The Tiki Chick

Who Wears Short (Tiki) Shorts?

The Tiki Chick — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:38:39 +0000

Does some bigwig out there at Old Navy subscribe to this blog? Last summer I wrote about the store’s tiki wear and I said the tropical cocktail pajama pants would have been better if they’d had tiki mugs on them, and lo and behold…

I found these women’s tiki lounge shorts ($9) online with coconut cups, Ku and Lono tiki mugs, and a couple mugs that resemble the ones from Mark Thomas Outrigger in Monterey, CA. The drinks are even garnished! I purchased a pair of these and am perfectly pleased with them. The inseam is only 3” so they are pretty short, but they’re just for wearing around the house anyway. (There’s also a pineapple print.)

No need for dudes to feel left out, though. Old Navy has you covered too with these tiki boxers ($8.50). (Also available in blue hibiscus and hula girl prints.) Pretty sure these were the same ones they offered last year.

I also discovered this women’s Hawaii tee ($16.94) — plus-size only apparently — with a tiki that looks like a rip-off of a Mai Tiki. (R.I.P. Wayne Coombs.) Old Navy also stocks men’s Hawaiian shirts, but this year’s prints are not that special. Take note of that, anonymous and probably imaginary Gap Inc. employee reading this post!

Brad Parker “Tiki Shark” Art – Tales from the Tiki Lounge

The Tiki Chick — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:49:49 +0000

The retro-style paintings of Shag may have gotten me into tiki in the first place, but there are many talented tiki artists I haven’t talked about nearly as much. Another one of my favorites is Brad Parker, aka Tiki Shark, who had a show called “Tales from the Tiki Lounge” at La Luz de Jesus gallery last summer. (I know I’m quite late to the party with this post.)

I first found his work a few years ago on Tiki Central and I was an instant fan of his beautiful, mystical and whimsical style. I also love how he brings in other pop-culture influences like comic books, noir and the Universal movie monsters. (Before moving to the Big Island he had worked for DC and Marvel Comics and also in Hollywood production design.)

He’s had a longstanding gig designing beach towels for Body Glove — I have a couple and they’re awesome — and for this show he handpainted a 1980s surfboard he’d specially picked out from the “vaults” of the surf company’s headquarters in Redondo Beach.

“Tales from the Tiki Lounge No. 10: Happy Hulaween” is a pulp-fiction-style revisiting of the “Monsters on Vacation” series I mentioned from the 13th annual Everything But the Kitsch’n Sync show a few years ago at La Luz de Jesus.

Brad continued that theme with “The Invisible Man Goes Surfing,” who’s decked out in Body Glove gear, of course. Notice how every surfer is supposed to wear a lucky tiki pendant and this guy is no exception to that rule.

His designs have been adapted to other items like these limited edition skate decks and tiki mugs, too. Tiki Farm has produced several of the latter, including Diga Diga Doo and Lil’ Dig (based on one of his paintings), the bestselling Hawaii 50th anniversary statehood mug and the lovely Makalani Bowl (a personal favorite). Coming up in October is the release of three sea creature tiki mugs he designed for the 60th anniversary of Body Glove.

Thor Heyerdahl’s Peru-to-Polynesia voyage was a cakewalk compared to the shark-saturated waters in “Kon Tiki Dream.” It’s impressive how Brad depicts the static solidity of the wood tiki carving while simultaneously evoking so much emotion through its scared smile.

Meanwhile, “Hawaiian Eye” pays tribute to the 1960s television show of the same name, which was based on the escapades of a private detective agency in Honolulu. (The Book of Tiki 10th anniversary art show at M Modern in Palm Springs also featured a painting inspired by that series.)

You can see all the art from this exhibition on the web site for La Luz de Jesus gallery, and if you’re lucky enough to be on the Big Island you can find his other original paintings at the Wyland Kona Oceanfront Gallery. (His postcards and calendars have been popping up in souvenir shops on the Islands, too.) Brad Parker also keeps this Tiki Central thread updated with his latest projects.

Brunch at Psycho Suzi’s – Minneapolis

The Tiki Chick — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:22:22 +0000

While I love that some tiki bars (like the Tiki-Ti in LA and Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale) are like time capsules, staying pretty much the same for decades on end, I’m also impressed by the (relative) newcomers that are continually evolving and upping their game. Psycho Suzi’s in Minneapolis definitely falls in that category.

