deep end honeycut tiki bar LA

http://laist.com/2016/03/09/the_deep_end_honeycut.php

i didnt know there was such a thing as "post-tiki"

Interesting.

Hmmm....don't know what my reaction to this is.

On 2016-03-15 22:50, TongaT wrote:
Hmmm....don't know what my reaction to this is.

Yup

:roll:
So is it "tiki" or "post-tiki"? I can't see how "post-tiki" can even involve tiki, unless they want something that looks like an abandoned tiki bar, but then how the hell does outer space play into that? This concept sounds completely ridiculous and I don't think those are the footsteps Vic and Donn put down, and even calling out those names in their concept is blasphemy! Perhaps their plan is to build what they think a bar would look like if aliens came to earth, saw an old abandoned tiki bar (Trader Vic's Portland?), then decided to recreate it on their own planet with the resources they have there. But again, that's ridiculous! Sorry, but this whole concept kinda makes me mad.

Also, isn't "post-tiki" really just the '70s-'80s fern bars?

I think is a good idea. Because it will keep those freaks farther away from me.

"... how do we take our guests out beyond the furthest reaches imaginable? How can we curate an experience that does not exist, and may never exist at all? How can we take guests behind the curtain, show them the wizard, and in that moment reveal the infinite possibilities that keep our imaginations ever-piqued?"

Well, that sounds messed up. I do not know. Or care. Knock yourself out, buddy.

Quoting:
"The secrets of the South Pacific have all been unlocked. With the allure of that frontier all but exhausted,..."

I think what they mean is that it has been exhausted in THEIR minds, and they can't see anything new or deeper. So they have to come up with something unique and crazy. But hey, we know that we're going to see all kinds of innovations with "tiki" happen all over the place. That's what people do in an effort to open new restaurants and new bars and make money.

So I'm not all worked up about it. Hopefully they will at least sell tasty cocktails and have a good time doing it with their customers. That part would be following in the footsteps of Donn Beach and Vic Bergeron.

Don't we see tiki Star wars tiki bars ect on TC all the time.

And TCers go, "oh that's cool"

So where's the "oh that's cool" on this one?
I'm old school tiki myself.

So I'm not into a tiki bar with a Star wars or sports twist.

I'm not into it either, Skip, the old-school stuff done well is what it's all about. I'm not sure you got my point -- grin and bear it, we should expect to see all kinds of stuff. Innovation does not come with a good-ness guarantee. Some of today's innovation is likely tomorrow's kitsch.

And thanks for giving everyone the idea to open up Star Wars tiki bars... Nice...!!

They better be serving Mai Tai 3000s.

On 2016-03-16 12:18, tikiskip wrote:
Don't we see tiki Star wars tiki bars ect on TC all the time.

So I'm not into a tiki bar with a Star wars or sports twist.

Me neither. I'm not a fan of dueling concepts when one of those concepts is Tiki. I think that's one of the (many) reasons Tiki Hideaway in Charlotte failed. It started with a "Mad Men meets Tiki" concept, which I think could have worked if either was done well, but I think they only served to dilute each other making it rather vague slightly mid-century, slightly tiki, mostly modernist with a passing nod to the other two themes.

One of the things I LOVE about Martin Cate's bars is the commitment to a fully realized immersive environment with every detail painstakingly true to the primary theme of the concept. Smuggler's Cove and Whitechapel both have that true feeling of entering a whole different place with a clear concept of what it's supposed to be. I wish more bar owners could just pick a theme and take it to the nth degree like that!

On 2016-03-16 12:51, AceExplorer wrote:
I'm not into it either, Skip, the old-school stuff done well is what it's all about. I'm not sure you got my point -- grin and bear it, we should expect to see all kinds of stuff. Innovation does not come with a good-ness guarantee. Some of today's innovation is likely tomorrow's kitsch.

And thanks for giving everyone the idea to open up Star Wars tiki bars... Nice...!!

Was not in reference to anything anybody said here Ace.
More like what other TCers did not say like that’s cool.
Not a big deal, but last time I went WTF on one of these tiki and bars got kinda ripped.

Do what you want but don’t think many people are going to like pink walls in your tiki bar.

"And thanks for giving everyone the idea to open up Star Wars tiki bars... Nice...!!"
Did not start with me....:)
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=47267&forum=20&hilite=star wars

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2016-03-16 14:35 ]

i dunno - i think this could be a cool aesthetic

All I can think is when I go to disneyland I love the tiki room, I love the jungle cruise, I love space mountain and star tours.....I love the Star Wars overlay on space mountain right now.....I DONT want to see the tiki room overlay on space mountain or vice versa.

