Category: South Florida

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Mai-Kai history event joins the party as inaugural Mod Weekend kicks into gear

Mod Weekend, the March 15-17 celebration of Fort Lauderdale’s mid-century architecture and style, is shaping up to be a whirlwind of activity with several events selling out and additional activities added to the mix, including Saturday’s “Mai-Kai: History, Mystery and Adventure” seminar.

The Mai-Kai under construction in 1956
The Mai-Kai under construction in 1956. (Photo courtesy of The Mai-Kai)

While not officially part of Mod Weekend, the presentation by Mai-Kai historian Tim “Swanky” Glazner will fit right in with the theme of recognizing the historical significance of this Polynesian treasure, which was built in 1956. The restaurant’s Molokai lounge will open at 2 p.m. for a special happy hour, followed by the narrated, multimedia slideshow at 3 p.m. in the grand showroom. Seats are limited, so call (954) 563-3272, ext. 1, to make a reservation. Admission is free.
* The Mai-Kai’s Facebook event

The event will also be a reunion for Mai-Kai “veterans,” with many former employees who worked there as far back as the 1950s expected to be on hand. On Sunday, Mod Weekend returns to The Mai-Kai on its double-decker bus tour. The first tour was sold out, so a second has been added, according to the official website. The tour will include another presentation by Glazner as well as a walking tour of The Mai-Kai’s extensive dining rooms, gardens, and Polynesian artifacts. The weekend’s festivities wrap up Sunday night with a closing party at The Mai-Kai at 8 p.m. Tickets are $50 for the bus tour and $25 for the closing party. Go to ModWeekend.com for the latest information on tickets and availability.

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A Dick Dale concert is always the best way to celebrate another year of The Atomic Grog

Dick Dale: April 25 at Grand Central in Miami. Click here to buy tickets online.

Dick Dale at Grand Central on April 25

When last year’s South Florida dates of the triumphant comeback tour featuring the King of the Surf Guitar, Dick Dale, coincided with the one-year anniversary of The Atomic Grog in April, it was certainly cause for celebration. But it also created a dilemma: What to do for an encore?

Well, the legendary ax slinger has made it easy. He’s coming back to Florida, and The Atomic Grog is happy to be promoting his April 25 date at Grand Central in Miami. As a result, we’ll celebrate our second anniversary in surfin’ style.

The 75-year-old Dale is not only a living legend of rock ‘n’ roll but he’s also a hero for cancer survivors and a shining example of persevering in the face of adversity. In 2008, he battled cancer that attacked his intestinal tract. Then in 2009, he faced complications that put him back in the hospital and kept him off the road indefinitely. But an inspiring comeback in 2010 with his son and bandmate Jimmy Dale led to a full-blown tour that blew the doors off of The Vagabond in Miami and Respectable Street in West Palm Beach that June.

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How big a punch can Tiki Month take?

Every February, Tiki cocktail bloggers gather for Tiki Month at The Pegu Blog to share cocktail recipes, tips, tricks and musings about the state of tropical mixology. Why February? It has something to do with an escape from Mother Nature’s frigid wrath, but I don’t really grasp that concept having been marooned in Fort Liquordale for more years than I can remember.

Martin Cate (right) supervises Rum Rat Pack members Wayne Curtis (left) and Stephen Remsberg as the punch begins to take shape at The 2011 Hukilau at The Mai-Kai
In go the mixers: Martin Cate (right) supervises Rum Rat Pack members Wayne Curtis (left) and Stephen Remsberg as the punch begins to take shape at The 2011 Hukilau at The Mai-Kai. (Photo by Go11Media.com)

Not a bad place to be marooned, however, especially when The Hukilau rolls into town every year. There’s also a little restaurant called The Mai-Kai. Both serve as a beacon, summoning the greatest minds in the Tiki world to an annual bacchanalia of rum and revelry.

The single event that perhaps reached the pinnacle of rum and revelry was the appearance of Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s “Rum Rat Pack” at The Mai-Kai during The Hukilau in June 2011, which brings us back to Tiki Month. This year’s blog contributions have been entertaining and informative, covering such esoteric topics as homemade ginger syrup, garnishes made from ground coconut and orange peel, and more drink recipes than you can shake a shaker at. There was also something about geeks who re-create recipes they’ve never actually tasted, if you can imagine that.

Lost in all these intricate tropical concoctions is a common conundrum: How do you handle a thirsty mob who can’t wait for you to carefully fillet an orange or toast coconut? The Rum Rat Pack’s Rumposium demonstrated how to solve that problem with style and flair. In one fell swoop, they whipped up a Tiki punch for 200, featuring 240 ounces of six different rums, a jaw-dropping bowl filled with 630 ounces of deliciousness.

