Mai Kai, Fort Lauderdale, FL (restaurant) - Locating Tiki

T TikiTomD Grand Member (6 years) Flagler Beach, FL Joined: Sep 20, 2009 Posts: 700	T TikiTomD Posted posted on Wed, Jun 15, 2011 10:21 AM Hukilau 2011 at the Mai-Kai Part 2 of 4 The Rumposium concluded with very little time remaining before the first dinner show was to be seated. A large crowd had already gathered behind the rope cordon at the service desk, stretching out the doorway. Concerned about getting a good seat for dinner and the show? No problem. If you’re one of the Hukilau organizers or special guests, then Christie (tiki_kiliki) has you a reserved seat at tables arrayed in a U-shape centered in front of the stage. If you’re not, you’re still in luck. The Mai-Kai has an outstanding cadre of service professionals befitting a fine restaurant... just approach the Service Captain or Maitre D’ at the entry with your request, including an offering for the special service to be rendered, and you will be given a time to return. In the meantime, you can enjoy yourself in the Molokai Bar or in the tropical gardens. Having made dinner arrangements with the Service Captain, we proceeded to the Molokai Bar. It was already choked with people. Three very fine gentlemen from California -- JOHN-O, Caltiki Brent (congawa) and Molokai Mike -- graciously made room at their table for Pat and me to join them in the short interval before dinner. Life was good, and the puffer fish lamp beamed its approval... After a very short interval, it was time to make our way back to the Service Captain for dinner show seating. We were led to a table in the New Guinea Room, to the left of the stage and Hukilau reserved seating, across the aisle from Martin Cate, and in a great position to view the show... Already sauced a bit from the earlier Black Magic and Rumposium cocktail samples, I prudently chose a medium-strength tropical drink, the Mara-Amu (and you get to keep the mug). It was good. I looked around still empty tables and noticed that I was being observed... A pleasant gentleman walking down the aisle greeted us; it was Ron Licudine, son of the original Mai-Kai master mixologist, Mariano Licudine. Here’s a great little article about the Mai-Kai, Ron and his Dad (with several drink recipes)... http://www.winemag.com/Wine-Enthusiast-Magazine/Web-2010/The-Call-of-the-Mai-Kai-Tales-from-South-Florida-rsquos-South-Pacific/. He posed with my wife for a photo... Soon, the adjacent tables began to fill up. Several tables away, I spied George Jenkins (TikiHardBop), the Florida Space Coast’s own master mixologist, with his wife, Chris (TornadoTiki). After they had graciously hosted us in a pre-Hukilau party at their home tiki bar, The Storm Shelter, it was my turn to pick up the drink tab. George ordered a Mai-Tai (strong) and Chris ordered a Cobra Kiss (medium strength). Chris (TornadoTiki) and George (TikiHardBop) at the front of the photo A gong sounded at a nearby table, signaling the arrival of a Mystery Drink delivered by the Mystery Girl. Here the lucky recipient is getting lei’d by the Mystery Girl... For dinner, the wife and I both ordered the Prime Rib special with garlic mashed potatoes and wasabi sauce. It was a superb choice. We finished off dinner with a couple of Kona Coffee Grogs, set ablaze next to our table, a show in and of itself. It was a fine choice for a dessert drink. The stage started to come alive, first with King Kukulele (Denny Moynahan)... Tiki_kiliki then made a number of presentations honoring key Hukilau contributors. Here’s Mireille Thornton of the Mai-Kai, who developed and managed the Mai-Kai Polynesian show... The Mai-Kai Polynesian show, authentic and always great fun to watch, seemed, if possible, even better since our last visit... By the time the first dinner show had concluded, the folks for the second dinner show were clamoring for seating. It was time to go seek out the Tikiyaki Orchestra performance in the Tahiti Room. The band had gathered in the gardens for a quick photo shoot... We ran into a choke point trying to get into the Tahiti Room where band was set to play (phinz separately noted that the adjacent Samoa Room had available seating, but we regretfully overlooked that and gave up too easily). Saturday’s Hukilau encounter at the Mai-Kai displayed offscale high on every active parameter of my tiki meter: atmosphere, drink quality, drink presentation, service, food, entertainment, historical setting and overall experience. And there was yet more to come on Sunday... To be continued... -Tom [ Edited by: TikiTomD 2011-06-16 12:49 ]

