Previous Story
360 restaurant gives public radio a boost
|
Posted on Jun 04 2008
The 360 restaurant, Saipan’s only revolving eatery, earlier this month raised thousands of dollars for the island’s struggling public radio station.
The fundraiser last week raked in roughly between $10,000 and $15,000 for KRNM, which is operated by Northern Marianas College, according to 360’s restaurateur Rick Jones.
The restaurant, now open for the past six months, provided 20 percent of its earnings Thursday night for the station, which has recently faced some funding shortfalls, in addition to several private donations it collected.
“It’s a great station and we were happy to help,” Jones said. “We’re going to start trying to do these events once a month. I’d like to do something for schools in general.”
One of those new events will include an art show in the coming weeks, with the restaurant showcasing a host of Japanese woodcut prints owned by a local collector. The prints are famous in the art world, Jones said, noting that they were popular with renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Wright “when he would design a house for someone, he insisted that they have a place for at least three of them in their home,” Jones said. “They’re really amazing prints and the wall space we have really kind of lends itself to showing them.”
The restaurant is also developing some new items for its menu, though Jones is keeping those new recipes under wraps for now as he works with his staff.
“It’s kind of a constant process,” Jones said. “We’re always trying to tweak things or play with new ingredients.”
The new menu selections will also hopefully draw more tourists, the lifeblood of the restaurant’s clientele, to the 360, Jones said, despite Saipan’s recent decline in business.