I cringed when I read that article, the same way I cringe when I see silly themed tiki events like spy and western, the same way I cringe when I see everyone getting excited about steampunk tiki and pink Sasquatch tiki mugs.

But then again, Cringe when the super mega purists get on here and dictates what was and wasn't tiki of the past.

While I lean towards old school tiki, I'm open to some new ideas, but I just don't see "space" being one of them.

Guess I'll try to hold off my judgement until I see pics of it....I'll try.

It is interesting to look back and see how relatively monolithic the original poly-pop thing was. Today's tiki revival isn't like that at all - it's become a wide-open free-for-all where people mix all kinds of stuff in with tiki. Its as if the other genres (spy, space, western, rockabilly, monster, surf, etc.) lacked a "vehicle" for their aficionados, and here comes tiki with our cons and meetups, and they integrate themselves with the tiki revival. As long as everyone is happy, that's good. But even if we wanted to, I don't think we can fight it, because a lot of today's tiki aficionados do cross over into other genres.

So who's gonna be first in line to buy one of Skip's new Star Wars-tiki luminaires or mugs?!! :wink:

On 2016-03-17 00:34, ErichTroudt wrote:
I cringed when I read that article, the same way I cringe when I see silly themed tiki events like spy and western, the same way I cringe when I see everyone getting excited about steampunk tiki and pink Sasquatch tiki mugs.

But then again, Cringe when the super mega purists get on here and dictates what was and wasn't tiki of the past.

While I lean towards old school tiki, I'm open to some new ideas, but I just don't see "space" being one of them.

Guess I'll try to hold off my judgement until I see pics of it....I'll try.

I am 100% with you on this. But for me, it is really just a case of living in the wrong time. I should have been born about 30 years earlier. Back when a recording studio was manned by guys in lab coats who looked like they worked on the manhattan project, (and not some long haired dude doing lines of coke off the mixer console). Back when you went to a fake Polynesian restaurant, and they had all kinds of food coloring that caused cancer, MSG and no such thing as fusion or a wrap. When Ike was president. When music was jazz. When the only tattoos you saw were on sailors. When going on a diet meant eating a sandwich. When you couldn't trust anyone over 30, and I was over 30.

“So who's gonna be first in line to buy one of Skip's new Star Wars-tiki luminaires or mugs?!!”

Ha!
For years I have wanted to make a disco ball shaped like a tiki.
I have it carved out and ready for the mirrors even.
Was really excited to hear what ATP would say about it.

And the Oasis Spy theme seemed cool to me.

BUT some things just don’t work, you can do it but then you
could wear a brown sock with a black sock too.

With that said I never thought myself a super mega purists, but then I’m not one of
those I love everything and everybody gets an award guys either.

So you CAN do tiki any way you like, it’s your right.
But on TC where all we do for the most part is talk about tiki not everybody is going to
like your version of tiki.

I guess Sven would be a super mega purists but then he wrote the book and is trying I would guess to make sure the definition is clear much like a College Professor would do.

On 2016-03-17 08:08, tikiskip wrote:
I guess Sven would be a super mega purists but then he wrote the book and is trying I would guess to make sure the definition is clear much like a College Professor would do.

My guess is that Sven would continue to focus on the mid-century poly pop stuff, but would also have an eye skewed towards the always-unfolding tiki revival. We'll have to ask him to post something about his take on all this new stuff being attached to tiki. Is there already a thread for these observations, comments, gripes and moans? Certainly the ongoing new stuff is worthy of a thread of its own. (I did not search.)

A tiki disco ball? hahahahaha... Awesome!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Why drink green beer when you can have an awesome tiki cocktail instead?!!

This sounds to me like just another group of cocktailians declaring some place "Tiki" because they will serve Tiki COCKTAILS, with the other 90% of the real Tiki concept falling flat with the excuse that this will be "a new interpretation".

In my experience, most of the time that means there's not enough money, commitment and/or know-how of how to make it real Tiki. This is especially sad here in Southern California, where all the supplies, working examples and deep knowledge are readily available.

This said, the above is only my theory (born out of past observation) and I will be glad if I am proven wrong by an inspired, creative, yet true-to-the-genre realization of the concept :)

I like space-age style:

Sven, thanks for chiming in! That second photo -- Stovall's in Anaheim?