As I outlined in a previous post, a few years ago Psycho Suzi’s outgrew its original location and moved into this huge space with a riverfront patio for when the Midwestern winters let up. Last month they expanded their alfresco square-footage with a balcony patio. However, it’s part of the Shangri-La Cocktail Lounge upstairs, so it’s only accessible on Fridays and Saturdays from 5 p.m. on.

Another new addition I noticed since our last trip was this photo booth decked out like a tiki hut. The opening that spits out the photos is cleverly framed by the mouth of a tiki mask with red glowing eyes.

We paid a visit to Psycho Suzi’s this past weekend, but we chose to sit inside to soak up the atmosphere instead of the sunshine. (It’s a luxury we can afford thanks to living in Southern California.)

We were dining during brunch hours (Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.) so there were omelets, waffles, skillets and breakfast pizzas in addition to the regular menu, plus a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar ($7.95).

I’m a fan of Psycho Suzi’s comfort food with a twist, and brunch keeps that theme going with dishes like The Mercury Breakfast Pizza ($8.95), a thin-crust pie with a quiche-like layer of eggs, cheddar and mozzarella cheese, and hollandaise sauce, topped with Canadian bacon and caramelized onions. It’s highlighted as one of their signature menu items and I can vouch for its goodness.

Even better was the Biscayne Biscuits ($9.95), the unholy (but amazing) offspring of eggs Benedict and biscuits and gravy. Two biscuits were topped with a sausage patty and poached egg, then covered with creamy housemade sausage gravy. My dining companion generously shared but next time I’ll be sure to get my own plate.

My brother opted for the Chocolate Chip Waffle ($5.95) topped with shavings of Ghirardelli chocolate. He’s a big guy with an appetite to match so I initially thought this might not be enough, but he ended up leaving a few bites behind so it must have been satisfying.

You have to admire a tiki bar where you can have your fill of rum one night, then come back the next morning for brunch to cure your hangover!

Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge
1900 Marshall St. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418
612-788-9069

Tiki on “American Dad” Part Four – Mo’ Moai

The Tiki Chick — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:20:25 +0000

Cartoon show creator Seth MacFarlane loves to have his animated shows spoof iconic film franchises. “Family Guy” famously parodied “Star Wars,” “Cleveland Show” took on “Die Hard,” and “American Dad” poked fun at James Bond.

On “American Dad,” the lead character Stan Smith is already a CIA agent, so for these episodes the rest of his family takes on spy-inspired roles. His wife Francine becomes femme fatale Sexpun T’Come while Roger the alien is even more evil than usual as supervillain Tearjerker.

The first such installment was “Tearjerker,” season 3 episode 10, which aired in 2008. Now five years later the follow-up “For Black Eyes Only” (season 8 episode 13) ran on March 10, 2013.

In this episode, Agent Stan Smith is pitted against a new nemesis named Black Villain (Principal Lewis on the show). He goes to seek help from former enemy Tearjerker, who is locked up in a maximum security prison on…Easter Island!

Then us viewers are treated to a close-up of these Moai, quite nicely rendered in cartoon form. It’s just more evidence that there must be somebody that works on this show that is into tiki.

If you want to see the scene for yourself, you can watch the whole episode for free on Hulu. (No registration required.)

PKNY (Painkiller) – New York, NY

The Tiki Chick — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 04:19:44 +0000

The craft cocktail craze of the last several years has spawned a slew of new tiki bars seeking to carry on the traditions of mixology masters like Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic. Last summer we visited a few newcomers in New York, including PKNY and the now-shuttered Lani Kai.

Opened in May 2010, PKNY is a project from Giuseppe Gonzalez and Richard Boccato of Dutch Kills bar in Queens. It was originally named Painkiller but they were soon faced with a lawsuit from Pusser’s Rum, who trademarked the cocktail of the same name (which they did not even invent).

There’s no official sign, so look out for the blue door declaring “Tiki Bar” in bamboo letters. Then you’ll descend a few steps into the bar area. Beyond that, there are leopard-print booths (seating two, four or more) lining both sides of the long, narrow space. (It’s normally quite dark so you wouldn’t take as much notice of the cheap tiki masks on the bamboo-covered walls.)

The decor merges tiki’s romanticized vision of the South Seas with the owners’ nostalgia for the grit of New York’s Lower East Side in the 1970s — hence you have this graffiti art take on the sailors and Polynesian beauties from the cover of the menus at Trader Vic’s. My boyfriend got a kick out of the signed headshot (boobshot?) of porn star Marilyn Chambers on the wall. Meanwhile, the tiki tunes ranged from exotica (Les Baxter) to surf (The Ventures) to Andy Williams “House of Bamboo.” Good stuff.

