager. Both put their own touches on the restaurant.

"We painted the walls, put bricks and curtains up, every solitary thing," said D'Amore, who left Grape Street in May to work as a consultant for Chef Michael Mina. "Everything we had there, including the paper menus, was what we wanted. We cut no corners."

The business began with half the space devoted to a restaurant and the other half for retail, selling wine and cheese and pasta dishes. But that arrangement didn't last long.

"After the first month our line was out the door," McKibben said. "We had to get rid of the retail side and make the entire place a restaurant."

The arrangement with Tabitha and Larry didn't last long, either. Within two years McKibben bought them out, and he and his father are now the principal owners.

"Larry and Tabitha decided they wanted to have a family, and they didn't realize how hard the restaurant business was," he said. "Originally they wanted to sell the whole thing, but I said, 'Absolutely not.' "

Grape Street started with a staff of 25, and is now up to 41. McKibben continues to update the menu, and he's happy to listen to customer comments and input.

"Chicken Parmesan is on the menu directly because of customers asking for it,"' he said. "Sure enough, I put it on the menu and it was hugely successful."

Other favorites on McKibben's menu include baked Brie, eggplant Parmesan (based on D'Amore's mother's recipe), filet Oscar (a filet of beef topped with king crab, bearnaise sauce and asparagus, drizzled with a cabernet sauce and served with leek mashed potatoes) and penne a la vodka. One of his desserts, Pear D'Amore, is named after his ex-wife, and will remain on the menu in her honor.

"Without Dina, this place would not be what it is," he said.

D'Amore, 35, laughed when remembering the creation of the dessert that bears her name. It's an almond-flavored cake with a white wine-poached pear in the center of each slice. On McKibben's first few attempts, it was difficult to get its biscuit-like consistency just right.

"As John was pulling it out of the oven, he said, 'It's a sensitive cake, just like you're a sensitive woman,' " she said. "We both thought (Pear D'Amore) was a good name."

D'Amore looks back on Grape Street fondly, and looks forward to one day opening her own restaurant.

"I don't know if it was hard work or good timing, but we did well, and I am very proud of that place," she said. "I miss it big time, and I think it will continue to do well. Friendly service and good food doesn't go out of style."

D'Amore added that she and McKibben were "a really good team," despite their differing communication styles.

"He says the same thing in three words I'll say in 14 paragraphs," she said, laughing. "But we worked our butts off. Our passion is food and wine, and to be able to do it on a day-to-day basis was wonderful."

Strong bonds

At the moment, living in Las Vegas is ideal for McKibben, primarily because it allows him to be close to his parents, who eventually settled in Southern California, sharing time between homes in Pasadena and Ventura.

"I came to Las Vegas originally because of the school and the basketball team," he said. "But I love everything about it now. I love the weather, the folks are close by, and 24 hours a day you can do what you want, when you want."

He also keeps in touch with his three older sisters: Mary, a mother of two who lives in Portland, Ore.; Annie, who works for a lingerie company in Virginia; and Susan, a mother of three and waitress living outside Seattle.

"They spoiled me to death as a kid," McKibben said. "They just gave me whatever I needed. They used to say, 'No wonder you're so quiet. We did everything for you and you never had to say a word.' "

archive