Rum Raisin'
Trader Vic Is Back

It's only December, but you already look like you might enjoy being somewhere tropical right about now. How about the Viagra Triangle?

(Re)introducing Trader Vic's, opening Sunday inside Newberry Plaza, and promising to put some punch back into the venerable rum purveyor.

Steeped in Rat Pack-era history (and plenty of slick-haired shenanigans), the esteemed Trader closed shop at the Palmer House in '05. You'll be happy to know the new one still has the same bamboo in its DNA, from the thatched ceiling to the carved tiki idols (we think Sinatra would approve).

Round up a few luau partners, slide into an avocado-green booth and feast on Cosmo Tidbits (a sharable spread of everything from crispy prawns to char siu pork) and a mighty Scorpion Bowl (a fruity rum punch built for four). The new touches include a surfeit of sushi, a better view (of the Newberry's jungle-y atrium) and a glass-enclosed oven, so you can keep an eye on the chef as he wood-fires your lobster.

Or as the natives call it: dinner theater.