I was admittedly overwhelmed trying to socialize while browsing the menu of 100-plus cocktails, including swizzles, frozen drinks and several variations each of the Mai Tai, Planter’s Punch, Zombie and more. (The menu is now on their web site so you can study up beforehand.) There are original creations as well as classic tiki cocktails based on the recipes uncovered by Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, who heartily endorsed PKNY’s versions. Housemade coconut cream helps elevate poolside libations like the Lava Flow ($16), a strawberry banana pina colada our server said was a staff favorite. We also sampled the signature “PK” ($12) aka Painkiller ($14 with Pusser’s) made with Virgin Islands rum, coconut cream, fresh pineapple and orange juices, and nutmeg. It was good, of course, but it was gone in a couple sips because of the copious amount of crushed ice.

For round two I went for one of the Scorpion Bowls (available in three sizes: for one, two or four). The Pahoehoe ($16) was a tart, puckerface-inducing concoction of silver rum, passion fruit, lime and housemade grenadine.

It was recently rumored that PKNY may move in July to the East Village with a new name and perhaps a food menu, so now’s your chance to check out its current incarnation. Every night there’s the Pau Hana happy hour from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. with half a dozen $9 drinks and a $39 Trader Vic’s 1946 Scorpion Bowl. And on Tuesdays, DJs Jack Fetterman and Gina of the Jungle present “Primativa in Hi-Fi.”

PKNY
49 Essex St.
New York, NY 10002

Modernism Week – Retro-a-Rama at M Modern

The Tiki Chick — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:45:47 +0000

In conjunction with Palm Springs Modernism Week, M Modern Gallery presents a group art exhibition. Last year’s “The Contemporary Idol” had a tiki theme, while this year’s “Retro-a-rama” skewed more mid-century modern.

Some submissions, like “Episode 9″ by Glenn Barr (above) and “One Eleven” by Chris Reccardi (first image), went for a futuristic style that I was digging. Other featured artists for this show included Tim Biskup, Lynne Naylor, Bosko and, my personal favorite, Shag.

I was also pleased to find two paper sculptures from Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily, who create awesome art and collectibles for Disney (recently the 50th anniversary of the Enchanted Tiki Room). It’s fitting that they would find inspiration in Tomorrowland and its Utopian vision of the future from a mid-century perspective. I loved the sweeping lines in “Goodyear ’67″ — named after the company that sponsored the PeopleMover.

It took me a second to realize the setting for Shag’s painting “The Refill” was the Kaufmann House, a Palm Springs local landmark designed by Neutra we’d seen last year on the Modernism Week architecture bus tour.

The M Modern owners also operate Shag: The Store and have worked with Josh Agle for years, so they often have rare items you won’t find too many other places, like “Shag Map of the World.”

“Drawn by memory from the artist Shag, based upon his travels of Planet Earth,” it amusingly matches signature cocktails to their cities and countries…Mai Tai to the Bay Area (for Trader Vic’s), Blue Hawaiian for Hawaii and so on. Shag’s web site has a larger, detailed version.

It was originally made for the “Shag: Outbound with the In-Crowd” show last November at the Outré Galleries in Australia. The remaining framed prints are only available Down Under, but M Modern has an edition of 10 giclées on stretched canvas priced at $4,000 each. (If only I could stretch my pocketbook that far.)

Well, that’s a wrap for our “Palm Springs Weekend” — hopefully we’ll be able to come back next year for some more fun in the sun and mid-century modern merriment.

Palm Springs Modernism Week – “Welcome Aboard – The Pan Am Experience”

The Tiki Chick — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:45:18 +0000

The tour of the Royal Hawaiian Estates was the main draw for me for this year’s Palm Springs Modernism Week, but there were a few other interesting things we were able to check out during our quick trip.

I was glad there was an event that gave us an excuse to see the rainbow spectacle that is The Saguaro. One of the ballrooms at the hotel was hosting an exhibition entitled “Welcome Aboard –– The Pan Am Experience.”

These days it’s hard to imagine air travel as anything but a hassle, but Pan American World Airways aspired to make it exciting and glamorous, as emphasized by this photo of Marilyn Monroe climbing aboard one of their planes.

