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Matt Hull loads the tiki mask he purchased at a memorabilia sale at the defunct New Tiki restaurant in Westford, Mass.
- Karl Baldrate’s dashboard pays homage to his Hawaiian upbringing.
Beth Gerrig displays a treasured tiki mug.
Jon Powers salvages kitchen equipment at the New Tiki.
By Joyce Pellino Crane
WESTFORD, MASS. – Polynesian pop culture weathered another blow this week as the New Tiki sold off artifacts and equipment inside the once popular restaurant.
So much for Chinese food in the kitschy and raffish style of the 1960`s.
Think chop suey, “Hawaii Five-O,” and Don Ho.
For all but a select group of fanatics, the bygone era was the death knell for the dowdy eatery, which permanently closed its doors in late September, a victim of Americans’ fickle preferences.
“People don’t eat that kind of Chinese food anymore…” said Brian Lafferty, a management consultant for the property. “The overhead was too high to sustain it.”
Inside the restaurant’s defunct kitchen, Saturday (oct. 18), artist Jon Powers, who grew up in Amesbury, was grabbing stainless steel teapots, ceramic teacups, and tiki-style sterno holders, in a last-ditch effort to salvage the memories.
“There’s something about being fed up with the destruction of vintage America,…with the plastic urban renewal…,” he said as he bypassed greasy woks to grab shiny serving platters. “Where’s the charm? Some of us try to recreate it and share it with friends and family.”
“I have this real affection for Polynesian,” he said.
He’s not alone. About 50 Polynesian cocktail aficionados from as far away as Pennsylvania meet monthly in the Boston-area to dance the hula and down mai tais.
Matt Hull, 46, drove up from Allentown, Penn., stopping, on Friday, for a concert by the Ventures in New York City. The 1960`s instrumental band recorded the theme song to Hawaii-Five-O, a hit television series filmed on the island of Oahu that aired from 1968 to 1980. Don Ho was a 1960`s Hawaiian singer and entertainer.
Tikiphiles connect through Northeast Tiki Tours, the brainchild of Mike Sullivan, a Tolland, Conn., resident, who started the company in August 2007 with a whirlwind trip to several surviving Polynesian restaurants. In addition to the New Tiki, the group visited South Pacific in Newton, Bali Hai in Lynnfield, Mon Kou in Attleboro, and Kowloon in Saugus. They were accompanied by the Boston-based Waitiki band.
Polynesian cuisine gave way to Japanese fare some 20 years ago, and more recently, to Japanese-Chinese fusion cuisine. Even the typical Chinese restaurant of the 90`s is losing favor of late, according to the National Restaurant Association, which publishes an annual “What’s Hot and What’s Not” chef survey.
But New England has an unusually large number of Polynesian restaurants still in operation, according to Sullivan.
Among them, Ho Kong in Woonsocket, RI, Mon Kou in Attleboro, Chuck’s China Inn in New Bedford, Tiki Hawaii in Sandwich, and Tiki Port in Hyannis.
Phil and Cheryl Dinsmore of Littleton, who stopped in at the New Tiki on Saturday, said they spent many weekend nights dancing and drinking there with friends during the 1970`s.
“Memories” and “curiosity” drew them in when they spotted the memorabilia for-sale sign on Route 110.
Members of Sullivan’s tiki followers call themselves the Queequeg Chapter of the Fraternal Order of the Moai, a reference to Moby Dick.
Tiki means the first man or creator of the first man, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Polynesia encompasses the islands of central and South Pacific, including New Zealand and Hawaii.
Beth Gerrig’s car was already brimming Saturday with cartons of tiki mugs from the Salvation Army in Salem, NH, and boxes of other Polynesian treasures while she searched for more goodies inside the restaurant.
“These came from the Mai-Kai (Restaurant and Lounge) in Fort Lauderdale,” said the 44-year-old Lowell resident, as she held up a chocolate-colored mug with the sculpted mask of a tiki god.
Karl Baldrate of Shirley, 53, said since finding Sullivan’s group, his love for tiki has resurfaced.
“When I was young,” he said, “ I lived in Hawaii. That was when the Poly pop was still big.”
Baldrate pointed to the success of Trader Vic’s, a global chain of restaurants with a Polynesian theme, founded in the 1930`s in Oakland, Calif., and now a $70 million empire.
Baldrate said he loves the camaraderie of the tiki crowd and the lighthearted fun they share when they gather–particularly because New Englanders tend to suppress such ebullient cultures.
“Living in New England, these things get pushed down,” he said.
Sullivan, in a phone interview last year, said socializing with the tiki crowd keeps him sane.
“It’s therapy,” said the fortyish print shop operator, otherwise known by the nickname that says it all—“Bargoyle.”
Joyce Pellino Crane can be reached at joycepellinocrane@gmail.com.