Hukilau 2011 at the Mai-Kai Part 2 of 4

The Rumposium concluded with very little time remaining before the first dinner show was to be seated. A large crowd had already gathered behind the rope cordon at the service desk, stretching out the doorway. Concerned about getting a good seat for dinner and the show? No problem. If you’re one of the Hukilau organizers or special guests, then Christie (tiki_kiliki) has you a reserved seat at tables arrayed in a U-shape centered in front of the stage. If you’re not, you’re still in luck. The Mai-Kai has an outstanding cadre of service professionals befitting a fine restaurant... just approach the Service Captain or Maitre D’ at the entry with your request, including an offering for the special service to be rendered, and you will be given a time to return. In the meantime, you can enjoy yourself in the Molokai Bar or in the tropical gardens.

Having made dinner arrangements with the Service Captain, we proceeded to the Molokai Bar. It was already choked with people. Three very fine gentlemen from California -- JOHN-O, Caltiki Brent (congawa) and Molokai Mike -- graciously made room at their table for Pat and me to join them in the short interval before dinner. Life was good, and the puffer fish lamp beamed its approval...

After a very short interval, it was time to make our way back to the Service Captain for dinner show seating. We were led to a table in the New Guinea Room, to the left of the stage and Hukilau reserved seating, across the aisle from Martin Cate, and in a great position to view the show...

Already sauced a bit from the earlier Black Magic and Rumposium cocktail samples, I prudently chose a medium-strength tropical drink, the Mara-Amu (and you get to keep the mug). It was good. I looked around still empty tables and noticed that I was being observed...

A pleasant gentleman walking down the aisle greeted us; it was Ron Licudine, son of the original Mai-Kai master mixologist, Mariano Licudine. Here’s a great little article about the Mai-Kai, Ron and his Dad (with several drink recipes)... http://www.winemag.com/Wine-Enthusiast-Magazine/Web-2010/The-Call-of-the-Mai-Kai-Tales-from-South-Florida-rsquos-South-Pacific/. He posed with my wife for a photo...

Soon, the adjacent tables began to fill up. Several tables away, I spied George Jenkins (TikiHardBop), the Florida Space Coast’s own master mixologist, with his wife, Chris (TornadoTiki). After they had graciously hosted us in a pre-Hukilau party at their home tiki bar, The Storm Shelter, it was my turn to pick up the drink tab. George ordered a Mai-Tai (strong) and Chris ordered a Cobra Kiss (medium strength).

Chris (TornadoTiki) and George (TikiHardBop) at the front of the photo

A gong sounded at a nearby table, signaling the arrival of a Mystery Drink delivered by the Mystery Girl. Here the lucky recipient is getting lei’d by the Mystery Girl...

For dinner, the wife and I both ordered the Prime Rib special with garlic mashed potatoes and wasabi sauce. It was a superb choice. We finished off dinner with a couple of Kona Coffee Grogs, set ablaze next to our table, a show in and of itself. It was a fine choice for a dessert drink. The stage started to come alive, first with King Kukulele (Denny Moynahan)...

Tiki_kiliki then made a number of presentations honoring key Hukilau contributors. Here’s Mireille Thornton of the Mai-Kai, who developed and managed the Mai-Kai Polynesian show...

The Mai-Kai Polynesian show, authentic and always great fun to watch, seemed, if possible, even better since our last visit...

By the time the first dinner show had concluded, the folks for the second dinner show were clamoring for seating. It was time to go seek out the Tikiyaki Orchestra performance in the Tahiti Room. The band had gathered in the gardens for a quick photo shoot...

We ran into a choke point trying to get into the Tahiti Room where band was set to play (phinz separately noted that the adjacent Samoa Room had available seating, but we regretfully overlooked that and gave up too easily).

Saturday’s Hukilau encounter at the Mai-Kai displayed offscale high on every active parameter of my tiki meter: atmosphere, drink quality, drink presentation, service, food, entertainment, historical setting and overall experience. And there was yet more to come on Sunday...

To be continued...

-Tom

[ Edited by: TikiTomD 2011-06-16 12:49 ]

Post #593762 by TikiTomD on Wed, Jun 15, 2011 10:21 AM