Mai Kai - Tiki Archeology

I'm really intrigued by this statement:

What separates the good mixologist of tropical drinks from the ordinary is the blending of the juices and the weight of the syrup

Interesting that Mariano mentions the blending of the juices rather than what we might typically perceive to be of more importance, the blending of the rums. Also, the weight of the syrup IS a big factor in the overall enjoyment of the drink in my experience. The mouthfeel of the drink is so important and is highly affected by the viscosity of the syrups used.

I also find it fun to know that a 15-year-old Jamaican rum was used in the Mai-Tais. As we know, it hasn't been common for a very long time to mix standard off-the-menu drinks with extra aged spirits like that, save for today's newer bars that focus more on skilled mixology.

How I wish Mariano were still around to pick his brain! Anyway, thanks DC for the post. :D

Dustycajun, thanks for posting the Rosa Tusa article. I had recently come across it but it didn't include the cool photo. FYI, that was published in The Palm Beach Post.

I too wish I had been able to sample the drinks during Mariano's heyday. I was lucky enough to recently get a tour of the back bar where he used to work. Not much has changed, including his rum collection (as Beachbum Berry also discovered) ...

Check out more photos and my full report here:

http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/12/28/behind-the-magic-a-backstage-tour-of-the-mai-kais-mysterious-bars-and-kitchen/

The official blog of The Hukilau

Featuring The Mai-Kai Cocktail Guide

[ Edited by: Hurricane Hayward 2012-01-24 14:24 ]

On 2012-01-23 12:24, WestADad wrote:

On 2012-01-23 11:58, Dustycajun wrote:

Swanky, do you know who long he stayed at the Mai Kai?

DC

1980?

http://beachbumberry.com/2009/01/08/2008-the-year-in-rum/

" The last of the palatial Polynesian supper clubs, the Mai-Kai is a faux-Polynesian wonderland, perfectly preserved since its opening day in 1956. From that day to 1980, the head bartender was a rum connoisseur named Mariano Licudine."

During Hukilau 2011, I had a chance to spend some time with Ron Licudine, Mariano's son, posting about my experience here. According to Ron, his Dad retired from the Mai-Kai in 1979, passing away in 1980.

SSDI and related genealogical records indicate that Mariano Licudine was born in Mindanao, Philippines on August 12, 1907. He died at Pompano Beach, Florida in November of 1980 at age 73.

Excerpted from a Mai-Kai historic timeline I started while collaborating with Swanky, TC's own Mai-Kai historian extraordinaire...

-Tom

Note: Timeline edited to incorporate GatorRob feedback.

[ Edited by: TikiTomD 2012-01-25 06:09 ]

Not to nitpick your very detailed timeline, but for sake of accuracy, the major expansion was actually started in 1970 and completed in 1971. And it not only included the addition of the 4 dining rooms (Tonga, Bangkok, Moorea and Tahiti), but also expansion and re-theming of the Molokai bar, expansion of the kitchen, addition of the chinese ovens, enlargement of the restrooms (!), addition of the lanai and expansion of the gardens. All for a measly $1 million. Or $5.5 million in today's money. :)

Mahalo for that correction, plus all the additional detail, GatorRob! The timeline, such as it is, was assembled from various news archives and online articles, some of which were retrospective and apparently lacked both specificity and accuracy. Not all that surprising in my experience. It was just a fun way for me to sift through and organize the various nuggets of Mai-Kai related information from those sources. I'll use your input to make it better... :)

-Tom

That 1970 renovation also removed Fiji where the Surfboard Bar was and the Dias, and replaced it with Tonga, so, Tonga wasn't technically added, just a renovation of Fiji.

Tom thanks for sharing that. I need to send you more stuff to add, although it is a bit detailed info. I will be doing research in FL in February and expect what I get to flesh out a LOT of details. I will be reporting as much as is interesting, relavent and able to be fit into my hour at Hukilau. And there will be a lot of people there that afternoon who were there for all these events that we can ask. I hope to have people there whose histories started at the Mai-Kai in 1957, and I have RSVPs from those who started in 1958 and 1959 for sure.

Oh, one other note, if I didn't already say this. As extensive as that 1970 renovation was, the Mai-Kai never closed. The Mai-Kai has only been closed 8 times in history! 1 of those, at least, was a private wedding party. The workers were required to work at night and to do everything so that customers at the Mai-Kai never knew anything was happening. It was done quietly and shielded so that it could not be seen...

Found this cool ad featuring 52 varieties of Rum at the Mai Kai.

Many of which can still be found today as seen in this photo by Hurricane Hawyard.

DC

It was wonderful to very recently meet an original Mai Kai Mystery Girl at Hakalugi's house. A Tahitian native, Leilani Doucet-Mann had worked at the Mai Kai in the 1960s, and was surprised to find her photo on page 63 of Tiki Modern at Barnes & Noble one day. Here she is holding Claudette Barjoud's Mystery Girl statue:

And here with her husband David, signing her photo in Tiki Modern:

She was most lovely and lively, and still with a cute French accent, answered many questions about the Mystery Girl tradition. She is looking for the 1968 (?) Mai Kai calendar that had her in it, if anyone has one to spare.

Another interesting aspect of her family story was that her aunt Anne Chevalier had been the female lead in "TABU" as Reri:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=302&forum=1&vpost=510011

I am now even more looking forward to Swanky's upcoming Hukilau Seminar on the Mystery Girl tradition!

For those playing along at home, Leilani was known at the Mai-Kai, and in the calendars as Leila.

"The Hawaiian Room, one of seven dining areas, where you enjoy gourmet's fare--Cantonese cuisine and tropical rum drinks. The award winning Mai-Kai has recently been featured in an Esquire story."

1960 newspaper photo of the Mai Kai Girls.

1962 newspaper photo of the Mai Kai Entrance.

DC

Dug up a few more historical tidbits on the Mai Kai.

This ad announced the opening of the Molakai Bar on Thursday, March 6 1958.

The early 1958 ad for the Mystery Drink featured the first wahine bowl that was used.

The custom Mai Kai bowl ad showed up in 1959.

DC