Tiki Central / Tiki Drinks and Food / Updates to The Mai-Kai Cocktail Guide on The Atomic Grog
Post #795706 by Hurricane Hayward on Sun, Jun 16, 2019 10:55 AM
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Hurricane Hayward
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Sun, Jun 16, 2019 10:55 AM
As usual, we're just now emerging from the post-Hukilau decompression chamber. But I hope to start trickling out updates, news and photos. First, a quick recap of the first three days leading up to my class on Saturday and symposium on Sunday ... As usual, Wednesday's pre-party was a perfect way to get warmed up at The Mai-Kai and meet many of the visiting industry VIPs. I caught some of Gold Dust Lounge's performances (love the new album ... it's complex and full of dynamics), hung out with Vincent and Magdelana (kudos to the cool all-vinyl DJ tunes from the NJ power couple) and their crew from Hi-Tide Recordings, and enjoyed a great Zombie and Special Planters Punch. I was especially looking forward to meeting some of the women participating in the Tiki Tower Takeover the next day. I ran into old friend Marie King from Tonga Hut (newly married to Jon Paul ... congrats!) and had the pleasure of meeting New York City's Shannon Mustipher (acclaimed author and beverage director of Glady’s), San Francisco's Jeannie Grant (bar manager at Pagan Idol), and Portland's Sierra Kirk (former Iron TikiTender champ from Hale Pele). Many were first-timers at The Mai-Kai, and it's always fun to watch the amazement on their faces as they gaze around the restaurant. On Thursday, we checked in to Pier 66 for a bittersweet four-night stay. It's unclear what the future holds with a massive redevelopment plan about to start at the property, but we do know that the iconic tower will remain much as it is. That was our immediate focus as we headed straight for the 17th floor skylounge for the fifth Tiki Tower Takeover. I'll have a full recap on the blog, so I won't go into the details. Except to say that this was easily the smoothest and most flawless of any of the previous four events. And with eight cocktails to choose from (limited only by the three-hour time slot), it was a Tiki paradise. The floor even started rotating near the end of the event after they cleared the food stations. For now, you can check out a photo gallery on Facebook that includes all the bartenders, along with their cocktails and menus ... The Mai-Kai's managing owner, Dave Levy, also made his usual appearance at one of his favorite events ... It was hard to top the Tiki Tower as a weekend highlight, but there was lots more to come. We browsed the Bazaar and ran into many old friends, such as Tiki Tony, Ron Ferrell and Typhoon Tommy ... There were many, many booths to peruse while we were introduced to some great tunes by The Swingin' Palms and Slowey & the Boats. We also ran into The Mai-Kai manager Kern Matti, who somehow kept his little restaurant running flawlessly while enjoying The Hukilau at the same time. I want to give Mr. Mattei a huge mahalo for his calm and cool leadership all weekend and his essential help in giving me everything I needed to make my class and symposium memorable for all.
In the evening, it was back up to the tower for Tiki A Go-Go featuring DJ Brother Cleve and more great cocktails from Marie King and many of the other bartenders from around the country. They all worked their butts off all weekend. If that wasn't enough, some of them hosted room parties late into the evening. We ran into Jeannie serving drinks at the Pagan Idol party before we wisely decided to rest up for Friday's full day of activities. To be continued ... [ Edited by: Hurricane Hayward 2019-06-16 11:18 ] |
