A Living Piece of Poly-Pop History

You can almost tell just by looking at the Mai Kai sign what you're in for when you walk through the front door.

Talk about escapism....why is it that most restaurants (including my local Trader Vic's) are too busy trying to be all things to all people rather than being what they are? There's no TV's blaring sports in the Mai Kai. The music you hear is appropriate to the venue....classic Hawaiian and Exotica. Would you walk into a place like this and expect to find beer swizzling sports fans yelling at the TV? Certainly not here. You can get that just about anywhere so why spoil the experience?

Hear that Dallas Trader Vic's??

Tiki in the Mai Kai Garden

Another from the Mai Kai garden. Also a 3 second exposure. I wrapped my gorilla pod around the bridge railing to make the shot.

No info on this carving, but it's definitely old.

Exotica

This beautiful woman is Julie, my good friend, fellow tiki enthusiast and also a photographer.. This was taken when it was still light out in the Mai Kai garden and we wanted to get a shot with the PNG tiki in the background.

This shot sort of reminds me of an old Exotica album cover.

Mai Kai Garden

I was in Ft. Lauderdale recently attending The Hukilau and had the chance to visit the amazing Mai Kai. Behind the restaurant there is a beautiful exotic garden you can wonder through with new surprises at every turn. If you're interested in Polynesian Pop era of the 20th century, the Mai Kai is a living time capsule of Polynesian dining at it's best. The garden is filled with carved tikis produced over 50 years ago. I love walking through the garden after a couple of Rum Juleps.

Getting a good picture is easy is you have a tripod and can make exposures that are a few seconds long, but all I had was my gorilla pod. For the picture above I strapped it onto the railing where I was sitting and pointed it toward the waterfall near the entrance to the garden. This was a 3 second exposure at f5.6, ISO 250

Mai Kai

The Mai Kai is a fabulous Polynesian restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. They opened in 1956 and despite changes of ownership and several hurricanes, they're still around.

In the 50's, Polynesian restaurants were all the rage. Places like Trader Vic's, Don the Beachcomber and the Kon Tiki chain were some of the biggest. Most of the old Trader Vic's and all of the Kon Tiki's are now gone, but the Mai Kai remains as a stunning example of Polynesian pop culture from the 50's.

In an age where getting a good drink is as hard as winning the lottery, the Mai Kai bar staff make drinks that pay a lot of attention to detail. They use mostly top shelf liquor, AND they don't skimp on the presentation. A good cocktail should always have a good presentation. Their drink recipes have changed little in the past 53 years.

Then there's the Polynesian floor shows, complete with hula dancers, fire jugglers and a full Hawaiian band. Where else can you find a dinner show like that? The decor is like tiki heaven..carvings from notable tiki carvers like Barney West, not to mention original velvet paintings by Edward Leeteg. Sit anywhere in the Mai Kai and look up...any direction you look is a photo waiting to be taken.

I go to the Mai Kai once per year when I attend The Hukilau. This past year I decided to try to get some really good pictures. The problem was the Mai Kai was beyond packed and I had a little mini-tripod that could barely hold my D80. To get a good picture at the Mai Kai requires a fairly long shutter speed because the restaurant is dimly lit. The gardens behind the restaurant are a great place to see some vinatge tiki carvings, but again the lighting is the main issue. I did mange to get a few really good shots. The one above was taken at 1.3 sec at f5.6, 18mm and the ISO was up to 500. You cant tell from this picture, but theres a lot of grain in the photo. Even at ISO 500, the D80 can't handle these low light situations and this is the biggest reason why I hate this camera (more about that another time). This would have been an absolutely beautiful picture had it not been for the grain. I might have even sold a few of these.

This one was taken inside where its even darker:




6 sec. exposure at F8, ISO at 500 again, same lens set at 31mm. This is what I mean by any direction you look is a photo. This was taken from my table looking up to my left.

Here's another view from my table looking up straight ahead. 6 sec. exposure at F8, ISO 500.



Another outdoor shot, 1.3 sec at f5.6, 55mm focal length this time, ISO 500:



The Hukilau is taking place again this June. I'm considering not bringing my camera this time because it was such a pain to carry around. On the other hand, I would love to get more pics at the Mai Kai. They came very close to closing last year so who knows how much longer they're going to be around.