Pan American Airways started in 1927 as an airmail service from Key West to Cuba and was America’s largest international airline, reaching its zenith in the Jet Age of the 1950s and ‘60s. According to the exhibit’s information: “Pan Am introduced the Boeing 747 creating the favorite airline of the rich and famous and was renowned for its stylish stewardesses, first-class amenities, including the first sleeper seats, fine dining and Clipper cocktails.”

The airline ceased operations in 1991 when I was still pretty young, so I don’t remember any personal experiences with it. Aside from the short-lived TV show in 2012, I’m probably most familiar with Pan Am from those blue and white bags with the iconic logo. They’re still so covetable that reproductions of those retro styles are still sold today.

The exhibit was all from the personal collection of actor Phillip P. Keene (“The Closer,” “Major Crimes,”) who has been amassing Pan Am memorabilia for 20 years. A wide variety of items were on display, including travel posters, uniforms, wing pins, toys, books (even a cookbook) and ephemera like matchbooks.

I was particularly amused by these lighters shaped like the Pan Am Building. This New York skyscraper opened in 1963 and was the headquarters for the airline. It was sold in 1981 and is now known as the MetLife Building.

We spent quite a bit of time browsing through the binder full of vintage travel brochures. Some had wonderful, over-the-top poetic descriptions like: “From the mists of Time, from the illimitable blue vastness of the Pacific, came the Polynesians. Searching for new homes eastward beyond the wide ocean, guiding their frail craft by the glittering pinpricks in the heavens, they came at last to Hawaii.”

I loved the juxtaposition here of the tattooed Maori native having his picture taken by the buttoned-up tourists, who look like Don and Betty Draper on vacation in New Zealand. Another brochure tempted travelers with this text: “A thrilling excursion into the primitive past, the ancient ceremonies of the Maoris, their little villages with beautifully carved meeting houses, are easily within reach through the magic of the Flying Clipper.”

Meanwhile, this Bermuda brochure (false advertising, much?) looked like something we would have seen at the “Mid-Century Mermaids: A History” presentation by Vintage Roadside at least year’s Modernism Week.

The collector himself was on hand during our visit. He was guiding around a few former Pan Am flight attendants that I believe were Scandinavian. It must have been an interesting sort of trip down memory lane for them…

Tiki on TV: Moai Eye Spy

The Tiki Chick — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:19:20 +0000

While channelsurfing last night I was surprised to discover not one but two tikis on TV. The first was on a re-run of “The Colbert Report” from February 27. During his monologue, Stephen Colbert brought up a photo of a Moai to poke fun at John Kerry’s rather elongated face:

“Folks, if you watch the news then you know that earlier this month John Kerry was sworn in as Secretary of State….And this past Sunday he embarked on a 10-day, 9-nation marathon that I was surprised to see did not include his homeland of Easter Island.”

An hour or so later I spotted another Moai, this time in a commercial for granola bars, of all things. A girl is sitting on the dock (eating a granola bar) then she jumps in the lake and imagines a wild adventure in which she swims with killer whales (I hadn’t really been paying attention at this point and assumed this was an ad for Sea World). Then she encounters battling pirate ships and finally washes ashore on a beach with this giant Moai nearby. Who knew granola bars could be so magical?

Saying Goodbye to Bahooka

The Tiki Chick — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:10:10 +0000

It’s always a bummer when tiki bars shut down, but hearing last month that Bahooka would be closing was a particularly tough blow (as you might have been able to tell from all my tweets on the subject).

It was such a unique place with its mazelike corridors and intimate booths surrounded by fish tanks. (See my previous review for more photos of their nautical style.)

The owners said they wanted to sell due to an illness in the family and wanting to retire. Word on the street is the space is going to be turned into a new restaurant, which would be better than a parking lot as was also rumored. The fish tanks are supposed to stay but the tiki stuff is going. The Bahooka owners are also keeping the rights to the name with the intent to start selling their signature salad dressing. (UPDATE: The building’s fate is apparently in limbo again…)

Bahooka had long been a special occasion spot for local families, and they turned out in full force to say farewell. The response was so great that the restaurant stopped taking reservations a few days after announcing the closing. I snagged one for Saturday, March 9th, the night before they were supposed to officially close. (Although they ended up deciding not to re-open the next day.)

These fellows donned their best “Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas” attire to pay tribute to Bahooka’s cameo in the movie. Probably not a coincidence that they were standing next to the framed film stills of Johnny Depp.

