Get Happy @ Hale Pele

Hale Pele launches a new Happy Hour menu full of classic tiki drinks and scrumptious bites.

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imageStarting tomorrow, Hale Pele, Portland’s premier tiki spot, will be updating their Happy Hour menu with a variety of delicious tropical drinks for just $6 each! Already known for fantastic tropical cocktails made with the finest ingredients, Hale Pele’s new Happy Hour keeps up that tradition with delicious drinks from legendary tiki bars of times past.

The new Happy Hour drinks menu will feature classic drinks such as the Blue Hawaii, Shark’s Tooth, Rangoon Gimlet, Port Light, Castaway, Yellow Boxer and Saturn, and a staff favorite, the Passion Fruit Batida. Each drink is made with the highest quality spirits and ingredients, each a taste of paradise in a glass. These cocktails will be exclusive to the Happy Hour menu, so get in early!

Their new Happy Hour food menu will feature delicious nibbles, such as our edamame drizzled with roasted sesame oil, Puaa pork sliders on locally made Hawaiian Bread, and our take on Korean fare, the Wee-Bim-Bap. Each delightful plate is available for $5 or less!

So if you’re in the area, be sure to pay them a visit.

Wreck Bar – Lauderdale

Mark Konkol discovers Mai Tais and mermaids at The Yankee Clipper’s Wreck Bar.  Check it out.

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Blame it on the mermaids; we got ‘Wrecked.’

By Mark Konkol
Rum Connection Chief Travel Writer

If you’re not into parasailing, paddle boarding, windsurfing, jet skiing, scuba diving, snorkeling or hunting marlin, Key West becomes a prison of heated pools, booze and debauchery after a week or so.

Eight days into my stay — after drinking enough rum to slay a herd of giant iguanas — my pal Mike Streeter recognized the symptoms of island binge drinking burnout.

A sport drinker with a rum fetish, Streeter acted fast before I became accustomed to island life and refused to leave.

He demanded we take our drinking vacation on the road to Ft. Lauderdale — that’s “Ft. Liquordale” to the natives — to get a look at what’s left of the Golden Age of Tourism before flocks of silver-haired snowbirds showed up and sucked the life out of everything good in South Florida.

So, we booked a room at a beachfront hotel formerly known as the “Yankee Clipper.” They called it the Clipper because the joint looks like a ship. It’s the architectural handiwork of the late M. Tony Sherman — the same guy who designed the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas.

The Yankee Clipper, now a Sheraton, opened in 1956. The campy 1960 spring break film, “Where the Boys Are” was filmed there. Marilyn Monroe stayed there. So did, Leonard “Mr. Spock” Nimoy and a bunch of other famous folks.

Streeter, of course, didn’t pick the place for it’s architectural significance or the “Marilyn slept here” cache. He didn’t even care about the posh remodeled rooms. Streeter was in it for the mermaid show.

Only three bars in the country are home to mermaid shows and the Clipper’s Wreck Bar is one.

On Friday nights, you can catch a pod of hot mermaids holding their breath for what seems like forever while flipping, posing and blowing underwater kisses visible in portholes that peer into the pool just beyond the top shelf liquor.

It’s a living tribute to 1950s South Florida kitsch. Wreck Bar looks and, if you get there early, even sort of smells like a beached ship. Nautical knick knacks abound. There’s a freshwater aquarium and decent selection of rum cocktails. The long, curved wooden bar is carved with drunken messages left by decades of drinkers.

And the star of the show, MeduSirena Marina, a lady who eats fire when she’s not in the pool, is the main attraction. Wreck Bar has been her “home pool” since 2007, two years before the hotel got a gut rehab — which gave the hotel spa-quality amenities without wrecking Wreck Bar’s sunken ship charm.

“This place has hardly changed. When you see scenes from ‘Where The Boys Are’ you can see the architecture has hardly changed,” said MeduSirena, whose real name is Marina Duran-Anderson. “As for the swim show, I want to keep it retro. It’s organic, not choreographed. It’s atmospheric, which is perfect when you want to have a drink.”

And it’s true, sipping a Mai Tai is decidedly better when you’re watching stunning ladies wearing shimmery tails and seashell bras perform underwater acrobatics to classic Tiki tunes. They flirted with folks in the front row. There was a minor seashell bra wardrobe malfunction. Some guy dressed as a shipwrecked sailor fell into the pool for unnecessary comic relief.

(If swimming with mermaids is your thing, you can even make plans to pop in the pool during your visit. Contact MeduSirena at MeduSirena1@gmail.com)

And if you really want to have fun, play the mermaid recommended drinking game — a favorite of Wreck Bar regulars. Here’s how you play: Take a sip every time a mermaid waves, flips or blows a kiss, you decide. But remember, it’s a dangerous game.

After the show, stick around. MeduSirena and her mermaid posse like to hang out at the bar with fans. On this night the Wreck Bar was rocking when the mermaids finally came up for air.

The mermaids danced, posed for pictures with fans —and ran up Streeter’s bar tab.

By the time Wreck Bar closed the mermaids had vanished.

And we were, well, wrecked.

A Wave of Rum

China Blossom Restaurant and Lounge in North Andover, MA celebrates the “return of tiki” with a menu full of classic rum cocktails.

