Playing professional basketball, raising twins and juggling several business ventures just weren't enough for one of Utah's favorite daughters.
So when James Cunningham of Family Financial Solutions came to the Starzz forward with an idea for a restaurant and club, the energetic Taylorsville native jumped at the chance.
"I personally didn't know before this how to organize this process," Williams said on the eve of the grand opening of Natalie's, located at 380 W. 200 South. "I loved the idea. I wasn't even worried about it working. I just wanted a place where my friends and family could relax, watch sports and have a great meal. We're not a sports bar. We're a classy restaurant."
Natalie's is a private club with a bar area, but most of the space is a restaurant. The owners decided to go the private club route so they could serve mixed drinks. She said a membership for a year costs $20 and it's just $5 for a temporary card that lasts two weeks.
In opening the club, Williams got a crash course in Utah's unusual liquor laws.
"I personally didn't understand (the laws)," she said. "Like, I don't think a lot of people realize that kids can come in. They just have to stay in the restaurant side."
The menu offers fare ranging from Mediterranean and French to Asian and Italian. Items such as cambazola bruschetta, chicken curry satay, pear and pistachio salad, a steak sandwich and pizza with smoked salmon and creme fraiche. And let's not forget a plain old hamburger for the traditionalists.
"We even have a kids' menu," said the mother of two 18-month old twins.
Natalie's is decorated with sports memorabilia, some of it her own and some of it donated by friends. She will display the Olympic torch she will carry next Friday in a glass case near the front of the restaurant. She also has framed an autographed USA women's basketball jersey from the Gold Medal team she played on in Sydney, Australia in 2000. Friends donated Michael Jordan's autographed jersey and Magic Johnson's signed shirt. She has a baseball signed by Joe DiMaggio and Wayne Gretzky's hockey stick.
There are 18 television sets that scan sports channels, but the dining tables are covered with white linen. She's decorated a special room, which she refers to as the "Gold Medal Room," that's available for private parties.
However, Utah's only woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal will not display her medal in the restaurant.
Williams was a little worried about opening a restaurant in a time of economic uncertainty but hopes its proximity to the Gateway Mall and the upcoming Olympics will give Natalie's a bit of a jump-start.
"Hopefully (after the Olympics) people will come after Jazz games or concerts," she said. "We'll just wish for the best."
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com