Tiki Central / General Tiki / Bamboo Ben Hits the Front Page! Read All About It!
Post #147973 by RevBambooBen on Sun, Mar 20, 2005 8:09 AM
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Sun, Mar 20, 2005 8:09 AM
Here you go....On the tiki trail Like latter-day giant stone heads of Easter Island, the chipped idols, faded driftwood signs and smog-dusted palm trees stick out along the pothole-pitted avenues of American cities and suburbs. Strange and beautiful remnants of a once vast but now largely vanquished culture. Exotic places with names like Mai Kai and Bahooka, Trader Vic’s and Omni Hut, Royal Hawaiian and Tiki Ti. Urban oases where the thirsty and stressed can still step out of the light of day into another world. A dark, tropical space filled with lava-rock walls, bubbling aquariums, flickering tiki torches and angry-faced carved idols. Outside you might be in Modesto or Pittsburgh. Inside, the bamboo-rimmed bar, rattan chairs and glass balls in fishing nets feel more like Bora Bora or Pago Pago. Especially after a shrunken skull, scorpion bowl or ubiquitous mai tai warms your belly and floats your head. Once sinking under a wave of redevelopment, the world of Polynesian pop is resurfacing. Dozens of classics survive, and “neo-tiki” nightspots are opening across the country. Come to the islands of your mind as we drink in tales of tiki. By GARY A. WARNER TIKI'S BALI HAI "You have to sign in blood not to give away the recipes," said manager Kern Mattei. Order "the mystery drink," delivered by a young woman who does a seductive wiggle at your table. On some Sundays, kids in the audience can get on stage with the hip-swinging dancers (though they'd best take a seat for the fire dancer). Check out the real shrunken heads, and in the rear garden, the tiki god supposedly neutered at the behest of local 1950s bluenoses. SLEEPING WITH THE GODS ZOMBIE TIME Ingredients: For cocktail: Juice of one large lime 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 1 ounce dark Jamaican rum 2 ounces gold Barbados rum 1 ounce white Puerto Rican rum 1/2 ounce apricot brandy 3/4 ounce papaya nectar 3/4 ounce unsweetened pineapple juice 1 ounce carbonated water Dash of 151-proof Demerara rum For garnish: Mint sprig Pineapple cube skewered between 1 red and 1 green cocktail cherry Powdered sugar Procedure:
AMERICAN TIKI: RISE, FALL AND SEMI-REVIVAL 1941: World War II sends millions of Americans to the South Pacific. 1944: Trader Vic's in Oakland serves the first mai tai (see recipe). 1948: Thor Heyerdahl's "Kon-Tiki" and James Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific" are published. 1959: Hawaii becomes a state. 1963: The Enchanted Tiki Room opens at Disneyland. 1960s: It's the tiki heyday, with hundreds of bars and restaurants popping up. Tiki eateries populate major hotel chains. 1979: Luau in Beverly Hills is bulldozed, an early victim of tiki's waning popularity. 1994: Trader Vic's in San Francisco closes. Tiki News, a revivalist magazine, begins publishing. 2000: Kahiki in Columbus, Ohio, closes, despite preservationists' pleas. 2003: "Tiki Road Trip" is published. 2005: Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room makes a refreshed appearance March 12. TROPICAL TEMPERANCE THE MASTERS "Last year was our best year ever," Van Oosting said. While most of their work is sold wholesale, Oceanic Arts has also has a small retail shop and a rental agency to add a South Seas touch to backyard parties. NEO-TIKI LOCAL LOCO MODESTO MECCA EXPERT PICKS: Mai-Kai, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: "Without question the best remaining tiki mecca. It's huge – several thousand square feet. Excellent food. Tremendously good drinks. A full floor show. The real thing – nothing corny or cheesy." Hala Kahiki, River Grove, Ill. "About half-hour west out of downtown Chicago is the last and best example of a classictiki bar. Hawaiian music. Wonderful tropical drinks. Waitresses in muumuus. Tikis everywhere you look." Tiki-Ti, Los Angeles: "A similar vibe to Hala Kahiki, but smaller. The place is tiny. It's been owned by the same family since the 1960s. No food, just a bar. But the drinks are amazing." Trader Vic's, Emeryville. "It's the best Trader Vic's left in the country. Drinks are as good as it gets. Refined, if you can use that word for a tiki place." Honorable mentions: Jardin Tiki in Montreal, Tonga Room in the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, Omni Hut in Smyrna, Tenn., and The Alibi in Portland. Special mention should also go to La Mariana Sailing Club, a tiki classic in rapidly urbanizing Honolulu. THE TRADER MAI TAI MEMORIES Ingredients: For cocktail: 2 ounces 17-year-old J. Wray Nephew Jamaican rum 1/2 ounce French Garnier Orgeat 1/2 ounce Holland DeKuyper Orange Curacao 1/4 ounce rock candy syrup Juice from 1 fresh lime For garnish: Half a lime Sprig of mint Procedure:
TOTEMIC TOMES "Kon-Tiki" by Thor Heyerdahl. Brings Polynesian culture to a mass audience. "Book of Tiki" by Sven Kirsten. Fuels revival of tiki culture with its high-gloss look at the lost and lasting pop Polynesian spots around the country. "Tiki Road Trip" by James Teitelbaum. Encyclopedic compendium of tiki bars and other spots. Parses the tiki mecca from the merely tamed tiki of renovated bars. Spots rated from one to five tikis. CONTACT US: Warner can be reached at (714) 796-7771 or by e-mail at [email protected] Copyright 2005 The Orange County Register | Contact us | Privacy policy | User agreement |