C
Joined: Nov 23, 2004
Posts: 23
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C
While this new bar in SM is NOT a tiki bar, I feel it definitely deserves a post - and with a little prodding from fellow TCers, it just might have a complete tiki drink menu by the summer.
After reading Jonathan Gold's "Where to Drink Now" article in the LA Weekly, I decided to give this place a shot when stranded by the beach. The good news is they make all their own syrups (including pimento dram), use only local farmer's market ingredients and have a happy hour from 5pm to 8pm with a dozen drinks priced at only $5. Excellent indeed. But being an eternal cynic, I expected a pretentious snore fest.
When I arrived on a quiet Saturday afternoon, it was pretty much just me and the owner, Vincenzo, in the near empty bar. I guess he is some modern mixologist bigshot with international awards, but at heart he seems to be a huge classic tiki drink fan who has always wanted to open a tiki bar. Funny to hear all of this explained with his very thick Italian accent. He went off menu to make me several excellent classic rum drinks (including a very faithful $100 mai tai) and professes to mainly mixing up Trader Vic variations when drinking at home. And despite the pre-prohibition drink rage that has swept LA, he doesn't stutter when proclaiming Tiki Ti as the best bar in LA.
Anyhow, Vincenzo said he is thinking about instituting a Tiki Drink Menu for the summer, including possible Tiki Nights, but he is worried there would not be enough response. This is where I hope to rally the TC troops - because I would love a spot on the Westside, a block from the beach, to get a proper Zombie this summer. So if anyone does stop in for a drink, let's pound away for that Tiki menu.
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