Category: Tiki Bar

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Original Home of Trader Vic’s – 2020 Update

The original home of Trader Vic’s

We swung by 65th and San Pablo Ave in Oakland on our way to Trader Vic’s the other day to go check out what’s happening. And like the past few years, there isn’t much. But starting in 1934, this was the home of the original Trader Vic’s location and where the Mai Tai was created in 1944.

Two palm trees used to flank the entrance, but sadly only one remains. The last time I visited in October 2017 one of the trees was still standing, though without fronds. It seems to have been cut down in the meantime. Someone is still maintaining the grounds here, though, as there aren’t tall weeds growing anymore and the graffiti is painted over.

The lot is still for sale. If you’ve got $500,000-750,000 burning a whole in your pocket you might still be able to buy it.

Historical photo of Trader Vic’s in Oakland
  • Trader Vic’s Original Location in Oakland
  • Palm Tree stump
  • Same lot in 2017
  • 2017 view including Palm Tree then standing
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To-Go Tiki from Forbidden Island

The Best Value for Bay Area To-Go Tiki is: Forbidden Island

Forbidden Island opened up on Thursday for take-out bites and cocktails, so we sampled this on Sunday. The portions were quite good and even after a 30 minute trip home everything stayed in good shape (waffle fries travel better than thin tiny ones). The coconut shrimp in particular were quite good at home.

And the cocktails. Delicious and plenty boozy.  Mrs. Mai Tai had the coconut-forward Monkey Pod, whereas I went with the Demerara Dry Float. That cocktail even came with a tiny bottle of rum to float on top!  Definitely two servings worth per cocktail.

I was real happy with the ordering experience with Forbidden Island. It’s done on the website, and you do have to get your order in before 2 pm on the day of. But other than that, it was a dream and everything came out perfect – nothing missing or wrong with the order. Go out there and give these guys your support.

And remember to leave a big tip.

 

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Book Review: Easy Tiki by Chloe Frechette

While this book doesn’t break any new ground, it’s a quite accessible resource for people getting started. The book covers in light detail the history of tiki, basics of rum, and then presents fairly straightforward and simple recipes. No strange or unusual ingredients, like you sometimes find in these recipe books. It’s kind of like if 2019’s Minimalistic Tiki and Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails books got together and had a baby.

Too often when things are simplified in these books it ends up creating inaccuracies or the topics are so simplified as to be not understandable. Thankfully, Easy Tiki avoids these problems very well.

There are some good recipes here, including the Mai Sha Roa Na (from False Idol) and a very intriguing Breakfast Mai Tai. There is the Quarantine Order, Staycation, Carrot Colada, and a bunch of other interesting recipes.

The book is available now from your favorite booksellers. I bought my in Apple Books and the presentation in the app is pretty good. There are some very nice photographs too.

While this won’t replace the deep coverage you find the Smuggler’s Cove, Sippin’ Safari, or Minimalist Tiki books, Easy Tiki is a good resource and potentially helpful option for tiki newbies.