The NYC Tiki Renaissance™ is upon us. Here are five places that started it all.
Shelve the sassafras and shave those muttonchops: Tiki culture is about to hit our drinking spots like a South Pacific tidal wave. Faster than you can say "pupu," swizzle sticks and bamboo huts will make handcrafted bitters and unmarked doors look so 2009.
Painkiller, a product of Dutch Kills’ Giuseppe Gonzalez and Richard Boccato, is scheduled to open this spring on Essex Street, while Michael Stillman (Quality Meats) and Craig Koketsu (Park Avenue Spring) are also getting into the game with Hurricane Club. And in a city where two is never enough, more are sure to follow.
We assume that new-wave tiki will be an artisanal affair, full of falernum and without a sour mix in sight. So before pretense knocks the wind out of their sails, we decided to vist NYC’s top five pioneer tiki bars. The ones that will be around before, and after, this trend rides into the tropical sunset.
By Krista Garcia; photos by Ryan Muir
Pictured: Fruity drinks at King Yum in Fresh Meadows