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Make it a double: Ascension of Miami Rum Renaissance Festival mirrors explosive growth of cane spirits

2013 Miami Rum Renaissance Festival: Monday, April 15, through Sunday, April 21, at the Doubletree by Hilton Miami Airport Convention Center. For more information, go to RumRenaissance.com.
April update: Rum’s best and brightest stars take center stage at annual Miami festival

Miami Rum Renaissance Festival

The popularity of rum has exploded over the past five years, reaching heights not seen since the mid-century heyday of Tiki. If you need proof, just look at the annual Miami Rum Renaissance Festival, which made its debut in 2009 and has doubled in size each year.

For 2013, the largest gathering of rum experts, professionals and enthusiasts in the western hemisphere will be moving to a venue with 40,000 square feet of event space, twice the size of last year’s event. Festival organizers say they expect attendance to double from last year’s 8,000 to more than 15,000 rum-loving faithful.

Consumer interest in sugar cane spirits is growing faster than any other category of liquor. “We’re proud to say that our prediction of rum’s resurgence in popularity was on the money,” said festival organizer Robert A. Burr in announcing his fifth annual event. “An incredible range of fine rums, from casual and fun mixers to luxurious top-shelf sipping rums, will be on display. There is no better opportunity for the rum enthusiast to sample such a vast selection of spirits in one place.”

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New event celebrates Fort Lauderdale’s mid-century modern architecture, style

Update: Mai-Kai history event joins the party as inaugural Mod Weekend kicks into gear

Interest in classic mid-century design and style has been building for decades, coinciding with a general distaste among many for the throw-away culture of the late 20th century that continues unabated. At the core of the modern esthetic is the one-of-a-kind architectural movement that followed World War II and flourished until the upheaval of the late 1960s.

Mod Weekend

This golden age of style coincided with other classic movements – such as Tiki, Googie and Atomic Age – all morphing into one gigantic era that arguably produced mankind’s first true culture of cool. It took the success of TV’s Mad Men to bring “mod” style to the 21st century masses, but support from an enthusiastic core of supporters has never waned.

In Palm Springs, Calif., arguably ground zero for vintage mid-century modern architecture in the United States, the eighth annual Modernism Week is in the midst of an 11-day celebration expected to draw more than 25,000 retro enthusiasts. Featuring bus tours, cocktail parties, lectures and films, Modernism Week is billed as “the only such event in the country.”

That distinction ends in March, when Mod Weekend makes its debut in Fort Lauderdale. Like California, Florida is a treasure trove of shining examples of the movement. Both experienced construction booms during the ’50s and ’60s, the height of the era. And Fort Lauderdale, like Palm Springs, is a hotspot for mid-century style, from its distinctive beachfront hotels to its vintage housing developments.

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Hullabaloo jazzes up Clematis Street with inventive craft cocktails

Tonight is the grand opening of Hullabaloo, the new gastropub and craft cocktail bar in downtown West Palm Beach, but the party started early with a sneak preview for invited guests last night that definitely put the staff to the test.

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The bar and kitchen staff serve the growing crowd during Hullabaloo's special preview party on Thursday, Jan. 24
The bar and kitchen staff serve the growing crowd during Hullabaloo’s special preview party on Thursday, Jan. 24. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward)

The small 1,700-square-foot space in the 500 block of Clematis Street that was formerly home to The Lounge was packed to the gills for most of the night as the many friends and associates of owners Rodney Mayo and Jon Elu enjoyed free drinks and small bites. One guest described it as “The Lounge meets Kapow,” which is as accurate a description as any. The owners have taken the somewhat generic Lounge format and jazzed it up with a creative food and drink menu, just as Mayo and his partners did at the cozy spot in Boca Raton that houses Kapow! Noodle Bar.

Guests at Hullabaloo were greeted last night by classic jazz and ragtime music performed on keyboards by a solo musician just outside the front door. The music was also piped into the bar, complementing the vintage vibe. Within hours, the party had spread to the half-dozen tables on the sidewalk.

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Hullabaloo to raise a ruckus in downtown West Palm Beach with gastropub food, craft beverages

Update/review: Hullabaloo brings inventive craft cocktails to Clematis Street

It’s tough to come up with a unique and exciting concept in today’s bar and restaurant scene, where new establishments continually push the creativity envelope, and patrons have seen just about everything. But leave it to South Florida nightlife kingpin Rodney Mayo to move the bar even higher.

