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

A "Real" Tiki Bar

This is where I spend most of my time...

This is a wide angle shot of the lounge area next to the bar. I've been to so many bars & restaurants that call themselves a "tiki bar" when they're actually the farthest thing from it. Just because you have some bamboo and serve tropical drinks (probably bad ones) does not make you a tiki bar. It's about atmosphere and escapism. Trader Vic's is the ONLY place in the state of Texas where you'll find it.

Craved Panels

These carved panels are some of my favorite pieces of artwork inside Trader Vic's. No two are exactly the same and they can be found throughout the restaurant. These are near the hostess stand at the entrance.

Tiki Heaven

Last weekend I worked at Trader Vic's taking Mother's Day portraits for families that were there to celebrate Mother's Day. Sunday afternoon was slow for a couple of hours, so I used that time to get a few interior shots.

The decor inside Dallas Trader Vic's is amazing. If you're interested in the history of this restaurant, I blogged about it here.

No shortage of interesting perspectives to photograph. I always manage to find something new. These tiki poles were carved by Oceanic Arts in the mid-60's and have been in place since the restaurant originally opened in 1967. The carpeting is not the original, but was reproduced to match the original when the restaurant reopened in 2007.

Frontiers Of Flight II - Braniff

I don't know much about Braniff Airways other than they operated a major hub out of Love Field in Dallas.

While visiting the Frontiers of Flight Museum right next door to Love Field, I couldn't help but notice a big display on the 2nd floor dedicated to Braniff. I enjoyed the progression of flight attendants clothes from mid century on up. My favorites were these lovely numbers. Why don't flight attendants dress like this anymore?

In a display case nearby there were some model planes and other artifacts from Braniff. I couldn't help but notice a Braniff tiki mug, since collecting tiki is one of my hobbies. I've seen this one before in an antique store but they wanted $40 for it which I think was overpriced.






This mug was given to passengers during their Hawaii route but I'm not sure when. My guess is late 60's to early 70's. This mugs design is known in the collectors world as "Leilani" and was manufactured by a company called Orchids Of Hawaii.

Dallas Trader Vic's

My favorite place in Dallas...I'll spare you the company history. Suffice to say that Trader Vic's was a staple in the era of mid 20th century tiki/Polynesian pop culture. Tiki heaven for sure.

The Dallas location of Trader Vic's originally opened in 1967 at the Dallas Hilton. Polynesian style restaurants were just at the height of their popularity...as well as the strong rum concoctions served in crazy looking mugs. At this time these places were a common sight in every major US city. Dallas was also home to Ports O' Call on the 37th floor of the Dallas Sheraton and Dobbs House Luau at Love Field.

The 70's brought a period of tiki-devolution, and these once frequented establishments were now considered tacky and out of date. Business slowed, service suffered, and people just forgot about them. Dobbs House Luau closed in 1974 and Ports O' Call closed in 1978. Trader Vic's however, lingered on for quite a number of years. Finally, in 1989, the Dallas Hilton was sold...to the Maharishi! They had plans to turn the Hilton into a transcendental meditation center and had absolutely no interest in running a bar/restaurant. So, Trader Vic's was essentially mothballed and the space was occasionally rented out for private parties. The amazing thing was the interior, complete with tiki decor from the classic tiki period, remained intact. Beautiful carved poles by Oceanic Arts still brought the sense of escapism to a long gone era, not to mention the moai carved by famed carver Barney West that still stood guard out front for many years after the restaurant officially closed down.

Flash forward to 2005. The hotel, now called the Sante Fe, was sold to a couple of investors who had plans to rebuild, reshape and revitalize that old building into something new and trendy. They must have been amazed when they pried opened the doors to Trader Vic's and found a treasure trove of tiki artifacts that could be a centerpiece of a tiki museum (if there was such a thing). Plans soon began to breathe new life into the old space.

While the hotel was being remodeled into what is now the Palomar, Trader Vic's went through some renovations. First, anything that was still usable and up to current building codes was kept in place...right down to the lamps on the ceiling that had a few holes but otherwise were still usable. The sunken dining room area was brought back up to ground level, and the old carpeting was reproduced with the exact pattern that it had before. The bar was extended, the windows hidden, and paradise was reborn.