I grew up in Orange County, and always enjoyed seeing the wild designs of the Stovall's motor hotels.

On 2016-03-17 08:38, bigbrotiki wrote:
This sounds to me like just another group of cocktailians declaring some place "Tiki" because they will serve Tiki COCKTAILS,

Considering their apparent lack of respect for Tiki, in general, I doubt their definition of Tiki cocktails comes even close to anything authentic. Likely a bunch of flavored vodka drinks, margaritas, and blended daiquiris.

http://news.critiki.com/2015/11/10/what-is-a-tiki-drink/

Not trying to say this idea will work or that I think it is a good idea, but 213 Hospitality does own some pretty great bars. They definately have the money to back it up and they know how to make good drinks.

213 owns my favorite French Dip spot, Cole's, as well as many other upscale bars in LA and elsewhere even as far as Austin. Some of their places I like are: Cana, Half Step, Seven Grand (as well as Varnish and Bar Three piece) Normandie Club and Walker Inn just to name a few.

http://213dthospitality.com/projects/

I have always wanted to check out Honeycut, although I am NOT into the nightclub scene, especially in LA. I have always wanted to see one of those light up dance floors since I was a kid. I would check out their new "tiki" bar with an opened mind (even if I might think it is killing tiki :wink: ).

[ Edited by: lunavideogames 2016-03-17 11:47 ]

On 2016-03-17 08:38, bigbrotiki wrote:
I like space-age style:

Me too! The Stovall's Space Age lodge would have made a great Tiki crossover.

DC

On 2016-03-17 08:38, bigbrotiki wrote:
This sounds to me like just another group of cocktailians declaring some place "Tiki" because they will serve Tiki COCKTAILS, with the other 90% of the real Tiki concept falling flat with the excuse that this will be "a new interpretation".

In my experience, most of the time that means there's not enough money, commitment and/or know-how of how to make it real Tiki. This is especially sad here in Southern California, where all the supplies, working examples and deep knowledge are readily available.

Hmmm...that doesn't seem too far off the mark, actually. I clicked the link in the article that takes you to another one where they describe their WineRave events thusly:

What are the ideas of a rave that you wanted to embody?

I strongly disassociate myself from the use of the word "rave" on its own. That's not what we are doing. It's definitely not a one trick pony. We are trying to create a meaning that fits within each individual environment and what the desired effect is. At Honeycut [a Downtown LA nightclub with a light up dance floor], we implore a bit of the glow in the dark culture, and install dozens of backlights in hidden places, dress butlers in LED lights, dress in costume, and make drinks turn bioluminescent. It makes it more fun. It's not your typical wine experience. By doing that, it's not just about what it tastes like, it's about what it looks like and feels like.

Are either you a part of the rave scene at all? Where did the original association come from.

None of the people involved have ever been to rave. The original idea came from the linguistic absurdity of wine being attached to the word "rave."

That is such a jumbled mess, yet it makes sense in the context of the description of their tiki bar idea.

Still, that dancefloor is awesome....

On 2016-03-17 10:45, lunavideogames wrote:
Not trying to say this idea will work or that I think it is a good idea, but 213 Hospitality does own some pretty great bars. They definately have the money to back it up and they know how to make good drinks.

213 owns my favorite French Dip spot, Cole's, as well as many other upscale bars in LA and elsewhere even as far as Austin. Some of their places I like are: Cana, Half Step, Seven Grand (as well as Varnish and Bar Three piece) Normandie Club and Walker Inn just to name a few.

http://213dthospitality.com/projects/

I have always wanted to check out Honeycut, although I am NOT into the nightclub scene, especially in LA. I have always wanted to see one of those light up dance floors since I was a kid. I would check out their new "tiki" bar with an opened mind (even if I might think it is killing tiki :wink: ).

[ Edited by: lunavideogames 2016-03-17 11:47 ]

Exactly-- and the other half of this equation is Proprietors LLC who are behind Death & Co. in NYC. We went to Honeycut last year because we love Death & Co. and it was a major disappointment-- nothing like the quality of D&C or The Varnish. The crowd was pretty awful too, but at least the Saturday Night Fever dancefloor is in another room. I'll give them one more shot, but was so unimpressed by the cocktails-- and the crowd didn't seem interested in perusing the drinks from the thick, laminated, bound-with-a-keyring menu either-- they were there to HAVE THE BEST NIGHT EVER! Not sure what they're thinking with this...