Leaving CA for NYC, advice?

Hello!

I have muddled the last two years of my tikister infancy in the lovely bay area, where I have been, as I've been told, absolutely spoiled in regards to tiki bars. Add to this the occasional trip down to Socal, up to Portland, and to my native Ft. Lauderdale, and my expectations have grown a little high for tiki bars.

That being said, I'm moving to NYC for graduate studies this fall and I hear the pickings are quite slim. I've been to Otto's Shrunken Head, which was a little too punk rock and pbr for my tastes. I hear the Lani Kai is nice, but just not tacky/fun enough. There's word of a place on staten island, and I've heard about the painkiller. Is there anything I'm missing? Any new bars or potential spots people are thinking of opening? I would love to become a regular at a new place, or a semi-private tiki central run affair.

I'm hoping to start my own mini private bar when I find a place. But that's a few months off and my potential flat mate...she uh, doesn't drink ._.

So any words of advice would be greatly appreciated! Antique hunting seems to be very good in Brooklyn, which is where I'm looking at living. Still apartment hunting if any of you are renting, too :D

My advice: Don't do it.
Go to grad school at Cal - or anywhere in California, Hawaii or Florida, instead.

like the song says " new yorks a lonely town, when you're the only surfer boy around"

: /
But the grad school there is paying me handsomely to attend. And it's at the gosh darn Museum of Natural History.

You know the sad thing is I dreamt that I got like ten replies telling me to go to places I had never heard of and I was all, "AWESOME".

Weitz, congrats on a sweet grad school gig. First Tahiti and now NYC!

Is Waikki Wally's still open? I was in Manhattan a few year back and they had some sort of Hawaiian Tropic bar or something, but I think it a classic tiki bar - more of an upscale yuppie joint with silicone waitresses in hula skirts and bikini tops (not that I object :D )

Of course you can always take Tiki with you, there wasn't any small pox in NY before Christopher Columbus arrived :lol:

Having lived on both the East and West Coast (upstate NY and the Bay Area) and then moving back East again, I think your best bet isn't to compare the 2. I often say it is like trying to compare apples to auto parts, the two areas are simply too unlike one another to make reasonable comparisons. You aren't going to find the same tiki on the East coast that you'll find on the West coast.

NYC is a great town, but there isn't a lot of tiki there. That said, it has a lot of things you can't find in the Bay Area. Manhattan has fabulous history, just like Fort Mason or sections of Union Square have fabulous history. The Williamsburg Area of Brooklyn is vibrant and growing, just like certain areas North Beach. You'll love NYC, but try to think of it as moving to a different country. You have to figure out the local mores and how the town works. It works differently, very differently, but that doesn't mean it's bad. On a side note, Williamsburg seems to be the place to be these days, and there are apartments and condos by the boatload popping up. From what I've been told, it used to be primarily an Eastern European working class neighborhood that attracted the age 25-45 crowd because of the cheap rents and services. Hipsters and entrepreneurs seem to like it there and it isn't overloaded with so many folks the neighborhood has lost its character despite growing a great deal. Tons of great restaurants. You can be in the Manhattan in under 10 minutes if you live near the subway.

When I visit New York, some of my favorite things to do are visit one of the many events they have in Bryant Park, I love the "Little India" neighborhood on Lexington Avenue, the myriad of museums, and I hope someday to hit Lincoln Center and their Midsummer Night's Swing events. Recently, we've been investigating Brooklyn more and we always hit a good Jewish deli. Katz's is iconic and the Carnegie Deli is a lot of fun, but you can get a cheaper and less crowded meal at Sarge's.

There is some older tiki across the bridge in New Jersey. You can always hit Chan's Dragon Inn (right off the George Washington Bridge) and Lee's Hawaiian Islander (very close to the Lincoln Tunnel). These are versions of the old Chinese restaurants going tiki once upon a time, we're not talking classy Trader Vic's or the Tonga Room, but I really like Lee's and Sneakyjack on TC swears by Chan's.

If you're comfortable making the trek to Portland from the Bay Area, you're more than willing to make shorter treks to Boston and other areas with tiki scenes. In and around Boston there is actually a fair amount of interest in tiki if you look for it. A large number of tikiphiles hang their hat in that area.

I love both areas and travel between the two from time to time, and don't favor one to another because I don't compare one to another. Do yourself a favor, go to NYC and go with an open mind.

dcman

[ Edited by: dcman 2011-06-07 12:04 ]

[ Edited by: dcman 2011-06-07 12:13 ]

On 2011-06-07 09:46, Weitz wrote:
: /
But the grad school there is paying me handsomely to attend. And it's at the gosh darn Museum of Natural History.

Getting paid is good. You should be very proud of your accomplishments.
But what New York is cold, cold, cold.

Better to study the history of Tiki in Hawaii, or c'mon down South to UCLA, or even UC San Diego.
Plenty o' Tiki, too!
And, you can stay, work, live and enjoy Tiki, while going to the beach on the weekends.

NYC is home to some of the best cocktail bars on the planet, many devoted to a single ingredient. I would use the opportunity to take advantage and allow some of the most knowledgeable people on the planet give you an education in beer, wine, whisky, tequila, gin and who knows what else. Tiki will be there when you get done, but definitely take advantage of this opportunity while you can!

Hi Weitz,

I've done exactly what you're talking about. I'm a Los Angeles native who moved to NYC almost 6 years ago. If you have a great educational opportunity in NYC, you should take it, tiki or not. But there are ways to make up for the sheer amount of tiki in CA. I know from experience. Lani Kai has become my go-to bar now, but I do frequent other bars, even though they are not even remotely tiki-ish. You learn to keep track of bartenders who know the difference between a Mai Tai and a Martini. :)

I've sent you a PM.