Hullabaloo

Imagine walking into a small, dark space that evokes a New York City loft. It’s simple, clean and dark, illuminated only by candles and low lighting. Huge red-and-black leather booths span one wall, with reproductions of 1940s-era Eames chairs scattered about. Dead rock stars such as Freddy Mercury and Jim Morrison stare eerily from framed black-and-white photos. The sound of ’30s and ’40s jazz fills the air, while the smell of Italian-influenced gastropub food crafted in a wood-burning oven wafts throughout the room. Patrons sip craft beer, wine, coffee and unique cocktails. Welcome to Hullabaloo.

Like its name implies, Hullabaloo is poised to cause a commotion. Mayo and his managing partners will introduce Hullabaloo – located at 517 Clematis St. in downtown West Palm Beach – with a grand opening party next Friday (Jan. 25) from 5 p.m. until 3 a.m. There will be a private, invitation-only party on Thursday, Jan. 24. “We’re going to have a ragtime band play at the opening,” Mayo says. He also promises complimentary beverages and food tastings.

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The Hukilau releases schedule, updated website for this June’s Tiki bash in Fort Lauderdale

In just six months, hundreds upon hundreds of Tiki and retro culture enthusiasts from around the world will descend upon Fort Lauderdale in search of the most authentic Polynesian Pop experience imaginable. If Christie “Tiki Kiliki” White has any say in the matter, they won’t be disappointed.

The Hukilau

White has assembled another surprisingly eclectic cast of characters for the 12th edition of The Hukilau, a weekend celebration set for June 6-9 at the Sheraton Beach Hotel (aka the “Yankee Clipper”) and The Mai-Kai restaurant. As always, the event manages to embrace every nuance of mid-century kitsch: Exotica and surf music, rum and tropical cocktails, mermaids, Polynesian floor shows, Hawaiian shirts, Tiki mugs, vintage culture and artwork, Tiki carving, tattoos, and much more.

Co-founded by White in 2002 in Atlanta, the event found its permanent home at Fort Lauderdale’s legendary Mai-Kai in 2003 and has featured some of the biggest names in the modern Tiki revival, from author and mixologist Jeff “Beachbum” Berry (who returns for his eighth appearance this year) to author/photographer Sven Kirsten (The Book of Tiki) and artist Josh Agle (aka Shag).

The official website, TheHukilau.com, re-launched Tuesday and a new Travel Bulletin (the festival’s e-mail newsletter) was distributed with lots of event updates, including some new additions to the musical lineup and a detailed daily schedule.

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The Hukilau offers special deal if you book before 2013

The 12th edition of The Hukilau returns to its longtime June time slot in 2013, but it’s never too early to sign up for the East Coast’s premiere Tiki event.

The Hukilau

If you buy an all-access pass in the waning days of 2012, you’ll automatically be “grandfathered in” to any additional events – such as rum and cocktail tastings – that may require an additional fee if you book later. In past years, some great symposiums and special events were added added as the event approached, so here’s your opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

The Hukilau is scheduled for June 6-9 at Fort Lauderdale’s Sheraton Beach Hotel, aka the “Yankee Clipper.” Go to TheHukilau.com, the official website, to purchase your event tickets now. The site also includes instructions on how to book your room at the Sheraton. There’s a special $119 rate (per night, double occupancy), but you must click on the website link to get this deal.

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The Mai-Kai celebrates its 56th birthday, rings in 2013 with special events

On Dec. 28, 1956, the venerable Mai-Kai restaurant opened its doors on a desolate stretch of Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. In the ensuing half-century, the rest of the world has changed radically but you can still be guaranteed a totally immersive South Seas experience in this one-of-a-kind slice of Polynesian paradise.

Ty (left) and Andrew with fellow Mai-Kai Islander Hokulani
Ty (left) and Andrew with fellow Mai-Kai Islander Hokulani at a recent catered event. The duo will be performing at the 56th anniversary party on Dec. 28. (Photo courtesy of The Mai-Kai)

This mid-century marvel will celebrate its 56th anniversary next Friday (Dec. 28) with its annual Customer Celebration Party in The Molokai bar starting at 5 p.m. Live music will be provided all night by Ty and Andrew, The Mai-Kai’s house band, playing a mix of island and holiday music on ukuleles, bongos and guitar.

There will also be an extended happy hour all night in The Molokai. After 7 p.m., just tell your waitress that you’re there for the celebration party in order to receive half-priced drinks and appetizers. This includes most of The Mai-Kai’s legendary tropical cocktails, many of which date back to the early days of Tiki mixology in the 1930s. Taste history in a glass all night while you munch on decadent small bites such as Shanghai Chicken and Crab Rangoon. Click here to see the menu.
* Click here for the Facebook event

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