JOHN-O's Zombie Road Trip... - General Tiki

MAM mike and marie Tiki Socialite Sunken Studios \| The Current Year Joined: Jun 24, 2008 Posts: 443	MAM mike and marie Posted posted on Thu, Aug 22, 2013 6:58 PM Excellent field report, JOHN-O ... four in one! Although after reading it we suddenly have a hankering for Eggs Foo Yung! And maybe a Jet Pilot! Those chairs do look the same and, if so, that would mean they'd been in constant restaurant use for almost 90 years. Amazing ... and think of the chewing gum! The primary decor in the old photo appears to be fresh-cut flowers. And hanging lamps. Don't you wish the cameraman had tilted the lens up just a bit? The wooden booths with space for curtains reminds me of what has become, for me, a legendary grail in the world of pre-tiki chop suey houses: this old time Cantonese noodle house in Wyoming that opened in cowboy days and was still going, with an old-timer waitress-owner who came out to the booths with a serving cart and had been pushing it for some ungodly amount of time, decades and decades. This is already going ten years back, probably, heard briefly on a radio that had paused on NPR. I'm afraid to Google it right now because I fear we'd have to add her name to the "Lost legends" thread. But anyway, that booth-and-curtain design is very old, prewar. Interesting, too, that it's on the second floor of the building. First thought is the similarity with Waikiki's pre-tiki Cantonese paradise Lau Yee Chai, built 1929, demolished 1966, and reopened on the second floor of a shopping mall. The original LYC had a giant rock garden and waterfall, the new location (recently closed) had a grate wall similar to what you found at GCI: GCI is in the heart of what was the Nard's Chinatown, called China Alley. And GCI itself was a center for celebration in the local Chinese community. Here's a story (with pics) of Oxnard's Soo Hoo family, who also ran Chinese restaurants there, and celebrated New Year's at the CGI: http://polyfet.com/vccahs/Bill%20Soo%20Hoo%20Excerpt%20from%20Hidden%20Voices.htm We didn't know that HKI had a vintage jukebox with old 45s. But as of closing last November it was still there, and so was the rest of the contents: "Collectors have offered more than $3,000 for the jukebox and its contents, James said. But the brothers are delaying any decisions about selling it — or the ceramic clamshells and tiki glasses in which cocktails are served — until after they've had a taste of retirement." http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/nov/24/cafe-society-venturas-hong-kong-inn-goes-out-in/?partner=RSS Also, slideshow: http://www.vcstar.com/photos/galleries/2012/nov/24/venturas-hong-kong-inn-goes-out-blaze-rum-vintage/56889/ [ Edited by: mike and marie 2013-08-22 19:11 ]

Excellent field report, JOHN-O ... four in one! Although after reading it we suddenly have a hankering for Eggs Foo Yung!

And maybe a Jet Pilot!

Those chairs do look the same and, if so, that would mean they'd been in constant restaurant use for almost 90 years. Amazing ... and think of the chewing gum!

The primary decor in the old photo appears to be fresh-cut flowers. And hanging lamps. Don't you wish the cameraman had tilted the lens up just a bit?

The wooden booths with space for curtains reminds me of what has become, for me, a legendary grail in the world of pre-tiki chop suey houses: this old time Cantonese noodle house in Wyoming that opened in cowboy days and was still going, with an old-timer waitress-owner who came out to the booths with a serving cart and had been pushing it for some ungodly amount of time, decades and decades. This is already going ten years back, probably, heard briefly on a radio that had paused on NPR. I'm afraid to Google it right now because I fear we'd have to add her name to the "Lost legends" thread. But anyway, that booth-and-curtain design is very old, prewar.

Interesting, too, that it's on the second floor of the building. First thought is the similarity with Waikiki's pre-tiki Cantonese paradise Lau Yee Chai, built 1929, demolished 1966, and reopened on the second floor of a shopping mall.

The original LYC had a giant rock garden and waterfall, the new location (recently closed) had a grate wall similar to what you found at GCI:

GCI is in the heart of what was the Nard's Chinatown, called China Alley. And GCI itself was a center for celebration in the local Chinese community. Here's a story (with pics) of Oxnard's Soo Hoo family, who also ran Chinese restaurants there, and celebrated New Year's at the CGI:

http://polyfet.com/vccahs/Bill%20Soo%20Hoo%20Excerpt%20from%20Hidden%20Voices.htm

We didn't know that HKI had a vintage jukebox with old 45s. But as of closing last November it was still there, and so was the rest of the contents: "Collectors have offered more than $3,000 for the jukebox and its contents, James said. But the brothers are delaying any decisions about selling it — or the ceramic clamshells and tiki glasses in which cocktails are served — until after they've had a taste of retirement."

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/nov/24/cafe-society-venturas-hong-kong-inn-goes-out-in/?partner=RSS

Also, slideshow:

http://www.vcstar.com/photos/galleries/2012/nov/24/venturas-hong-kong-inn-goes-out-blaze-rum-vintage/56889/

[ Edited by: mike and marie 2013-08-22 19:11 ]

Post #691052 by mike and marie on Thu, Aug 22, 2013 6:58 PM