Forbidden Island Anyone?

Matt the cat & I will be at FI the Weds before Thanksgiving. If you don't have plans and are in town that night, please come join us, we'd love to see some friendly faces!

If I'm not on jury duty, I'll be there.

The Mrs. and I will be there with RugbyMatt in tow.

I'm usually there on Wed, if I don't recognize you just say hi anyways

I just might take that opportunity to use my reserved parking space.

Coco Loco and I are going to try to pop in, on our way out of town.

I'll try to make it but no promises.

Got released from jury duty so I will be there. I can taste those Monkeypods already and might have to try a Macadamia Nut Chi Chi too....mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Yay, sounds like this will be great fun! Matt & I will probably head out of town at 6:30, drop Woody off at the Wag Hotel and head to our hotel. We'll take a cab so I imagine we'll be there by 9:30. If anyone gets there early, maybe save some seats for the group? Is that bad form? I hope not.. Can't wait, last time we were there was after a Giants game! Fugu here I come!

I just found out that out of town & State frineds are having a get to gether the same night. A few of them have children so FI's out. I'll try impress them with tropical cocktails if we can have it at my place.

Planning to be there for the duration this evening, got a room for the night at the Hampton Inn in Alameda.

Aloha, Alameda Ohana...

I will be dropping in tomorrow evening for a long needed bit of island oasis.

Any TC'ers hanging out tomorrow? it's a long ride from Palm Springs just for a good drink.

On Friday night, we'll be in SF at the Bamboo Hut where the Hula Girls are playing at 9:00 pm. On Saturday at 5:00 pm, Forbidden Island is likely to be packed with more of the same crew to see the Hula Girls.

Not long ago, I visited Smuggler's Cove on one of my many tikiquests. I was amazed and awed at the caliber of what they have accomplished. So overwhelmed was I, that I started a thread, Is Smuggler's Cove the next Tiki Ti. http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=38772&forum=10&hilite=smuggler's%20cove

In my opinion, it was.

But then... while I have been to Forbidden Island many times before, my last visit on Friday absolutely blew me away and has caused me to rethink some things.

First, FI is eye candy extreme. While Tiki No is no back show number itself, FI reeks of authenticity from top to bottom, from the old movies to the music.

And then there was Suzanne, the bartender who waited on me. Her expertise and skill rivaled the best that I have seen. The Navy Grog that I began with was so balanced and nuanced - the spices played before me but they didn't rush to the forefront. That was saved for the rums.

The Mai Tai, a luau happy hour version, went down like silk. The flavors played with each other the way you would want a group of preschoolers to do. Nicely and without anyone being selfish.

Next, and this is where Forbidden Island exited into greatness, the Sazerac Cocktail absolutely and completely remade my concept of what a cocktail could and should be.

Using a rose syrup and the St. George Absinthe as well as a small batch Kentucky Bourbon, the Sazerac was put together the old fashioned way. The glass was iced down, the liquids were stirred with ice until the right amount of melt had occurred. And then, it was put together and a new universe was born.

I quite chasing the perfect Sazerac along time ago, because no one, and I mean no one, could put one together that allowed all of the flavors to walk together in peace. Always, one flavor or the other predominated.

Not this time. No, not this time. I tell you here and now that I have had no finer cocktail. Suzanne created something that surely must be what people a hundred years ago thought about when they had a cocktail. It was heaven.

I didn't believe a cocktail like this could exist. Only once before had I tasted something almost as good and that was at the Tram Bar high above Palm Springs. An odd fellow - a true cocktail enthusiast, made me the perfect Old Fashioned. But here at Sea Level, ten thousand feet less, I was not in hell or purgatory. I was in Forbidden Island drinking the concoctions of a gifted artist.

Forbidden Island wins because they have raised the art of the drink beyond simply high quality tiki drinks. They have brought art back to drinking. My final drink was a spin on a sweet martini called a Howards End (if I have it right). Again, this gin cocktail soared to new levels with the addition of lillet and a few other ingredients.

So, there it is. Forbidden Island wins.

For now any way. Do you agree?

[ Edited by: telescopes 2011-02-19 22:20 ]

[ Edited by: telescopes 2011-02-20 07:03 ]

I have not been there for a few years,
and am very glad to hear that things are still going well there.

I really wanted to come up for the Hula Girls show this past Sat.

I am gonna try to make it back there, sometime this year.

Thanks for the report sir.

Jeff(btd)