Kahiki Supper Club | |
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Restaurant information | |
Established | February 20, 1961 |
Closed | August 26, 2000 |
Owner(s) | Michael and Alice Tsao |
Previous owner(s) | Bill Sapp and Lee Henry, Mitch Boich |
Food type | Tiki, Polynesian |
Street address | 3583 E. Broad St., Columbus, Ohio |
Seating capacity | 500 |
Website | www.kahiki.com/supper.htm (Internet Archive copy) |
The Kahiki | |
Coordinates | 39°58′21″N82°54′17″W / 39.9725°N 82.904722°W |
Built | 1960-61 |
Architect | Bernard C. Altenbach Ned Eller, Ralph Sounik |
Demolished | November 2000 |
NRHP reference No. | 97001461 [1] |
Added to NRHP | December 8, 1997 |
The Kahiki Supper Club was a Polynesian-themed restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. The supper club was one of the largest tiki-themed restaurants in the United States, and for a time, the only one in Ohio. It operated at its Eastmoor location on Broad Street beginning in 1961, at the height of tiki culture's popularity. The Kahiki was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, but closed and was demolished in 2000. It was described as an exceptionally important example of a themed restaurant and the most elaborate tiki restaurant ever built.
After the restaurant's closure in 2000, portions of the interior and service ware were salvaged. A social organization known as the Fraternal Order of Moai was formed in 2005, in part to record the restaurant's history and preserve its artifacts. An offshoot of the operation, Kahiki Foods, manufactures frozen meals, and is based in the nearby suburb of Gahanna.
With 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m2), [2] : 1 the restaurant was one of the largest tiki-themed restaurants in the United States, and operated at its East Broad Street location from 1961 until the building's demolition in 2000. It was built at the heyday of tiki culture's popularity. [3]
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. It was described as an exceptionally important example of a themed restaurant and the most elaborate tiki restaurant ever built. [1] [3]
The restaurant was located in suburban Columbus, east of downtown, on the border of Whitehall. It was situated on a corner lot, near retail and fast food businesses beside and across from it. The restaurant had a small parking lot on its west side and a larger one on its east side. [3]
Cocktails served at the restaurant included Malayan Mist, Blue Hurricane, Instant Urge, Maiden's Prayer, Misty Isle, Jungle Fever, Head Hunter, Zombie, and the Smoking Eruption. The restaurant was best-known for its "Mystery Drink", a cocktail served in a bowl with a "smoking volcano" in its center. The Mystery Drink served four people and had eight ounces of rum and brandy. It was always served by the "Mystery Girl", a server summoned with a gong, and who only appeared to dance the drink to diners' tables. Fresh orchid leis were presented to the parties; the leis were flown in from Hawaii 2-3 times per week. [4]
Notable restaurant guests included Zsa Zsa Gabor, Bob Hope, Gypsy Rose Lee, Milton Berle, Andy Williams, Robert Goulet, and Van Johnson. [4] [5]
The Kahiki was initially designed by Bernard C. Altenbach. Altenbach had the idea of styling the restaurant like a Polynesian or New Guinea meetinghouse, and designed the interior rooms. Coburn Morgan was hired as the decorator. [2] When Altenbach became too busy, Design Associates of Columbus was hired, principally Ralph Sounik and Ned Eller. [3] It cost $1 million to build. [6] The main building, an immense A-frame building, had a large roof resembling a ship or war canoe, gently sloping on either side. The roof tiles were arranged in a pattern of red, white, and black tiles. The roofline was decorated with abstract fish designs and a pelican. The triangular entryway had colorful vertical painted panels, while the rear facade was unadorned. [3]
The restaurant's entranceway was flanked by two large Moai statues with flaming heads. Between them, a small bridge spanned the moat around the front of the building. [2] : 1 The interior spaces had mock rainforests, aquariums, thatch huts, fountains, gongs, drums, and a massive stone Moai fireplace. [7]
The Kahiki restaurant was established at the height of popularity for tiki culture in the United States. Its owners, Bill Sapp and Lee Henry, had operated a bar nearby, the Grass Shack. The Polynesian-themed bar was frequented by World War II veterans in the 1950s. It was destroyed in a fire, prompting creation of the Kahiki Supper Club. [3]
In 1957, Sapp and Henry began researching for the restaurant project, including traveling with their designer Coburn Morgan throughout the South Pacific. They gathered artifacts and ideas, and visited tiki restaurants throughout the U.S. The Kahiki restaurant was built from July 1960 to early 1961. It opened its doors in February 1961. [3] In 1975, designer Coburn Morgan drew up plans for an expansion to the restaurant, including a treehouse dining space and museum. Around this time, plans were also drawn for a smaller tiki restaurant that could be replicated for a Kahiki franchise. [8]
Also in 1975, a conflict took place at the restaurant, called the Kahiki Incident. A dispute over a group's bill led to a physical altercation and the arrest of three diners. Two officers were fired for misconduct, though soon rehired. The incident and its fallout in the community was noted as a prominent incident of racial strife in the city. [9]
