Tiki, Tropical & Polynesian Pop Culture
Tiki Chick 85th Street & Amsterdam New York NY www.tikichick.com On Manhattan’s Upper West Side is a little slice of the Tropics with a twist of Tiki. This place is popular, which means it will be busy, even on a Sunday afternoon around 2pm when we were there. No worries, it is a very friendly […]
Tiki Triangle Book —> CLICK HERE TO ORDER <— From the classic Mai Tai to the infamous Zombie, in this book you will find over 100 recipes including classic tiki cocktails, modern mixology techniques, and easy to prepare Asian and Polynesian foods. You will also discover details on how to recreate these classic drinks, complete […]
The Upstairs Bar This is a really cool place of interest. This was a speakeasy during Prohibition in the late 1920s a Philly gangster named Max “Boo Boo” Hoff put up a front called the Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company. It is said that they ran more liquor than Al Capone. 80 years later after the […]
Mother of Pearl In a really nice mellow part of the East Village, Mother of Pearl is a Tiki place on the corner which is hard to miss. It is a bit small on the inside with less than 9 tables, but they do have a full bar with tiki bar stools if there is […]
Garden Falls I’ve been shooting (photographing and filming) weddings for over 15 years at this point. I’ve literally done over a thousand. Never once have I been to Garden Falls. If I had known what it was, I probably would have come here sooner at my own leisure to enjoy it. This place is more […]
Exotica Moderne Tiki Lovers Alert! There is a new magazine out and its called Exotica Moderne. This is a modern take on vintage Polynesian Pop with many modern features and insights of how the movement is alive and well. In the first few pages they set the mood with music that is keeping the scene […]
The Polynesian Tiki Bar at the Pod Hotel It might not be easy to find, but about 4 Flight upstairs of the Pod Hotel in Times Square in Manhattan, there is a rooftop oasis called The Polynesian Tiki Bar. It is a modern interpretation of Polynesian pop culture complete with artwork, palm trees, appetizers, pupu […]
Jade Island Built in 1972, Jade Island appeared on No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain about 10 years ago (Season 5; Episode 19 NY Outer Boroughs). I don’t ever recall seeing the episode, but being an avid Tony Bourdain fan so I am surprised I missed it. What I almost missed what finding this place as […]
Mai-Kai Restaurant North Federal Highway – Fort Lauderdale, Florida For anyone that is a fan of Tiki, Polynesian Pop or even anything retro. This is a must visit over and under anything I am about to state here. If you are in the area, even for one night, you must visit. If you have the […]
Mojitos I love this place. It might not be true authentic tiki but it for sure is a kitschy place with a Caribbean feel overlooking the seaport. I know it is kind of redundant because we are in the Caribbean Island of Aruba, but this gives a modern feel. What was truly refreshing about this […]
Lun Wah www.thelunwahrestaurant.com 587 Raritan Road Roselle NJ 07203 / Phone: 908-245-0656 One of the very last of the original authentic Tiki relics from the Polynesian Pop culture phenomenon from the early 1970s. While it did change ownership in 2013, this is about as tiki as it gets in New Jersey. When I first saw the […]
Gilligan’s Island A 3-hour cruise turned out to be 3 short seasons of this Mid 1960s American television broadcast a sitcom. Of course there was Gilligan, the Skipper, the millionaire and his wife, a movie star, the professors and Mary Ann. This had tiki appeal because it was situated on a tropical island and you can often see the […]