What must it be like to drive along and see your name

on a big sign over a prominent restaurant on Marco Island?

We have several such namesake places here. But what if the restaurateur is only 27 years old and knows she’s responsible for the business’s success?

“Seeing the sign was cool at first, but the novelty has worn off now.”

That’s Tara talking, Tara Trevethan, age 27, owner of

Tara Steak & Lobster House. She was a teenage

restaurant prodigy, so to speak, who’s been in the

food business here since she was 14.

“When we moved to Florida in 1994 I didn’t know what

to do,” Tara says. “I went all around the island

and remember some of the little boutiques whose owners

told me, ‘You’re too young,’ or ‘You have no

experience.’ I was frustrated.”

Tara took an office job to keep busy, but she “hated”

stuffing envelopes. So she kept looking.

“I saw a Help Wanted sign in the window at Kahuna

restaurant. They were looking for bussers. Tom

Blodgett, who interviewed me, said, ‘Don’t worry kid,

I’ll teach you what you need to know, so you’re

hired.’¤

“I started bussing tables and got pretty good money

for a girl just starting high school. I worked my way

up. Within a month I was waiting tables and when Tom

went on trips, I had the keys, made the deposits and

helped manage the restaurant.

“I fell in love with every part of it and then we

(she and her parents) decided to do our own. We opened

Andre’s (now Tara) in 1998.”

Tara still is younger than many others in her

business -- chefs, servers, suppliers, entertainers,

etc. Does she feel it?

“Occasionally, initially I do. I can read their

expressions and tell that their wheels are turning,

thinking to themselves, ‘Yeah, this girl’s my boss,

whatever.’

“Then they see my work. I believe in doing all the

jobs in the restaurant. I’m never held hostage to

anybody. If I have to cook 200 dinners, I can do that. If I have to hostess, I do

that, or wait tables or tend bar. I believe whatever

I tell my staff to do or ask of them, it’s something I

do too.

“They discover I grew up in the business and call

myself a restaurant rat. They’re ready to take on

responsibilities for themselves when they see me doing

the same jobs.”

Tara’s dad, Richard J. “Richie” Trevethan, was her inspiration, teacher

and, eventually, her business partner. As she tells it:

“I was definitely my father’s daughter. We both

liked an ever-changing business and a challenge. He

was very charming and we liked to take care of people.

Mom became our bookkeeper, staying behind the scenes

to watch the money while my father and I made the

money.”

When Tara’s dad passed away, Tara’s mom, Jeannie,

became her business partner.

“It’s so nice still having that side-by-side family partner,” Tara says.

Tara, who is in Dancing With the Starz for

Hospice of Marco and Naples, has dancing in her past.

“It was competitive dancing, tap, ballet and

jazz, so performing for an audience doesn’t bother me.”

Now she’s raising money, with Hospice in her heart.

“I love the Hospice people for what they did for

my father and our family. They made him comfortable.

They're angels.” 



Chris Curle is a former news anchor for CNN and for ABC TV stations in Atlanta, Houston and Washington, D.C. E-mail: chris@chriscurle.com.