attn detroit area tiki-philes!

aloha!

i met some of you at exotica 2003 - i'm a journalist from detroit, working on a cover story on the "cult of tiki" and am looking for some locals to interview and photograph...especially those with custom made tiki bars and creations in their homes!

if you're interested, please email me at [email protected]

thanks you!!

Hey sparklydevil,

I lived in Detroit for 5 years and moved to Southern California fairly recently. As far as I ever knew, Detroit is comletely devoid of tiki or anyone who knows anything about it. Although CPOP Gallery on Woodward could be the one source for a small level of understanding tiki culture. You might try talking to them for sources.

I assume by your email that you work for the MetroTimes. In my opinion that publication was one of the best local mags anywhere in the country and one of the few things that I actually miss about Detroit (no offense). Nothing in SoCal compares to MetroTimes for cutting edge cool information. Good luck and keep up the great work!

ModMana :drink:

thanks modmana! actually, i've got a golden trump up my sleeve - inside access to the famed chin tiki! and, where detroit lacks a truly great tiki bar, we have a number of unique tiki fans who've constructed beautiful tiki creations in their own homes.

thanks for the compliments on the paper - you can always stay up to date with us from afar via http://www.metrotimes.com :wink:

Hey Sparkly!

I'm assuming you've already contacted Freddy Fortune (now of the Fourgone Conclusions)? He's got a giant Witco, possibly from the Chin Tiki (I think) and a killer-diller bar, etc. Email me if you need his contact info. Great, fun guy. He was at the closing of the Kahiki in Columbus with me a few years back.

F

Modmana,

You are completely wrong about Detroit and Tiki...sorry, but you are Sooooo wrong....

On 2003-09-11 07:02, mattfink wrote:
Modmana,

You are completely wrong about Detroit and Tiki...sorry, but you are Sooooo wrong....

I second that!
-Z

There's Chin's in Livonia, Wave's at St. Clair Shores (cheezy but fun), Jade Tiki, and various old skool chinese places that still serve drinks in tiki mugs...

There was an old movie theatre that used to be Tiki themed:

"The George Burns theatre was originally called the Mai Kai when it opened in 1963. It was a one-screen movie theatre with 1,396. That made it one of the largest in the Metro Detroit area back in its time. "

I'm sure I'm forgetting something....

There was a Trader Vic's, now gone, and of course the spectacular Mauna Loa, now gone...

Check the Locating Tiki thread for info!

Sorry, Detroit tikiphiles, I stand corrected. I certainly didn't mean to offend any of you. However, when I lived there 5 years ago I couldn't find a tiki to save my life. I guess I just wasn't looking in the right places. Glad to hear you're out there. Mahalo!

ModMana :drink:

Is Chin's in Livonia worth the drive from Ann Arbor? I will be in the area and was thinking about checking it out, unless I should look elsewhere.

Thanks,
GK

A lot of tiki from the old Chin Tiki, food and drinks not so good.

you may want to contact nancy from cat's meow detroit.....she's a detroit native with years of tiki experience...she knows everything you need to know about current and past tiki in detroit...and she has an awesome 50's ranch home with tiki bar and other cool collectables....she will be able to direct you to other tiki enthusiasts in the area.....she is also a close friend of the owners of chin tiki....this is a good place for you to start.

good luck!!

http://www.catsmeowdetroit.com

Dave, I almost fell for that one: Look at the date of the original post, it's an oldie. That was when the Tiki revival was HOT! :)

In order to avoid such confusion, I urge all newer members to use the "Search" function. The appropriate thread to have posted this question would have been this one, which has lots of great photos and info:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=4850&forum=2

Obviously this place is the last existing repository for Detroit's great Tiki treasures, and the fact that the food is not quite that great is a sacrifice gladly made by any true Tiki archeologist.