Post #416121 by bigbrotiki on Wed, Oct 29, 2008 11:34 AM

On 2008-10-29 08:33, ms pleasant wrote:
Just wanted to chime in and say that the work that Bamboo Ben put into the place looks absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to see it up close someday.

Congratulations Ben.

I know, which I have repeatedly pointed out here in this thread. His work, which represents the ground layer of a any good Tiki Bar, is stellar. But he is not the designer (though he defends it like he was). This is what the designer wanted:

"In the September issue of Vanity Fair, designer Loree Rodkin said she and Hewitt wanted to create a "Zen-like retreat," which translates to Balinese-inspired decor (wood, stone, water elements, Buddha relics, Turkish lanterns)."

What got added later might have been due to Ben, and Hewitt's assistant Doug Major's benevolent influence, who wanted more Tiki all along.

Big Jeff, There ARE no photos of the Luau or ANY mid-century Tiki haven without flashlight lighting, that was the way it was done back then. If you can't imagine what the interior looked like without that, what do you like about Tiki then? ALL the interiors of vintage Tiki bars out there, and in my books, were shot that way. Well, here is my attempt to bring the Luau postcard down to the lighting level it really had:

Yet clearly, that still doesn't do it justice.

But if you think that colored fishnet floats and basket lamps give a place circus colors, then you might feel that my house looks like a carnival tent:

and the Munich Trader Vic's is really a Ringling Brothers operation:

Notice what happened to the green Naugahyde covered benches here?