Who would have thought that having asthma as a kid would be the first step on the road to building your own home tiki bar! For Scott Parker, this is the case and this is his story …
What’s the tiki scene like where you live?
Scott- We are in Long Beach so we are literally “surrounded by Tiki” to quote Huell Howser. We are about 30 minutes from everything. Tonga Hut, Tiki Ti, Trader Sam’s, etc. We used to have dinner about once a month at Don’s in Sunset Beach before it closed, and my wife and I used to eat at Sam’s Seafood before that.
In early August, we finally got the second tiki bar in Long Beach, Comrade’s Grotto being first, called Tiki Tiki which is hidden inside Beer Belly on Long Beach and 3rd Street. It’s starting to blow up. James, the bartender, is passionate and willing to try things. If it’s not on the menu, he’ll make it and he has a growing collection of rums that vary from the interesting to the just plain good.
https://lbpost.com/life/food/tiki-bar-downtown-long-beach-island-centric-concoctions/
What brought you into the ‘Tiki lifestyle’ and how long has it been a part of your life?
Scott- I got into tiki through the music. As a kid, I had asthma, so I spent a lot of time in doctor’s offices where they all played Muzak. Hearing orchestral versions of pop music became my favorite uncool music type. It wasn’t until Combustible Edison that I started to figure out what it was I had listened to in those doctor’s offices and started collecting. Once the music collecting started, I started getting into tiki mugs. Tiki mugs expanded into visits to Don’s and the Downtown LA Trader Vic’s, which led to Sven’s books and this home tiki bar project.
Can you give a little history of how it all came together?
Scott– A neighbor, a retro-furniture dealer, had a small tiki shack in his backyard and it was fun. I had my first Navy Grog in that shack, still the best I’ve had, and decided it would be good to have a space at home. After trying to figure out a location, my wife suggested the garage and my son and I jumped on it. It’s a small space, only 7’ x 9’, but we took that as the challenge.
Any story behind the name of your bar?
Scott- The first time we had guests over I wore my Mao cap that is the real deal from a friend. His step father had traded two pairs of jeans for a cap and jacket from a Chinese soldier and my friend gave me the hat. That got us thinking about communist sounding names and Comrade’s Grotto came to mind. We then Google translated it to Russian and used that for our sign above the door. We are looking into customized Ushanka hats that will serve as our version of the Fez.
What is your favorite Tiki drink? Why?
Scott– This changes all the time and depends on whether I am out at a tiki bar or in my own. At Comrade’s Grotto, my favorite is the Shrunken Skull based on the Distinguished Spirits recipe using Denizen Merchant’s Reserve. It’s only three ingredients, which makes it easy to keep up with drink requests from guests, as I am not a particularly good bartender. At The Reef in Palm Springs I like the Mod Tai, and at Tonga Hut it’s Three Dot’s and a Dash. I also really like the Hamilton Dry Float by Jeff Berry that’s on the back of the Hamilton 86 bottle.
What is your favorite Tiki bar? Not including your own!
Scott- I really enjoy The Reef in Palm Springs. It’s a restaurant until 10:00 so I can bring the family and the atmosphere is great. Rory and Brandon have done an amazing job in a short period of time. Here’s a link to an interview with both of them.
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/polynesianpop/episodes/2018-01-15T15_58_06-08_00
My other favorite tiki bar is The Shameful Tiki Room in Vancouver B.C. Small and densely packed with great food and drinks. Everyone on staff were accommodating of the family and made a special evening that everyone still talks about. The bartender let my son trigger the fog machine and other special effects. We even got to sit at the bar and had to remind them to close us out before it switched to full bar mode and we had to leave. Just amazing and fun.
Outside of great drinks, what do you think are essential elements in creating the perfect Tiki environment?
Scott- The basis of any tiki bar is the backstory to the bar. In Comrade’s Grotto, you are just below the waterline and a net has been cast out for fish on the nearby island. A small underwater volcano is always ready to explode at any time and that warms the water the bar sits in. That story gives us something to help make decisions on pieces to add, lighting and flotsam and jetsam to layer in. Which brings up the second most essential thing, lots of layering of detail. The more stuff you have in the space the better. In my daily life as an architect, I’m the opposite. Less is more, but in a tiki bar, more is more. The third essential ingredient is the music. The music has to be correct and has to set up the right feel in the bar. For us that means Exotica from the 50’s and 60’s along with selected contemporary exotica bands. Anything within that framework from Martin Denny to Ixtahuele.
What does the future hold for you and your home tiki bar?
Scott- Right now we are adding masks to the bar and trying to get the infrastructure behind the bar to work better. Our goal is to start getting more classic pieces along with work from current tiki artists like Tiki Tony and Bosko. At some point, we’d love to expand it so we could have a lounge seating section rather than just the bar stools.
Anything else you would like to add?
Scott- Really just some quick shout-outs to the people that inspired the bar:
Sven Kirsten and his books.
Jeff “Beachbum” Berry for the books and the IPhone app.
5 Minutes of Rum podcast for new rum suggestions and drink ideas
Adrian at The Desert Oasis Room for the podcast and the photos of his home bar. https://www.desertoasisroom.com/
Rory and Brandon at The Reef for being great hosts and for including non-alcoholic drinks on the menu for the kid’s.
https://www.thereefpalmsprings.com/
Kevin at Tonga Hut for showing us the secret room at the Palm Springs location.
Finally, to Vincent, whose own backyard tiki bar provided the motivation to get this project started. We also bought some furniture for the house from him.
Thanks Ray for featuring the bar. Looking forward to perhaps some day hosting you here in Long Beach.
I wanted to also mention the photographer for the bar. Carlos Hernandez. http://www.carlosphotos.com and @crhla on Instagram. He made the bar look amazing!
The pleasure was all mine. You have an incredible looking bar. The next time I’m down your way, I’ll hit you up!