T
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 2720
|
T
OK - here is the email - by way of BigBro, by way of Otto, by way of someone named Amy (hope I'm not stepping on anyones toes by reproducing this email here (in part) but whoever / wherever AMy is, she seems so filled with the love of tiki I'm sure she wouldn't mind.
Sad that I didn't get more juicy stories about Detroit's tiki days of old, I
then stopped into my favorite local Chinese restaurant, the Golden Dragon on
Mack Avenue in Grosse Pointe, one of the few joints around here that still
serves exotic drinks in vintage tiki glasses. Dejected, I ordered a
carryout and sat at the bar, nursing a Mai-Tai and talking with the owner,
Mr. Wing Tom, a wonderfully friendly guy who knows what I order before I can
say "Yes, I'd like..." I told him that I'd been to Chin's and didn't find
out much tiki history, like I'd hoped. To my surprise, he pulled up a chair
and said: "Well what would you like to know??" Turns out, his family owned
various Chinese restaurants downtown back in the day, and he himself worked
at the Detroit Trader Vic's!! It was in the Detroit Hilton on Washington
Street in Grand Circus Park. He told me that Trader Vic's had locations all
over the world, (Tokyo was one location he remembered) and even were
contracted to provide in-flight food for airlines! I sipped and
feverishly took notes, hanging on Wing's every word. He seemed amazed that
anyone still cared! They make a mean Mai Tai there, and soon I was floating
in a cloud of nostalgia, reveling in my city's Polynesian heyday. He told me
they had a giant oven in the center of the restaurant surrounded by
Plexiglass, where one could watch their dinner being prepared. It wasn't as
fun for the cooks, as it was hellishly hot in there. The interior decor had
plenty of tikis, bamboo, and real and faux tropical greenery. Wing started
out as a bartender, but didn't make enough money. They didn't have a bar
proper where he could interact with the customers because the bar was also
behind Plexi-it was like a service bar where he would give drinks to the
waitstaff to serve. He soon became a waiter, and liked it much better.
Mostly, their clientele was made up of businessmen and sports figures. He
recalls serving Billy Martin in the 70's. Their signature drink was the
Scorpion, as they flew in gardenias from Hawaii to be floated on top of each
drink! Trader Vic's also had little "V.I.P" rooms, where upper-echelon types
would sit in high-backed wicker chairs, a-la Mortcia Addams. They also had a
dress code, and kept suit jackets in-house for unfortunates who failed to pay
proper tribute to the tiki gods!! I asked about competition, and Wing said
that though the Polynesian places in town were all quite large and
competitive, the owners all knew each other and were friendly. Because of
the riots, there were strong racial tensions during his days at Trader's, and
because most owners of the tiki establishments were Chinese, they watched
each other's backs.
|
