Luau Party at the Blowfish Bar - Saturday, 12/03/2011

For any Ohana who want to party at the Blowfish Bar and can be in my North Central Florida neighborhood on Saturday, December 3, here’s an invitation for your consideration...

Please RSVP if you plan to attend:

-Tom

[ Edited by: TikiTomD 2011-11-12 15:51 ]

Would love to Tom, but you know there is that 3,000+ miles to get there to contend with. :wink: Hope it goes spectacularly though, take pics if you get a chance. :)

Aloha, tigertail777. Wish you could join us, but I understand the distance is daunting. We’ll share the photos. When you eventually make it down Florida way, you’ve an open invitation to drop in.

I’ve bartended myself at past parties, but it does take away from time to enjoy the guests. I took a lesson from TikiHardBop and will have someone else do the bartending this time, using the classic Tiki cocktail recipes compiled by the Bum.

Our guest bartender will be Mark “TikiTender” Woods, head bartender at Flagler Beach’s Golden Lion Café. According to FloridaBeachBar.com, “The Golden Lion, located just across the street from Flagler Beach, ranked second on the best Florida beach bar list, and is recognized as the Best Waterside Beach Bar.” Mark himself has earned 4-time honors as Florida's Favorite Bartender, selected by the readers of Backstage Pass magazine, a North Central Florida entertainment guide and magazine. Though he typically serves to an audience more in tune with Caribbean island style cocktail fare, Mark is well versed in the classic Tiki cocktails...

-Tom

Getting professional help on the serving side of the stick is going to come in handy since you'll have so many professionals on the drinking side of things!

And perusing around, I just have to comment that I found it amusing that The Golden Lion Cafe is "Flagler County's Most Awarded Restaurant". Never seen anybody actually promote being "Most Awarded" before.

And secondly, it was nice of Backstage Magazine, serving both (!) Volusia and Flagler counties, to give out Bartender awards for the entire state. Gives those bartenders in those high-end cocktail places in south Florida (including the Mai Kai), Orlando and Tampa something to strive towards.

George, I wondered how long it would take before that drew a response from you... the teaser was citing Backstage Pass as a “North Central Florida” entertainment guide, though it presumed to bestow state-wide bartending honors. Now you and Mark will have a conversation starter, as he serves your first cocktail.

-Tom

Bill and I will be attending. Cannot wait to see the mural in person. We will be at Rusted Turkey Run at the Iron Horse Saturday 11/25in the afternoon. I think De Tiki is coming also. If you guys want to met up.

Christina, really pleased that you and Bill will attend. Sorry, but we won't be able to meet you at the Iron Horse, as I'll be part of the launch team hopefully sending the NASA Mars Science Lab on the beginning of its 9-month journey by mid-day Saturday.

-Tom

Tom, I'm sure I'll have plenty to talk about with the bartender besides all of his "awards". And I definitely don't hold it against him. I mean, if the East Bithlo Shopping News named me the best bartender in South I'd put it on my resume for sure. Just thought it was hilarious that a small publication with little or no editorial content based in the First Coast, which isn't exactly known for anything but biker bars and sweet beach drinks, would give out awards for best bartender in Florida.

And I'm hoping to mix up a batch or two of some homemade things for him to put in drinks before our visit next weekend. We'll see how industrious I get over the holiday!

I would love to visit the Blowfish Bar. You've done some amazing work and that mural looks great. Can't wait to see it in person.

Mark

Aloha, Mark. Great that you can make it! We'll do our best to make your drive worthwhile. See you in a week...

-Tom

Beautiful day for a party: sunny, high 74 degrees F, just a tad breezy.

Here are driving directions for those coming from points further south...

-Tom

For the record, I've always found it amusing that Backstage Pass called it's award "Florida's Favorite". I make no claim to being the "best" bartender in the state, and always refer to the awards as Favorite Bartender on the Fun Coast. The graphic Tom used was created by the folks at Florida Beach Bar.

The awards are given by reader votes, so while I dumb down the state-wide part, I dare anyone to not be at least a little proud if customers/clients take the time to cast a vote in their favor.

PS good times last night, thanks to The Duncans for the booking. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves.

Mark, you were superb and the cocktails were perfectly crafted! I've already received a lot of great feedback from the guests on your tour of duty as Bartender at the Blowfish Bar. It was really nice to be relieved of that role so I could enjoy my guests, and, professional that you are, you handled an extraordinarily demanding station behind the bar with apparent ease and good humor. Consider that this went on for eight hours! I'd love to have you reprise that role again. While I have no aversion to mixology on a small scale, the most fun for me is unquestionably the drinking part.

I've started posting photos and commentary on the party here.

-Tom

No worries Mark. Like I said, if the East Bithlo shopping news gave me an award that would help me in my field, I'd have it up there as well. My wife is in the media business, until this summer the newspaper business, and we both get a kick out of how different publications handle these kind of things. Usually you'll notice that the winners of the "Best Of" type of awards are coincidence, coincidence, also advertisers in the special "Best Of" insert!

I'm glad TikiTom followed my lead and just hired someone for the event. I find that once you get beyond 4 or 6 people on the other side of the bar, you find yourself devoting your entire time to the bar and none to having a good time. And waking up the next morning and finding a clean bar downstairs is also a sweet dividend.

If you ever find yourself in the Brevard area, definitely give us a holler. I'd love for you to check out The Storm Shelter:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=41257&forum=20&21

Many thanks to Tiki Tom and Pat for a fabulous party Saturday, made all the more magical by the ocean breezes. Here are a few photos from the event.
The star bartender:

Tiki Tom:

Surfacabra and MeTiki Gal:

The entertainers:

Kathryn and RuinTheJimi:

Tom's son Tommy:

A windy TornadoTiki and TikiHardBop:

Double-fisted drinking:

Good eats:

~ Chris 'TornadoTiki' K.