The man who built an Island

BUSINESS FORBES KIDDOO

WORDS BY SALLY HOWARD

I call it ‘new wave’ dining,” chuckles the rakish Forbes Kiddoo, through a rack of ivory teeth set in the tanned, wind-smoothed face of a true seafarer. “It’s like theater. When people board my boat to sail across to the restaurant, I’ll always smile and greet them with ‘Ladies and gentlemen, your ship is sailing.’”The fact that 68-year-old Forbes Thor Kiddoo has become a legendary eccentric in San Francisco-the city that fostered 20th-century American counter-culture and many of its mavericks-stands as testament to this infectious joie de vivre, as well as his apparent subordination of sense to entrepreneurial possibility.

A native of Brooklyn, Kiddoo started his career as a teen in the US Coast Guard. Drawn by the energy and promise of mid-century California, he arrived in San Francisco Bay in 1959, to work as a carpenter. The strong-shouldered Forbes was successful in his field, spending the next decade working on such San Francisco icons as the Palace of Fine Arts and St Mary’s Cathedral.In 1968, Kiddoo went into business in Sausalito, San Francisco Bay, constructing fl oating wooden homes-it was a move that tapped fortuitously into the Bond-era glamour of sci-fistyle and life on the ocean wave. Part boat, part riverside residence, the homes were built on buoyant concrete barge bases to Kiddoo’s own innovative designs, which embraced the smooth lines, design quirks and emphasis on warm woods that defined ’60s deco.

The Forbes Ferro Corporation built 100 fl oating homes over the following 20 years; many still litter the coast at Sausalito, visible through the wispy fog that blankets the Bay and its famous Golden Gate Bridge.Jules Verne’s vivid depiction of a state-of-the-art submarine in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was Kiddoo’s professed inspiration behind his next ambition, a project that he began in 1975: the hands-on construction of his own fl oating island, complete with soil, vegetation and paper-white picket fences.In 1980, after five years of weekend and evening work, and slowed by the necessity of gathering funds and ongoing houseboat commissions, Kiddoo launched Forbes Island, a fl oating homestead with 120 tons of rock around the perimeter, 100 tons of sand for the beach, and 40 tons of topsoil in which to plant the kitsch palm trees that form the upper outline of the island, like an unruly mop of hair.

Forbes’ bizarre home, palpable charisma and large-haired girlfriend resonated perfectly with the go-getting ’80s. TV appearances on shows such as Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and That’s Incredible soon followed, featuring a grinning Forbes clinking champagne fl utes with his glamorous blonde against golden sunsets.Kiddoo then spent the mid-’90s remodeling his surreal island home-adding, among other things, a 40-foot lighthouse with a circular viewing platform, the only privately-owned lighthouse in the US-in preparation for its current manifestation as Forbes Island Restaurant.”Why did I turn it into a restaurant? I turned it into a restaurant to make money. That’s why people open restaurants,” laughs Kiddoo. “I used to say ‘So I didn’t have to pay for dinner,’ but now I’m a little more honest.”With moneymaking patently at the forefront of his mind, Kiddoo relocated Forbes Island to the coast off San Francisco’s Pier 39, a neon-lit strip of shops and themed restaurants set against the famous, somber outlines of Alcatraz and an area famous for luring tourists as well as other, somewhat smellier mammals.

“Those big blubbery sea lions arrived here at Pier 39 just after the earthquake in 1989,” smiles Kiddoo. “The docks are protected from storms and are easy for them to haul out on. The sea lions’ main predators, great whites, won’t enter the bay, and there are plenty of rockfish and herring for them to feed on. “They do make a lot of noise, but they’re good neighbors and they attract people to the restaurant. On Friday night there’s not many there though, ’cause they have dates. They like to take girls out,” he says, with a wink, “just like me.” Sea lions or no, San Francisco certainly wasn’t impervious to Forbes’ offbeat charms. Since opening in 1999, the restaurant’s trade has been steady, with locals and tourists alike sold on the unique experience of dinner served by waiting staff in sailor outfits amid an Aladdin’s cave of 19th-century nautical paraphernalia.

The floating ‘island’
boasts the only
privately-owned
lighthouse in the US. Customers have also been attracted by the promise of fine dining; chef Patricia specializes in pared-back French classics and fine local seafood, her encrusted tuna with asparagus proving a perennial favorite. Patricia’s rocking galley kitchen turns out as many as 130 meals a night, for diners in the main room below deck or in the Tahitian room above, with its views of Alcatraz, Coit Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge. There’s also an atmospheric private dining area for two in the wine cellar, with low-slung lighting and chains hanging from the walls-”in case someone complains about the food,” cautions Forbes. It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Kiddoo. “It’s a tough business, the San Francisco restaurant business,” he says. “Over 280 restaurants have gone broke in San Francisco since I started. And in some ways Forbes Island is the toughest restaurant to run in the city. Most restaurants, you walk in off the sidewalk and your deliveries are at your back door. Here we have to load them on a boat, carry them down.

“And the regulations! It took me 10 years to get permits. I had to get city, county, state, public hearings, environmental impact studies, to mention just a few. Now, thankfully, we have a long-term lease here.” Not that Kiddoo will necessarily stick around for its duration. After 50 years of hard work, he’s looking to retire, and sell his bizarre slice of San Francisco history. “I wanna travel before I’m in a walker; I don’t want to be running this deal when I’m 70, and that’s in two years,” he says. “I’ve worked all my life and I haven’t had a week off.”  Unsurprisingly, Kiddoo won’t be using run-of-the-mill real estate sales techniques. “I’ve just put the island on eBay for $5 million, including the lease and vessel. That’s pretty cheap for a high-end restaurant in San Francisco. We have 17,000 hits a day. They might take it to Israel, Gibraltar, Mexico-who knows? It’s a big world out there.”

And would Kiddoo be upset to see the island leaving San Francisco? “A little, perhaps-but five mill would probably cure that, wouldn’t it?” Experience Forbes Island Restaurant before it’s consigned to Bay history. Call for reservations on 415-951-4900, or visit www.forbesisland.com. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday for dining from 5pm to 10pm, and is also available for private functions.