Chef Shangri-La Archives

April 1, 2017April 29, 2017

The Tiki Times – April 2017 Events Calendar: Surf and rockabilly, Miami Rum Festival, Chicago Area Tiki Tour

From the ashes of the Week in Tiki (and, later, the Month in Tiki) rises The Tiki Times. Still ambitious, but more practical, this monthly guide to what’s going on across the world of Tiki culture will hopefully be a definitive resource of where to find special events that touch on topics of interest to many Tikiphiles. You’ll find all the major Tiki festivals, plus smaller gatherings along with events that scratch our itch for rum and cocktails, surf and rockabilly music, mid-century modern design, even Disney. And don’t forget authentic Polynesian culture, the well from which Tiki springs. The biggest will get extended coverage as “spotlight events.”
Social media: Follow our Facebook page for daily news updates
Pinterest | Coming soon: Twitter and Instagram
March events: Shag art shows, Tiki bars and festivals, surf rock and more
February recap: Bar openings and closings, cocktail competitions, Modernism Week

APRIL 2017 TIKI EVENTS CALENDAR
Spotlight events: Miami Rum Festival (April 19-23)
Chicago Area Tiki Tour (April 28-30)

April 1 – Surfeño 2017 in Mexico City. The annual surf music festival features live performances by Daikaiju, The Volcanics, Los Elásticos, Hikury Beach, Los Granujas, Dr. Tritón, The Sonoras, Los Caguama, and many more.

April 1 – Unsteady Freddie’s Surf-Rock Shindig at Otto’s Shrunken Head in New York City. Featuring The Vivisectors, Blue Wave Theory, Strange But Surf, and The Wraycyclers.

April 2 – Dick Dale at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. The “King of the Surf Guitar” performs a special concert in the MIM Musical Theater.
* More tour dates at DickDale.com
* Atomic Grog interview: Dick Dale: ‘I had both feet in the grave’

The Dick Dale exhibit at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix.

April 2 – Surfin’ Sundays at the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum. A free, all-ages summer concert series at the Huntington Beach Pier in Southern California. Featuring Neptune Cocktail, The Curl Riders, The Riptides, Par Avion, Tiki Creeps, and Tikiyaki 5-0.

April 2 – Tonga Hut Parking Lot Sale & Art Show in Los Angeles celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Kon Tiki expedition. See an original piece of rope from the Kon-Tiki raft, on public display for the first time. Also featuring DJ Tonga Tom, food and drinks, Jason Lee and the Black Tides, vendors and artists, plus more.

April 7 – Exotia Night: A Midcentury Cocktail Experience at Slowly Shirley in New York City. Featuring live jazz and exotica by Alika Lyman, burlesque and special drink menu. Note: Postponed from March.
* Listen: The Speakeasy radio show previews Exotica Nights

April 8 – Midwest Rum Festival in Chicago. Featuring industry events plus a public grand tasting, seminars, mixology demos and artist booths. Hosted by The Rum Lab at the Logan Square Auditorium with special guests including Richard Seale (Foursquare Distillery in Barbados) and Bryan Davis (Lost Spirits Distillery in Los Angeles). Pre-party on April 7 at Hala Kahiki.
* Press coverage: Chicago GoPride | The Spirits Business

Continue reading “The Tiki Times – April 2017 Events Calendar: Surf and rockabilly, Miami Rum Festival, Chicago Area Tiki Tour”

September 21, 2015September 13, 2016

The Week in Tiki (Sept. 7-20, 2015): Ohana: Luau by the Sea and Mod Palm Springs, plus more event previews

The summer may be ending soon, but there’s no shortage of Tiki events, including Ohana: Luau by the Sea in Fort Lauderdale and Mod Palm Springs in California coming in early October. Check out previews of both, plus this month’s Tonga Room 70th anniversary in San Francisco, a Tiki cocktail history seminar in D.C., Tiki Day at Disneyland, and Thee Hot Rod Luau in Southern California. We also have recaps of the recent Fong Fest in Chicago, and Don the Beachcomber’s International Tiki Market Place. Plus news from the Chicago Area Tiki Tour and a possible Tiki bowling establishment coming to Atlanta. Regular features honor the late Florida artist Wayne Coombs; South Florida’s Cutback Surfband; the Bootlegger Tiki bar in Palm Springs; and the Ministry of Rum website. The rum of the week, Coruba Original, is featured in a vintage Planter’s Punch.
* Keep up with The Week in Tiki: Facebook page | RSS feed | See past weeks | Archive
* Weekly features: Artist | Band/music | Tiki bar | Website | Rum | Cocktail | Events

Last chance for Ohana: Luau by the Sea tickets

Don’t miss out on the very first Ohana: Luau by the Sea, set for Oct. 1-3 in Fort Lauderdale. Online ticket sales will end at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Sept. 21, so the organizers can get an accurate head count and prepare for their Saturday night luau at the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Airport hotel, headquarters of the event. There will be no same-day ticket sales.

