Category Archives: Events

Hatchi Mix Series at Breadbar: Rum Amok with Caña Rum Bar

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Events and tagged with , , , , ,

The carb-crazy restaurant Breadbar in Century City has been hosting a bunch of pop-up foodie events over the past year, including the “Hatchi Mix” series where mixologists concoct a one-night-only selection of eight cocktails priced at $8 each.

Each of these nights features a theme/liquor/bar, and in June it was “Rum Amok” with Joel Black from Caña Rum Bar in downtown LA. I wanted to try something not normally offered there, so I ordered the Blood & White Sand, which was made with white rum, pineapple, Cherry Heering, Carpano Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth and The Bitter Truth lemon bitters.

Also not part of the regular menu were four “mixo” pizzas, again $8 each. The mushroom, asparagus, caramelized onion and blue cheese pie made me swoon. My buddy got the kale, fennel and ricotta cheese one and it was also delicious. They really need to serve these all the time!

I knew my dining companion would be intrigued by the Bellini Le Fleur: Luksusowa vodka, lavender peach purée, and lemon verbena oil, topped with Champagne. A unique, less sweet version of the brunchtime staple.

Breadbar’s desserts sounded too tempting to resist, and the chocolate bread pudding and affogato (vanilla ice cream topped with espresso) were both wonderfully indulgent.

I found it amusing that when I asked for the Mai Tai, the server felt she had to warn me that this wouldn’t be your popular orange/pineapple juice affair. I told her I definitely wanted the real deal. Black’s recipe featured Neisson Eleve Sous Bois, Appleton 12 year aged Jamaican rum, lime, orgeat and curaçao. After such a promising preview, I’m excited to go try these cocktails in their natural habitat.

Tiki Luau Night at the Egyptian Theatre: The Mighty Uke

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Tiki Luau Night at the Egyptian Theatre

Every summer for the past five years, the American Cinematheque has hosted a Tiki Luau Night at the Egyptian Theatre with an alfresco dinner followed by a tiki-themed film. (Tickets are available for each part separately, but I’d definitely recommend going to both.)

Fun fact courtesy of Wikipedia: The Egyptian Theatre is the older sister of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and was the site of the first Hollywood premiere in 1922.

Courtyard of the Egyptian Theatre

The food was dished out buffet-style in the theater, while the courtyard lent itself for seating, the luau performances, and some shopping opportunities from folks like Eric October.

Yum!

Our plates were piled with Thai noodle salad with peanut dressing, cabbage/mandarin orange salad, somewhat stale Hawaiian roll, a big hunk of sweet glazed pulled pork, very tasty chicken pineapple sausage, and a big white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. Did I mention we each also got two glasses of rum punch?

King Kukulele and the Friki Tikis

The evening’s house band, King Kukulele and the Friki Tikis were great, and the Polynesian Paradise Dancers accompanied a few tunes. We especially enjoyed hearing “Hi’ilawe”—made us feel like we were in The Enchanted Tiki Room.

The Mighty Uke poster

A series of short clips from some of the films they’ve shown in the past preceded the main event: a screening of “The Mighty Uke” followed by a Q&A with director Tony Coleman, who flew in from Canada for the occasion.

Jake Shimabukuro - Photo by Ryota Mori, 2007

To be honest, I initially wasn’t all that jazzed about watching a documentary about ukuleles. But all that changed as soon as the film started with a recording of a live concert of virtuoso musician Jake Shimabukuro. He’s ridiculous!

Ukulele Lady

“The Mighty Uke” follows the ukulele’s origins in Portugal and Hawaii to its popularity in America in the 1920s to its subsequent decline as the guitar became the stringed instrument of choice for many.

Marilyn Monroe playing ukulele in Some Like it Hot

Now that I think about it, I shouldn’t have been so quick to write off the subject matter, especially considering “Some Like it Hot” is one of my favorite movies, and the most memorable moment from seeing Paul McCartney at the Hollywood Bowl was when he brought out a ukulele to play “Something” as a tribute to George Harrison.

James Hill and Anne Davison - Photo from www.mightyukemovie.com

Anyway, along the way we were introduced to musicians like James Hill, who composes classical-style concerti featuring the ukulele, music educators who make the case for replacing elementary schools’ recorders with ukes, and lots of folks who just love to jam. (A bunch of cinema-goers even brought their ukes to do so after the movie!)

Uni & Her Ukelele - Photo from www.myspace.com/uniherukelele

Also making the much maligned instrument look cool was Uni & Her Ukelele, she struck me as an awesome mix of equal parts Lady Gaga and Rainbow Brite. I bet you that after watching “The Mighty Uke” you’ll be tempted to get a ukulele too. (Personally, I’d love this one.)

Everything but the Kitsch ‘N Sync at La Luz de Jesus

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Events and tagged with , , ,

Back in March, La Luz de Jesus gallery in the back of Soap Plant/Wacko in Silver Lake hosted the 13th annual “Everything but the Kitsch ‘N Sync” art show.

The exhibition is not really tied to a theme in particular, but there were some tiki-influenced artists thrown into the mix. Plus you could sit back and take in the art on this Ku bench that’s kind of obscured in my photo.

Surfer/artist/animator Miles Thompson had some beautiful submissions in the show, including “The Harmony in 3s” above. (And according to this interview in Liquid Salt, he’s also a fan of The Palace Grill in Santa Barbara, so he’s definitely ok in my book!) I’m looking forward to seeing his Munktiki mug collaboration at the Tiki-Ti’s 50th anniversary shindig.

Black velvet paintings are the preferred medium for the amazing Heather Watts. (I hope to own one of her works someday.) This piece, “The Decision,” demonstrates her ethereal style.

Hawaii-based artist Brad Parker merged the classic Universal movie monsters with tiki style in this series of four paintings collectively called “Monsters on Vacation.” Apparently looking for a change of scenery from The Black Lagoon here is “The Kreature from Kona.”

I just had to post another for good measure, and because I like them so much. “Dracula Drinks…A Mai Tai” is another example of the eye-popping colors and intense detail characteristic of his paintings and prints.