It’s hard to deny that World War II had a massive impact on Tiki’s popularity. Many GI’s came back from the war in the South Pacific with a new-found love for all things tropical and shared this love with the rest of their family. This would be the case with Scott Evans. Both of his grandfathers served in the South Pacific and this sparked his interest in tiki. His grandfathers inspired him so much that Scott built his own tiki bar and called it PaPa Nui in honor of his grandfather. Here is the story of PaPa Nui …
What is the tiki scene like where you live?
Scott- There are a handful of Tiki enthusiast who live in the low country of South Carolina. Unfortunately, we lost our only true Tiki bar which was called South Seas about two years ago. The staff who worked at South Seas were great and really put in the effort to make the cocktails and the vibe the best that we had ever had in Charleston. After South Seas closed another beach/Tiki bar opened out on Folly Beach called Wiki Wiki but it was way too big and never had the feel of a proper Tiki establishment. The lack of a good local Tiki bar was one of the reasons that inspired my wife and I to build our own backyard Polynesian hideaway.
What brought you into the tiki lifestyle and how long has it been part of your life?
Scott- Both of my grandfathers served in the South Pacific during World War II. My mother’s father, who I was closest to, served in the 80th General Field Hospital in New Guinea and brought back many interesting photos and stories from his service overseas. This sparked my interest in all things Polynesian as a young child. At the same time my family would take vacations to Walt Disney World in Florida and we would almost always stay at Disney’s Polynesian Village. Like many people in the Tiki community this introduction to Disney’s version of Polynesia enhanced my interest in all things Tiki.
However, I was never a big collector of Tiki mugs or Tiki memorabilia until my wife purchased my first Tiki mug while we were completing our residency program in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She and I would also often venture over to Trader Vic’s in Atlanta and quickly fell in love with the cocktails, food, and the décor of Trader Vic’s.
This experience renewed my interest in Tiki and eventually led me to contact and later meet up with Tim Glazner in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tim had an absolutely amazing home Tiki bar filled with all kinds of interesting artifacts he had collected over the years. After visiting with Tim and his wife Stephanie at their home bar I was inspired to someday build something similar at our house back in Charleston, South Carolina.
Eventually our collection of Tiki mugs and PNG artifacts began to overflow our home and my office and we decided to pull down an old shed in the backyard and build a Polynesian guesthouse/bar.
Can you give a little history of how it all came together?
Scott- The original idea was to convert an old utility shed into just a simple rustic Tiki bar in the backyard. However, my wife felt we needed a bigger space that could serve as a guesthouse and Tiki bar together. Therefore, we designed a T-shaped structure that would have a Tiki bar on one side, a bathroom with washer/dryer on the other side, and a lounge/guest room running down the center.
We would not have been able to complete the project had it not been for the serious effort and dedication of our family and friends who pitched in weekends and holidays to help pull down the old shed and build the new structure. A great friend of ours from Alabama who happens to be a contractor made several trips to Charleston to help us build our dream hideaway. Whatever I asked for he found a way to make it happen. Once we got the main structure up the fun part of designing and decorating the interior began. Almost all of the interior decoration was completed by my wife and me over the past year and a half.
I had a vision of what the completed project would look like and wanted to make sure that we incorporated our Tiki mug collection and all of her other Polynesian artifacts and the lamps we had collected or built over the years. We also wanted to have a murphy bed built into the back wall that when used could convert the lounge into a guesthouse. Finally, we built a loft in the main hall accessed by an old WWII ship’s rope ladder that could be used by our two young children and their friends as a kid’s Tiki escape. We are lucky that our little girls have embraced our interest and have themselves fallen in love with Polynesian culture.
Any story behind the name of your bar?
Scott- We went with the name PaPa Nui as a play on Rapa Nui. Since my grandfather had started me on this path of loving all things related to the South Pacific, Beth and I wanted to incorporate him into the name of our home bar. Growing up I had called my grandfather PaPa. Hence the name PaPa Nui.
What is your favorite Tiki drink?
Scott- The Mai Kai’s Demerara Float. There are few things better than sitting in the Molokai Bar at the Mai Kai and having one of their Demerara Floats. The simplicity of the recipe combined with my favorite type of rum makes it my favorite Tiki cocktail.
What is your favorite Tiki bar? Not including your own!
Scott- No contest, it has to be the Mai Kai. The lamps and decorations of the Mai Kai heavily inspired Beth and I when it came to the design of PaPa Nui.
Outside of great drinks, what do you think are essential elements in creating the perfect Tiki environment?
Scott- I know it has been said by many others before but I do believe that it comes down to layers. That’s what makes a great Tiki bar. I wanted to have an experience for our guest where they would see something new at each visit. I was lucky enough to get suggestions on how best to accomplish the layering from great minds like Tim Glazner and Danny Gallardo. Danny was also kind enough to design and produce our official PaPa Nui mug about six years ago. It is an awesome PNG mug!
I also think that our bar speaks to our personalities and interest. Our décor is heavy with PNG and that reflects my interest from my childhood whereas my wife has her little British explorer’s nook that allows her to show off her collection of Victorian era knick-knacks.
What does the future hold for you and your home tiki bar?
Scott- A bar without Covid. That is what we are hoping for. We have postponed an official opening for family and friends while waiting for everyone to get vaccinated. Maybe in the spring we will have everyone who worked on the project over for a luau. After that we plan to host Tiki friends at the bar and offer a place for them to stay when they come to visit PaPa Nui and the sites of Charleston.
The next project with respects to the bar itself will be to work on the yard and the lanai.
I love the homage to his grandfather.