Sapp and Henry sold the restaurant to Mitch Boich in 1978, who entered a partnership with Michael Tsao later that year. [3] Sapp and Henry made the sale in order to finance a new restaurant, and was sorry to see its sale within two weeks. Tsao bought out his partner in 1988. [6] The business was incorporated in 1993, and the manufacture of prepared foods began in 1995. The company built a small food processing plant to the rear of the restaurant that year to produce its frozen meals. [3]
In 1997, the restaurant was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. At the time, it was the only tiki restaurant in Ohio, and the only remaining supper club in Columbus. [3] It closed on August 26, 2000 due to prohibitively high maintenance costs and a significant loss of business, and so the property was sold to Walgreens. [10] [11] The retail pharmacy tore down the restaurant that year and replaced it with one of its stores. [11] The demolition crew salvaged pieces of the restaurant, including the large fireplace, which required opening up part of the roof. [4] The restaurant's 110 employed staff were allowed to continue work at the business's food manufacturing plant beside the restaurant. The plant moved to a space in Gahanna beside the Port Columbus International Airport later that year. [11]
Owner Michael Tsao had believed that Columbus would relocate the Kahiki to the riverfront of the Scioto River in Downtown Columbus. He drew up plans for the site, in front of the Franklin County Veterans Memorial, and also considered spaces in Polaris, Easton, and the Arena District. [12] Tsao became caught up with the Kahiki brand's food production, and unexpectedly died in 2005. [6]
The Fraternal Order of Moai was founded in 2005 to preserve the history and artifacts of the restaurant. It acts as a social club with ten chapters nationwide. Memorials to the Kahiki also exist throughout dozens of websites, discussion boards, and online photo albums. Books and poetry have been written about the restaurant as well. [6] Members of the organization as well as other enthusiasts have gathered tiki items and Kahiki decor to create their own intricately-decorated basement tiki bars. These include Shipwreck Shirley's and Rancho Kahiki, private spaces operating out of suburban houses in Columbus. [13] [14]
From 2006 to 2008, former Kahiki employees operated a restaurant named Tropical Bistro. [6] From 2012 to 2019, the Grass Skirt Tiki Room operated in downtown Columbus; the bar featured "George the Monkey", a decorative fountain that stood inside the Kahiki restaurant until the piece was sold at auction to the Fraternal Order of Moai. [15]
Kahiki Foods, originally a side business to the Kahiki Supper Club, manufactures frozen meals for distribution nationwide. The company is headquartered in Gahanna, a suburb of Columbus. The company was bought out by a larger company based in Pittsburgh in 2007, though its Gahanna factory remains in use. [6]
Jeff Tsao (son of final Kahiki owner Michael Tsao) owns Fukuryu Ramen, a small restaurant chain in Central Ohio. The chain's third location, opening in 2022, will feature the Kahiki's Mai Tai recipe. [16]
Columbus is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, and the third-most populous U.S. state capital. Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County; it also extends into Delaware and Fairfield counties. It is the core city of the Columbus metropolitan area, which encompasses ten counties in central Ohio. It had a population of 2.139 million in 2020, making it the largest metropolitan area entirely in Ohio and 32nd-largest metro area in the U.S.
Tiki culture is an American-originated art, music, and entertainment movement inspired by Polynesian, Melanesian, and Micronesian cultures, and by Oceanian art. Influential cultures to Tiki culture include Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, the Caribbean Islands, and Hawaii. The name comes from Tiki, the Māori name for the first human, often represented in the form of hei-tiki, a pendant and important taonga. The hei-tiki was often appropriated by Europeans as a commercialised good luck charm, hence the name of Tiki culture. Despite spanning over 10,000 miles and including many different unrelated cultures, religions, and languages, Tiki aesthetic is considered by some to be amalgamated into one "fantasia of trans-Pacific cultures" and "colonial nostalgia". Because of this, and the simplistic view of the Pacific taken by the aesthetic, Tiki culture has often proved controversial.
Donn Beach was an American adventurer, businessman, and World War II veteran who was the "founding father" of tiki culture. He is known for opening the first prototypical tiki bar, Don’s Beachcomber, during the 1930s in Hollywood, California, which was expanded to a chain of dozens of restaurants throughout the United States. He later built the International Market Place and additional establishments in what was then the Territory of Hawaii. He married three times.
Trader Vic's is a restaurant and tiki bar chain headquartered in Emeryville, California, United States. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. founded a chain of Polynesian-themed restaurants that bore his nickname, "Trader Vic". He was one of two people who claimed to have invented the Mai Tai. The other was his amicable competitor for many years, Donn Beach of the "Don the Beachcomber" restaurants.