Brought to you by the Fraternal Order Of Moai – the same friendly, fez-wearing folks who earlier this year presented the sister event Ohana: Luau at the Lake in upstate New York – this inaugural event is being hosted by the charity organization’s Gumbo Limbo chapter in South Florida.

Attendees can enjoy live music, DJs, seminars, contests, a rum tasting, vendors, auctions, prizes, food and the legendary dinner show at The Mai-Kai restaurant. Tickets are $85, or $135 if you pair it with a limited edition event mug by PopTiki of Colorado.

Your ticket gives you access to three days of Tiki-themed festivities:

Continue reading “The Week in Tiki (Sept. 7-20, 2015): Ohana: Luau by the Sea and Mod Palm Springs, plus more event previews”

September 11, 2015March 18, 2020

The Week in Tiki (Aug. 24-Sept. 6, 2015): Lowbrow art icon The Pizz dies, September event previews and news, Tiki returns to South Beach fest

Sad news this week with the passing of artist Stephen Pizzurro, who will forever be known as The Pizz. The September calendar is chock full of Tiki events, from Chicago to Indianapolis to California. There’s also news on Tiki Kon, Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise and next year’s Tiki cocktail showdown at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. Our regular features spotlight artist of the week The Pizz; Milwaukee surf band The Revomatics; vintage Chicago-area restaurant Chef Shangri-La; and online magazine Punch. The rum of the week, Plantation 3 Stars, is featured in two cocktails: Blue Ricardo and the Allspicy Daiquiri.
* Keep up with The Week in Tiki: Facebook page | RSS feed | See past weeks | Archive
* Weekly features: Artist | Band/music | Tiki bar | Website | Rum | Cocktail | Events

The Pizz, legend of lowbrow, dies at 57

Stephen Pizzurro, better known in the lowbrow art world as El Pizzo and The Pizz, has died at age 57. The Pizz is considered to be one of the pioneering creators of “cartoon expressionism,” and his influence is felt by an entire generation of artists.

The Pizz was part of a new breed of artists who came of age in the 1960s and ’70s, when cheeky hot-rod culture seeped out of the underground and into mainstream consciousness. Like many others, he was influenced by a wide array of counterculture styles (including Tiki, surf, beatnik, skateboarding, tattoo, underground comics, and Kustom Kulture). But only the most talented bridged the gap into fine art, and The Pizz was one of those rare talents.

His hardcore yet colorful and exotic work was embraced by galleries such as La Luz De Jesus in Los Angeles, where he was a fixture for more than 20 years. Yet The Pizz always kept himself grounded in the lowbrow underbelly, focusing his artwork on cartoonish depictions of hot rods, pinups, and all manner of ne’er-do-wells. He once described his work as “a tumultuous adrenaline-soaked hellride of a lifetime leaving a mountain of debris and unspeakable carnage in its wake. Yeah, it’ll scar your fragile psyche for miles into the hereafter.” The Pizz died Aug. 30 in the same hard and impetuous manner that he portrayed characters on canvas. Instead of pen and brush, his chosen tool was a .357 revolver.

The Pizz grew up in Orange County, Calif., learning to draw at an early age. A disciple of legendary cartoonist Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, he realized his dream by working for Roth’s Rat Fink comics. He graduated to punk-rock album covers, then became a key player in the lowbrow art movement. The Pizz was a popular and admired artist, showing his work at galleries around the country. He also appeared on television shows and in film documentaries, including Flake and Flames (2013) and The Treasures of Long Gone John (2006). Friends have created a GoFundMe page to aid his wife, Yuki. See more on The Pizz below in our Artist of the Week feature.
* A farewell to The Pizz, Long Beach’s ‘zeitgeistically poignant’ artist (Press-Telegram)
* ‘Lord of Lowbrow,’ artist The Pizz, 1958-2015 (Hi-Fructose)
* Video: Interview with The Pizz at Don the Beachcomber (YouTube)

EVENTS AT A GLANCE: Denver Modernism Show, California Rum Fest, Fong Fest, WMNF Birthday Luau, International Tiki Market Place, Makahiki: A Night of Tiki, Dapper Day Expo

Here’s a rundown of some of the events on a busy September calendar:

Continue reading “The Week in Tiki (Aug. 24-Sept. 6, 2015): Lowbrow art icon The Pizz dies, September event previews and news, Tiki returns to South Beach fest”