I was fortunate enough to attend a "mock service" at the restaurant before they officially opened and was in awe...here was a living time capsule of a slice of American pop culture from the 50's-60's. Never before had a classic tiki establishment reopened in the same location with the same decor. It was simply amazing. The old Barney West moai that stood out front had eroded to the point of unusablity, but I was led down to a secret room (in the parking garage) where he was temporarily housed so I could see him one last time.

Dallas Trader Vic's officially RE-opened on March 1st, 2007. It remains the ONLY real tiki establishment in the state. You're likely to get an experience there you won't get anywhere else. The food is exceptional, the drinks are fun and well made...no free pouring and always a top notch presentation. But, the MAIN reason I go to Trader Vics is the atmosphere. It's all about escapism, and Trader Vic's is the ultimate escape. Trader Vic's is located at the Hotel Palomar at Central Expressway and Mockingbird Lane in Dallas.

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.

Mystery of the Voodoo Grog

I collect tiki mugs. It's one of my passions.

Primarily, I collect vintage mugs and glassware from restaurants whose heyday has long passed. As with anything vintage, the rarer it is, the more valuable. So, I have my list of "holy grails" that I would practically kill for. Some are so rare that they go for $500-$1000 on Ebay.

One mug in particular is actually a glass known as the Voodoo Grog" tumbler. The name comes from the drink of the same name that used to be a staple on the Trader Vic's drink menu. It's an absolutely be-yoo-tee-ful piece of artwork if you ask me. Average price on Ebay $125-$175 depending on it's condition.

Long story short, I found 12 of these beauties in an antique store for $108.00! The find of a lifetime, I'm sure. I'll probably never do this good again in my mug quest.


That happened about 18 months ago, and I was in desperate need of some photography equipment, so I sold 6 of them. All went within the price range mentioned above.

Then I got to thinking, was the Voodoo Grog drink any good? I asked my friend Lars who was the bar manager at my local Trader Vic's. He wasn't sure what was in it, but he said he'd look it up and make it for me next time I came in. The next week I show up, Voodoo Grog glass in hand, and Lars made me the drink. WOW! This was one of the best and most unusual drinks I've ever had. A strong but complex rum drink. AND to top it off I'm drinking it out of an ACTUAL Voodoo Grog glass. I made sure to order one or two of these every time I visited Trader Vic's. Even some of my tiki aficionado friends who have had the "best of the best" remarked that this drink was exceptional. Below is the Voodoo Grog drink in the Voodoo Grog glass made by my good friend Lars Hildebrant:


One of the key ingredients is St. James Martinique rum. Unfortunately, Lars had a difficult time keeping it in stock. Seems the supplier quit stocking it. I drank my Voodoo Grogs every time I was in Trader Vic's until the St. James was cleaned out. Flash forward about a year. Lars has returned to his homeland (Germany) and I never got the recipe from him. Then I heard from a friend who was going to visit the Chicago Trader Vic's for the first time. He asks, "What was the name of that drink Lars made us?" The good folks in Chicago were able to finagle the drink for him, but apparently was not exactly the one Lars made for us. I start digging through old emails trying to find Lars' email address. I locate one but have no idea if it's even good anymore. I send an email and within hours hear back from Mr. Lars. And he remembers the recipe for the Voodoo Grog:

1 - egg white
1 oz. passion fruit syrup (orig. recipe calls for 1/2 oz.)
2 tsp. honey
2 oz. St James Martinique Royal Amber rum
dash of bitters
juice of one fresh lime
mix well!

Lars was able to froth the egg whites up to cappuccino status. I haven't mastered that with my cheap blender.

One night at Trader Vic's while Lars was admiring my Voodoo Grog glass, he mentioned that Trader Vic's really should reproduce these as it's such a beautiful glass. I agreed wholeheartedly, and that was the end of it. Well, Tiki Farm did just that, except they're porcelain, not glass. I also noticed they don't have nearly the detail of the original. Still not bad though. I'm going to bring these to Trader Vic's this weekend and see if the bartender will make me a Voodoo Grog...we'll have to figure out a substitute for the St. James though.



BTW product photography is NOT one of my strengths.