Donald EdgarLukens was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. His political career ended in 1990 when he was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Six years later, he was convicted for accepting a bribe during his time in Congress.
Disney's Polynesian Village Resort is a Disney-owned and operated resort located at the Walt Disney World Resort. It began operation on October 1, 1971 as one of Walt Disney World Resort's first two on-site hotels. The resort has a South Seas theme, and originally opened with 492 rooms. It was designed by Welton Becket and Associates and constructed by US Steel Realty Development. The resort is owned and operated by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.
Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, LLC. is a restaurant group headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. It owns restaurants under various names, many of which are located in Central Ohio.
A pu pu platter is a tray of American Chinese or Hawaiian food consisting of an assortment of small meat and seafood appetizers. The Thrillist called the pu-pu platter "an amalgam of Americanized Chinese food, Hawaiian tradition and bar food."
A tiki bar is a themed drinking establishment that serves elaborate cocktails, especially rum-based mixed drinks such as the Mai Tai and Zombie cocktails. Tiki bars are aesthetically defined by their tiki culture décor which is based upon a romanticized conception of tropical cultures, most commonly Polynesian. Some bars also incorporate general nautical themes or retro elements from the early atomic age.
The Mai-Kai is a Polynesian-themed restaurant and tiki bar in Oakland Park, Florida. It opened to the public on December 28, 1956, and is one of the few "Grand Polynesian Palaces of Tiki" still in operation today. In 2015 it was named the "best tiki bar in the world" by Critiki, an organization of fans of Polynesian pop culture. It is the last restaurant in existence carrying on the traditions of service and serving the original drink recipes of Don the Beachcomber, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"Quiet Village" is an orchestral pop instrumental that was written and originally performed by Les Baxter in 1951 and an instrumental album from 1959 by Martin Denny. In the liner notes to his album, Ritual of the Savage , Baxter described the themes he was conveying in the work:
[t]he jungle grows more dense as the river boat slowly makes its way into the deep interior. A snake slithers into the water, flushing a brilliantly plumaged bird who soars into the clearing above a quiet village. Here is a musical portrait of a tropical village deserted in the mid-day heat.
The Fraternal Order of Moai is a fraternal order and social club founded in 2005 by Matt "Kuku Ahu" Thatcher, Jim "Chisel Slinger" Robinson and Joel "Cowtown Kahuna" Gunn. The Order uses the Moai statues of Rapa Nui as a theme. An initial goal of the group was to preserve the history of and artifacts from the closed Kahiki Supper Club in Columbus, Ohio. Since then it has grown into "a serious group of tiki aficionados" with activity all over the United States. Some describe the group as "a cult within a cult" when discussing the modern Tiki revival.
Shelter Island is a neighborhood of Point Loma in San Diego, California, United States. It is actually not an island but is connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. It was originally a sandbank in San Diego Bay, visible only at low tide. It was built up into dry land using material dredged from the bay in 1934. It was developed in the 1950s and contains hotels, restaurants, marinas, and public parkland.
Columbus, Ohio has a generally strong and diverse economy based on education, insurance, banking, fashion, defense, aviation, food, logistics, steel, energy, medical research, health care, hospitality, retail, and technology.
Ritual of the Savage is an album by American composer Les Baxter, released in 1951 often cited as one of the most important exotica albums. The album featured lush orchestral arrangements along with tribal rhythms and offered such classics as "Quiet Village", "Jungle River Boat", "Love Dance", and "Stone God."
The Zombie Hut was a Hawaiian/Polynesian-themed restaurant, nightclub and Tiki bar located on Freeport Blvd. between Florin Road and Sutterville Road in Sacramento, California that originally opened in 1945 after the end of WWII and continuing for 45 years until its closing in 1990. Inspired by the 1930s Tiki craze, the restaurant was owned by Johnny Quaresma from 1945 to 1952 when Ed and Beatrice Hill purchased the business. The Hills eventually sold the Zombie Hut to Bruce Brooks, who owned it until its closing in 1990.
Chin Tiki was a tiki-themed supper club, nightclub and banquet hall in Detroit, Michigan owned by Marvin Chin. It closed in 1980 and was demolished in 2009.
Budd Dairy Food Hall is a food hall in the Italian Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. The Cameron Mitchell Restaurants-run hall holds ten foodservice locations, three bars, and indoor, patio, and rooftop seating. It is situated in the historic Budd Dairy Company building, a former milk processing and distribution facility. The space was renovated beginning in 2018, and opened in April 2021.
The following is a bibliography of Columbus, Ohio. It includes selected publications specifically about the city of Columbus, Franklin County, and the Columbus metropolitan area.
External videos | |
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"Columbus Neighborhoods: The Kahiki Supper Club", WOSU Public Media, 2018 |