Post #394192 by bigbrotiki on Tue, Jul 15, 2008 2:55 PM

Ha. In Germany we have the expression "throwing salt into old wounds". Don't bring up Trader Vic's demise again, it has been extensively covered and mourned here...though I maintain my stance that, since it already had been so thoroughly de-tikified in the 80s, the interior was not THAT much to cry about, at least no contest to the authenticity of Atlanta, Munich --or Chicago, R.I.P.

Here is another nice interior and exterior photo-rich thread about it, also:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=6957&forum=2

Looking at your pictures again, Paul, think: Was this what the Trader Vic's looked like that you had gone to with your parents? I believe that that day you felt compelled to take those shots you were missing a Trader Vic's of the mind, a memory that had already departed:

That old world lamp chandelier in the vaulted bamboo ceiling, what is that doing there? And looking at the other ceiling shots, with all their great bamboo beams, WHERE is the slew of beachcomber lamps that usually hangs there...and around the booths, WHERE are the Tikis and carvings -(those few Tahitian Tiki poles were still there because they were structural)...and in those last pics, what the hell are crystal chandeliers doing under a vaulted rattan ceiling?

All these were crimes committed in the devolution era of the 80s. They were supposed to make the place "classier", and in the minds of many, they did...but as a Tiki palace, they just made it blander. It is then that we should have cried and protested, but no one, me neither, took note then.

So, yes, it was a loss, but only the finalization of a loss that had begone long before.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-15 16:21 ]