Brunch at Psycho Suzi’s – Minneapolis

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Bar & Restaurant Reviews and tagged with Brunch, Minneapolis, Psycho Suzi's, Restaurants, Tiki, Tiki Bars, Travel April 30, 2013

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

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PKNY (Painkiller) – New York, NY

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Bar & Restaurant Reviews and tagged with New York, NYC, Painkiller, PKNY, Tiki, Tiki Bars, Travel April 15, 2013

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

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

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Other Tiki Topics and tagged with Maori, Modernism Week, Palm Springs, Pan Am, The Saguaro, Tiki, Travel, Vintage March 29, 2013

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…

The Tiki Chick

A California girl chronicling modern tiki culture

Tag Archives: Travel

Brunch at Psycho Suzi’s – Minneapolis

PKNY (Painkiller) – New York, NY

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

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