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If “tiki culture” stirs up nostalgic images of Hawaiian shirts, paper umbrellas, giant mugs with ancient carvings and sweet rum, then hold onto your shorts because tiki is back! China Blossom Restaurant & Lounge, located in North Andover, MA, is bringing the “tiki culture” craze from the beach shore to the North Shore.

China Blossom is lighting the torch for the tiki revival, serving famous rum-based drinks like the Mai Tai ($6.95), of Trader Vic and Donn Beach fame, and the Ko Ko Head ($6.95), made of pineapple, light rum, grand marnier, cream of coconut, and served in a coconut glass.

Tiki culture took over America with the opening of bars in California during the 1930’s.  The kings of all things tiki were Donn Beach and Trader Vic, both tiki restaurateurs serving classic Cantonese cuisine, and rum potions loaded with “special ingredients,” creating a period famous for sunken tiki bars, décor of bright fabrics, flowers, and fruity, rum concoctions. No longer just a fad of the 30’s, China Blossom is reviving the culture and bringing it back!

China Blossom Restaurant & Lounge is a legendary family run restaurant located in North Andover, MA.  Established in 1960, they have become a local landmark serving the freshest, highest quality Asian cuisine and premium drinks in the Merrimack Valley. China Blossom’s cuisine is influenced by the varied regions of Eastern Asia, featuring items such as Cantonese style noodles, Japanese hand-rolled sushi, or Thai style ribs available buffet style or à la carte.  China Blossom has a full bar and showcases live entertainment every Friday & Saturday night.

China Blossom Restaurant & Lounge
Route 125 – North Andover, MA
978-682-2242
http://www.chinablossom.com

Trader Vic’s – Portland

Trader Vic’s returns to Portland, bringing a new approach to a timeless concept.  The iconic restaurant promises an island escape in the middle of the city.

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Portland to Reboot Iconic Tiki Lounge

This June the legendary Trader Vic’s restaurant and Tiki lounge will return to Portland for the first time in more than 20 years. Located in the heart of the Pearl District, the new Trader Vic’s is sure to become a favorite oasis for Portlanders looking to celebrate the sun, escape the rain and enjoy a taste of the tropics.

“We encourage our chefs around the world to continue that tradition by incorporating local flavors into their restaurants. With so many fresh, local ingredients to choose from, the possibilities are endless.”

Defined by authentic island décor, innovative mixology, eclectic Polynesian-style cuisine and impeccable service, Trader Vic’s has played a pivotal role in the Tiki culture since its beginnings in the early 1930s. Today the family-run business is headed by “Trader” Vic Bergeron’s grandson, Peter Seely, who honors his grandfather’s legacy by infusing the Trader’s time-tested formula with an exotic and contemporary menu, and an approach that’s sure to put a smile on the faces of past and future beach bums, jet-setters, lounge lizards, Tiki aficionados and lovers of all things delicious.

“Our goal today is the same as it always has been – to create a tropical refuge where people can escape for a few hours and immerse themselves in the island mindset,” said Seely. “The essence of Trader Vic’s remains unchanged, but we’ve updated our style, sophistication and energy level to extend our appeal to next-generation diners. The new Portland location will provide a shining example of modern Tiki and today’s Trader Vic’s at its finest.”

The restaurant’s Polynesian décor evokes visions of paradise. The new Portland location will showcase tribal masks, Tiki carvings, tapa cloth and woven grass wall coverings as well as other indigenous art and artifacts collected by the Bergeron family over the past 75 years.

As the inventor of the quintessential Tiki beverage, the Mai Tai, the Trader’s dedication to the art of the perfectly executed cocktail has become a foundational part of the company’s heritage. Bartenders in Trader Vic’s Tiki lounges around the world continue to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation in search of the next classic. The expansive Portland lounge will feature an extensive collection of more than 80 hand-crafted tropical drinks, including one yet-to-be-developed “PDX” concoction that will be available on a “locals only” basis.

The menu will boast a wide selection of small plates for sharing plus signature entrées and a few off-menu favorites. A number of new items that take advantage of abundant Pacific Northwest ingredients are also under development. Wherever possible, fresh produce, seafood and meats will be sourced locally and sustainably. Like all Trader Vic’s locations, the Portland restaurant will house a Chinese wood-fired oven. The oven, the history of which can be traced to the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), is a drum-shaped oven used for slow-roasting meat, seafood and poultry to perfection.

“Like the décor, our menu pulls in elements from many different cultures, and that’s what makes it unique,” said Seely. “We encourage our chefs around the world to continue that tradition by incorporating local flavors into their restaurants. With so many fresh, local ingredients to choose from, the possibilities are endless.”

The original Portland Trader Vic’s operated in the Benson Hotel from 1959 to 1996. The new restaurant is located at 1203 NW Glisan St., and the grand opening is scheduled for mid-June.

Trader Vic’s was created in 1934 by “Trader” Vic Bergeron when he converted his saloon in Oakland, California, into a tropical retreat decorated with artifacts he collected during his extensive travels to the South Pacific. Today the Trader Vic’s family of restaurants has expanded to 27 locations in 12 countries. Recent additions include Kiev, Dubai, Kazakhstan and Portland.