As the kitchen was running through the last of the food supplies, they were serving a limited menu of sandwiches, teriyaki chicken, fried shrimp and ribs. (Glad I got my fill of crab puffs and stuffed shrimp on a previous visit.) But more importantly, all their cocktails were still available so we shared a couple of Honey Bowls.

They’ve been selling off bits and pieces of the decor for the past couple weeks, but I’ve heard the big stuff will be sold in a yard sale on March 17th. The details are supposed to be announced on Bahooka’s Facebook page. (UPDATE: Andrew Meieran purchased many of the iconic items for his upcoming relaunch of Clifton’s Cafeteria. Los Angeles magazine has more on the story.)

By the entrance they had a table where they were selling those glowing tikis in the photo above ($75 & $100), wine glasses ($2), drinking goblets ($5) and this 46-year-old paiting ($100), which Mr. Baseball saw somebody later purchase.

Behind them was a pile of plastic parrots waiting to be adopted into new homes for $20 each.

Some tiki artists were inspired to create commemorative items for Bahooka’s closing, like these tiki pendants ($40) made by Tiki Al. “Goodbye Bahooka – 2013″ was written on the back.

Also on offer were postcards featuring Eric October‘s drawing “Last Bowl at Bahooka.” I love how it captures so many iconic things about Bahooka, including tikis based on ones in the restaurant, bucket lamps, parrots, a chain running through the table, and of course Ruffus noshing on a carrot.

I couldn’t resist giving a goodbye kiss to that famous fishy face. Here’s hoping our currents cross again someday…

Modernism Week Tour of Royal Hawaiian Estates – Palm Springs

The Tiki Chick — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 21:44:33 +0000

We had a great time last year at Palm Springs Modernism Week, but I was even more compelled to come back this year when I found out there would be a tour of Royal Hawaiian Estates, a 1960s condominium community that merged mid-century modern architecture with a Polynesian theme. It’s mentioned in Sven Kirsten’s book Tiki Modern, but I really took notice of it after seeing Bosko’s painting at The Book of Tiki 10th anniversary art show.

Borrowing its name from the famous Honolulu hotel, Royal Hawaiian Estates was initially intended as a Jewish retirement community. It was designed by the architectural firm of Richard Harrison and Donald Wexler (the latter made a special guest appearance the day of the tour). The five-acre complex is made up of 12 buildings, divided into 40 units, surrounding two pools where Moai bask in the desert sunshine.

After checking in at the front, we were given a map with self-guided tour information that highlighted unique architectural elements like the “tiki apex,” the orange flourish at the end of the center beam, and the parallel lines that flank it. These were once all over the property, but as they deteriorated in the 1990s they were removed rather than replaced.

In 2010, the Royal Hawaiian Estates HOA used grants from the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation to commission a new tiki apex prototype from o2 Architecture, who designed one with low-maintenance sheet metal instead of wood. Several of these have already been put in place, and our tour fees raised enough funds to restore the remaining 30 that are missing.

Another signature are the “Flying 7s,” these triangular buttresses supporting the patio roofs. They’re said to have been inspired by the lateral supports on an outrigger canoe.

Several homeowners graciously opened their doors to us so we could also appreciate the interior designs, with their vaulted ceilings, clerestory windows, exposed beams and open layouts.

Some units have been remodeled over the years, but others like this one here still had many original 1960 features, like terrazo floors and this shoji screen divider between the kitchen and living room.

It was also interesting to see how each owner put their own personal stamp on their home, whether it was through collections of vintage barware, Heywood-Wakefield furniture or tiki mugs. (Not surprising as liking tiki often goes along with having an interest in things mid-century.)

One of the units was literally a time capsule. Even though new owners had recently purchased it, they had kept nearly all the original furnishings, including the lush shag carpet, vinyl couches and vintage artwork.

We were really blown away by all the different outrageously patterned wallpapers, which were still in surprisingly good condition. My favorite was the green bamboo in the guest bedroom — it’s a difficult thing to pull off, but I think they did.

Admiration for Royal Hawaiian Estates was apparent in many of the owners we talked to, particularly this other couple who had on their wall an enlarged version of the original marketing brochure from 1961 (as seen in Tiki Modern.)

I took many more photos than I could include here, so head over to Flickr if you’d like to see more. To really get in the mid-century mood, listen to the playlists on the Royal Hawaiian Estates web site, inspired by the music that used to be played at the pool area 24 hours a day.