Post #22856 by donhonyc on Wed, Feb 12, 2003 10:37 PM

Damn!!! I gotta say, I love this thread...where else could I find such spirited debate about a subject such as this? I've personally never been involved in an online community as much as this one! And in this weird world that we currently live in that means alot. As Ozzy used to say at the end of all his shows.. 'I love you all!!" Now.. stenki, love what you said. Poetry! Boutiki...now I gotta go to Lee's f'in Hawaiian Islander out in Jersey. It's that good?? As far as what we all think the new interpretation of what Tiki should be..I look at it this way: we all want Johnny Carson back on the Tonight Show but we gotta live with Jay Leno, Johnny retired over 10 years ago, and he ain't never comin' back..that's the way it is. Does that analogy make any sense? However I will say that a good new interpretation should take note of the old, and try to combine that with an environment that caters to non-tikiphiles, etc that come and spend the dough. I could live with that. Waikiki Wally's is somewhat close to that as is Otto's, but both these places just strike me as talkin' the talk too much and not walkin' the walk enough. Kinda like the Hard Rock Cafe...if you will. (If I could only hit the lottery I would open a place myself.) Perhaps I should try WW or Otto's again. James...I know these new Tiki bars are better than none...but why have powdered milk when you know there's cows out there? From where I sit, it's impossible to say whether setting up an ass-kicking new interpretaiton of a tiki bar would be financially rewarding, but like I said in an earlier posting, check out the Zombie Hut on Smith St. in Brooklyn. It's not gigantic by any means, but it's a well put-together lounge in the tiki tradition. They don't play all Exotica music all the time or anything like that but the environment is very cool. If there was a larger version of that place with some Witco furniture here and there and a few little grotto/cave type alcoves with torches and/or tiki lamps that would be REALLY COOL. ("dreamin' is free!")

:drink:

ALOha!

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2003-02-12 22:46 ]