Minnie's in the news today!

minnie's as well as many other tiki spots were highlighted in the modesto bee today! they gave minnie's and peter nearly a full page. this article written by a bee staff writer was part of a larger article(almost 2 full pages with photos) done by a OC registar writer by the name of gary warner. here is the motown article.

BEE STAFF REPORTS

Last Updated: July 10, 2005, 05:12:38 AM PDT

Peter Mah owns dozens of velvet paintings and one quirky recipe.
Actually, the paintings are quirky, too, unless oils of sultry nudes on black velvet float your artistic boat.

The recipe is displayed every day. It is for a volatile libation called the jerk (we'll explain why in a moment). It is a concoction of boozes and confections that comprise the signature drink at Minnie's restaurant.

Many of the paintings are on display, too, "But I have more -- many, many more -- stored in sheds," Mah says.

If you have any Ralph Tyree paintings lying around, Mah is willing to relieve you of those, too. He is the world's preeminent Tyree collector, and Minnie's is a living gallery of Tyree's artwork.

In the 1950s and '60s, after trips across the South Pacific, Tyree took to painting barebreasted Polynesian women. Decades later, his sons in Turlock are artists, too, though most of their work is limited to world-famous classic automobile restorations.

Mah runs Minnie's with his mother and brother, Stuart. Their father and mother, immigrants from China, bought the business from Minnie Woo and Hop Louie who opened it in 1954. The Mahs had come to Modesto from Stockton, where dad was a waiter at the famed On Lock Sam's downtown and Peter was a bartender at the Islander, a restaurant-lounge-showroom.

In addition to the Mahs, fixtures at Minnie's include many long-time staffers, including Maria. She has been at Minnie's for 30 years, waiting on customers, alternately offering a sympathetic ear and caustic wit. She feigns disgust with Minnie's tiki motif. "I call it tacky. Sometimes I call it trashy. But everybody loves it."

Maria was married to the late Victor Sen Yung, who starred as Hop Sing, the hot-tempered cook on "Bonanza," the long-running TV Western. Among Sen Yung's 300 TV and movie credits were 14 Charlie Chan movies. He played "No. 2 son, Jimmy."

Minnie's boasts all the traditional tiki trappings, icons and knickknacks. Mah calls it "Hawaiian decor." There is one unique adornment: dollar bills tacked to the walls and ceiling.

"The way I heard it," Mah says, "the tradition began with servicemen putting dollar bills on the wall, hoping they would come back some day and reclaim them.

"It's like the leis that cruise passengers toss off ships," he explains: "If the leis float the right way, it means you'll come back to that port.

The only floating at Minnie's is by customers swooning over the Mandarin and Cantonese food or, perhaps, after being swept off their feet by a benign looking jerk.

Oh, the jerk ...

Mah came up with the recipe about 20 years ago as a means of humbling two obnoxious customers.

"They thought they were tough guys, always shooting off their mouths, talking nasty, looking for trouble," Mah recalls. "They were real jerks.

"So I made up this little cocktail for them -- and they couldn't handle it. It went right to their heads and shut 'em up good. They choked on it."

And now you can taste Mah's revenge, too. A jerk melds raspberry sherbet, light and dark rums, orange and pineapple juices and a splash of grenadine. The coup de grace is a straw laced with 151-proof rum.

Don't say we didn't warn you.

If You Go ...: Minnie's is at 107 McHenry; 524-4621. Open weekdays for lunch and dinner. Open Saturday and Sunday for dinner.

the rest of the article is not listed on the mo bee site. did an article run in OC today or is this an older one that modesto recycled?

are any of these writers members here?

peter was telling us about how the author was telling him how all these different tiki places lead back to minnie's. in other words the association of hop louie to minnie's which has been getting alot of attention on the boards lately.

don't let the bus leave without me!

[ Edited by: the drunken hat 2005-07-10 12:16 ]

Awesome!

Thanks for posting that - can't wait to be at Minnie's again for the upcoming Hooptylau!