Royal Hawaiian, Laguna Beach, CA (restaurant) - Locating Tiki

B bigbrotiki Tiki Socialite Tiki Island, above the Silverlake Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 11621	B bigbrotiki Posted posted on Tue, Feb 12, 2008 11:59 PM Last week, I went to my favorite Mexican joint for whenever I drink at the Tiki Ti, called El Chavos. It is two doors down, and it was classic 60s/70s Mexican kitsch: Black-lit sombreros glued under the ceiling over the bar, rod iron work and colored glass dividers, A giant photo of Dolly Parton behind the bar...anyway, it had lots of character. Now a while back the old owner wanted to retire, and sold it to the owner of the Edendale Grill. I asked, and was reassured that everything would stay the same. So last week the entrance to the main room was still locked, and food was only served in a small side room on the other side of the kitchen. Me and my urban archeologists friends snuck past the restrooms and found a door that was open to the old dining room. We lit it with our cell phones: It was completely gutted! The walls were torn down to the lattice work, there was not one shred of the old place left.... There seems to be a misunderstanding that renovating a place by completely stripping it and then rebuilding it exactly like it was is the same than just leaving it in its original state. IT IS NOT! The patina of original fixtures and the combination of furniture and design elements cannot be replicated once taken apart. The mana is gone. "Time" is not a paint hue.

Last week, I went to my favorite Mexican joint for whenever I drink at the Tiki Ti, called El Chavos. It is two doors down, and it was classic 60s/70s Mexican kitsch: Black-lit sombreros glued under the ceiling over the bar, rod iron work and colored glass dividers, A giant photo of Dolly Parton behind the bar...anyway, it had lots of character.

Now a while back the old owner wanted to retire, and sold it to the owner of the Edendale Grill. I asked, and was reassured that everything would stay the same. So last week the entrance to the main room was still locked, and food was only served in a small side room on the other side of the kitchen. Me and my urban archeologists friends snuck past the restrooms and found a door that was open to the old dining room. We lit it with our cell phones:

It was completely gutted! The walls were torn down to the lattice work, there was not one shred of the old place left.... There seems to be a misunderstanding that renovating a place by completely stripping it and then rebuilding it exactly like it was is the same than just leaving it in its original state. IT IS NOT!

The patina of original fixtures and the combination of furniture and design elements cannot be replicated once taken apart. The mana is gone. "Time" is not a paint hue.

Post #360876 by bigbrotiki on Tue, Feb 12, 2008 11:59 PM