October 27, 2023
Marge’s Lakeside Inn is a bit of an area institution. The kind that doesn’t need a website or Instagram. A timeless place that exudes nostalgia… nostalgia of a time I caught the tail end of, thankfully. We stopped in for a drink after being lulled by the u2 cover band Read more…
October 13, 2023
With plans to catch up with some old friends, I headed to Manhattan’s East Village, my old stomping ground. It’s always nice to walk these streets–monitor the changes, assess the level of its downfall. A Buffalo bar I was excited to learn that Seasoned Vegan, which had recently closed after Read more…
June 29, 2023
On my NYC-area bucket list was Cellar 335, a hip tiki bar and restaurant in downtown Jersey City, New Jersey. Tiki decor is just one part of why I seek tiki establishments. The design is an art, then comes the creative and fun libations… Elbows on the table, ready to Read more…
February 21, 2023
The Shady Dell Trailer Park in Bisbee, Arizona.
January 30, 2023
Well, January is over… and the short but mighty month of February ushers us close to spring like a time machine. Because it’s always gone in a flash. Before we dive in, some outtakes from January 2023’s archive in my three favorite boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, & Staten Island. Manhattan On Read more…
January 23, 2023
I have to go to all tiki bars… and I’ve been to a lot. Many of them historic landmarks in their own right: The Tonga Room in San Francisco, Frankie’s Tiki Room in Las Vegas, Kowloon in Massachusetts, Tiki Ti and Tonga Hut in Los Angeles, Foundation in Milwaukee (not Read more…
October 1, 2022
With an alluring and authentic vintage tiki kitsch, Jade Island is right up my alley. . . and perhaps the alleys of the many visitors also basking in tropical fun during our visit. As you step in you forget about it being in a strip mall next to the huge Read more…
July 28, 2022
You might have forgotten since I told you in 2018, but I have a thing for tiki bars. Real ones. Ones that opened long ago. There are two in Los Angeles and I was happy to have hit them both, along with a new one which, of course, was not Read more…
December 11, 2021
It’s my intention to visit all relevant tiki bars across the states… the vintage ones, born in the late 1950’s. With some stops nearby, I knew getting to Kowloon in Saugus, Massachusetts would be a priority. I didn’t know it’d be swarmed with partygoers, making it challenging to embrace the Read more…
October 9, 2021
Though the Upper West Side’s Tiki Chick isn’t my kind of tiki bar (“my” meaning grimy, with retro credibility, not on the Upper West Side, etc) it is a version of a tiki bar, a kind I just have to embrace given my coordinates. And they’ve got a vegan sandwich Read more…
July 5, 2021
A reigning Favorite Thing, I go nuts for tiki bars. Vintage decor, kitsch, seediness, decorative and impactful cocktails,,, and in the case of the legendary Frankie’s Tiki Room in Las Vegas–gambling, smoking, and lots of couples making out. Ah, a fantastic energy that is so nostalgic to me.
May 6, 2020
Here are the latest highlights from the Quarantine cafe! First in the bakery, my failed sourdough starter. It was bubbling nice and fine, but I accidentally killed it. I’m starting another tomorrow, because… persistence. Next a stop at the bar before I’m seated at the best seat in the house. Read more…
July 28, 2019
Do you know that fish fly in Staten Island? That birds have condos by the bay? That you can walk into a tree hallway and share the experience with no one but you and yours? And that it’s getting more vegan food… slowly. Yes, there are a lot of things Read more…
June 8, 2019
In celebration of an impending summer, I’m thinking about tropical fruits, sunshine, and reasons to use mini cocktail umbrellas. I am thinking about my 50th state, 🌺Hawaii🌺. Beginning a process of getting there with an appreciation of its elements and its culture within and outside of the culturally-appropriated components. But Read more…
March 31, 2018
I love tiki bars. I love tiki bars more when they are not in a big city (like say Clifton, New Jersey where Lee’s Hawaiian Islander is… or this strip mall on Staten Island where Jade Island is) where their elaborate design features seem strange and random, where their girl-drink-drunk Read more…
February 18, 2016
Ravi DeRossi’s Mother of Pearl has gone vegan. But chances were I would have loved to visit Mother of Pearl either way. The union of nostalgic, color and kitsch, I love a tiki bar. Below is my investigative photoshoot for a special event I am planning. But being pretty detail-orientated, I had some wardrobe recon Read more…
Finally! Some Staten Island reporting! Staten Island is a borough of New York City, but besides the familiar MTA bus signage and towering NYCDOE public schools, the Island is an island unto itself. The hilly land contains a city-suburb hybrid mix of residential spans and all the needed industries of a Read more…
September 24, 2015
Portland used to be a quick 2-hour drive from home when I lived in Seattle in 2000. Back then, the city was far less vegan-friendly to this vegan. It was Blossoming Lotus where I got a good meal, which is still going strong. But I more remember karaoke at Alibi, a tiki Read more…
April 6, 2015
SOMA StrEat Food Park sets up next to the I-80, South of Market. Thanks to the rain (and the holiday?) we enjoyed this space with minimal crowding. The apple of my eye? Hella Vegan Eats, “festive” all-vegan cuisine. I had to get the bizarre Birthday Burger, a dense beet-based patty on a confetti sprinkled pancake Read more…
April 5, 2009
I’ve blogged a good deal about vegan options in Wisconsin, the land of cheese and fish frys (see here and here). Contrary to the state’s license plate, there is plenty to eat for dairy-free cheeseheads. Particularly, the small city of Milwaukee continues to impress my vegan sensibilities! Here is my Read more…