Remember that movie Escape From New York?
Once you got in, it was hard to get out. But in reality, it’s quite the opposite. If you want to drive into Manhattan from New Jersey you have only three options: Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel or the George Washington Bridge. If you want to take a train in, you got two ways in, NJ Transit or you can take the PATH train.
So, if you want to tiki and you live in New Jersey, what do you do? You don’t escape to New York, you build a tiki bar in your garage and escape there! This is exactly what Shanna and Johnny did and here’s their story…
What is the tiki scene like where you live?
Johnny & Shanna- We often feel like the Tri-State area and NYC tiki bars are cursed. As in all places, things come and things go - plenty of decent cocktail bars in Brooklyn where one can get a nice tiki drink, but until recent years there hasn’t been a real classic tiki bar like you’d find on the West Coast. The Polynesian was great then COVID took it out. Mother of Pearl? Gone. You can trace this trend all the way back to the Hawaii Kai in Times Square if you want to go back that far. Thankfully we have been blessed with Sunken Harbor and now Paradise Lost (thank the tiki gods), but in Matawan – the State of New Jersey? Nada. It’s kind of crazy to think that somehow here at the Jersey Shore in the midst of a massive tiki revival that we’d have so little, but here we are. Oh…we’ve thought about it – we have – but with the history of tiki bars in the Northeast and the capitol it would take to do it the right way, it’s not really feasible to even consider what you’re thinking. But it’s nice to dream, right?
What brought you into the tiki lifestyle and how long has it been part of your life?
Johnny & Shanna- We both really started in earnest after going to Viva Las Vegas and the smoke-filled legend of Frankie’s Tiki Room around 2015. After that we were always sure to hit up any tiki bars we could find when traveling around the country, and eventually started to book trips with the sole intent of visiting those hard to reach bars or locations where we could strike a bunch off the list. Every spot in every city is so different and has its own personality so we love seeing as many as we can and tend to find something we love at each one – even the “bad” ones.
Can you give a little history of how it all came together?
Johnny & Shanna- It’s a pretty common story amongst us home bar brood, but in a nutshell – Covid. Rita’s was birthed sitting 6 ft. apart across a folding table at our 4th of July 2020 backyard bbq. Our friends, Greg and Sabrina, introduced us to a YouTube video featuring the thriving home bar scene in New Jersey (who knew?!). We had just purchased our home 3 months before we had heard of Covid and relocated after 19 years in Brooklyn to the suburbs of New Jersey. We were locked down in a new house, a new state, with a lot of space (compared to our 1 bedroom brownstone in Carroll Gardens) and nothing but time and opportunity. Brooklynites have no idea what do with a garage, and in the true spirit of tiki, if you can’t go to paradise you bring paradise to you. About 5 minutes after we watched that video our brains started itching and Rita’s was conceived in a pile of sawdust, bloody bandages and empty propane torches.
Any story behind the name of your bar?
Johnny & Shanna- A good backstory is a major component of any bar’s development, and we decided to craft ours around a 1954 Amazon exploration into the Brazilian darkness. Always being a huge fan of classic horror and specifically The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Rita’s was named after the famed vessel that went out in search of the Creature. Being from the East Coast, we like the idea of a slow boat ride through the tributaries of South America – bringing back a different vision of paradise while still always honoring traditional tiki roots and the artists and places that came before us and inspired us to create our own little corner of the world. We’ve kept the theme subtle with hidden pieces, black and white imagery as well as animals, floral & fauna native to the Brazil river region to create an overall experience one may find should they have been in the original film or actually experienced something like this firsthand. Having done so, we decided that a strong classic Mai Tai is the best way to regroup and recharge before venturing back into the shallows.
What is your favorite Tiki drink? Why?
Johnny & Shanna- Really? That’s like picking our favorite child (just kidding, we don’t have any to pick from yet) but seriously… We tend to stick to the classics. We make a mean “1954” Mai Tai that we’ve gotten pretty dialed in at this point. It’s always a good way to test out a new bar. If they can’t make a good Mai Tai or reach for the orange juice, you know it’s time to go. We both love a Missionary’s Downfall for sure. Final answer for overall undisputed favorite (if you twist our arms) and if we can find a good one outside of the Mai Kai… the legendary Black Magic. It’s such an amazing complex combination of flavors that come together perfectly.
What is your favorite Tiki bar? Not including your own!
Johnny & Shanna- Same with bars…So many that we love…They are all different and we find things we love about each one for so many different reasons, which makes this is hard. Johnny is going with Golden Tiki – obsessed with large collections of tiny heads. Shanna is feeling the Inferno Room in Indy – amazing drinks, incredible collections, and that fiery, golden hour lighting. Our next two visits will be Max’s South Seas Hideaway in MI and Tiki Tatsu-ya in TX because they look like contenders to the throne.
Outside of great drinks, what do you think are essential elements in creating the perfect Tiki environment?
Johnny & Shanna- For home bars, we feel like it’s important to build what you want. Creating a space that makes you feel happy when you’re there is really all that matters. We appreciate an immersive environment and try to exclude or conceal anything that takes you out of the experience as much of humanly possible. Using layering to create texture and depth. MUSIC. Lighting. It’s important to engage all the senses to help create an experience. Including a hero element – any kind of statement piece that illustrates your theme and can be built around. We aim to keep it realistic so you really feel like you’ve stepped away and have been transported to a new world – a new story.
What does the future hold for you and your home tiki bar?
Johnny & Shanna- Gosh, good question. Everything seems to be moving so quickly and we have a lot going on. The bar is never finished (ever) and we always have a lot of projects there as we continue to develop new skills and layer more eye candy. We’re also bringing more of our existing skillsets into the bar and offering those things to other collectors or bar builders. Shanna has a textile design background and wants to bring more of that into our lamp building projects and into some apparel concepts that we can offer up soon. Johnny is a painter and graphic designer and has a lot of projects we’re adding to our online store. We just got it set up and are adding a lot of art prints, custom tiki lamps and Rita’s merch. Other than that, we hope to keep on growing, layering, building, blending, pouring & sipping.
Anything else you would like to add?
Johnny & Shanna- Thanks to Ray for reaching out with this opportunity. You’re a legend. Thanks to all our good friends for drinking all of our rum and inspiring us to build a place for us to get together. That’s the whole point after all.
LINKS:
Instagram @ritaslostweekend
Etsy www.etsy.com/shop/RitasLostWeekend
Email ritaslostweekend@gmail.com