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Dionysus Records - Dionysus Records, Bacchus Archives, Garage, Surf, Exotica, Punk, Rockabilly vinyl and CD mail-order and art / event blog
Dionysus Records, exotica, Tiki, Vinyl reissues

Memories of The Kahiki article in The Colombus Dispatch

10 years after torches go out, Kahiki memories live

Restaurant with Polynesian theme has devoted fans

Wednesday, August 25, 2010  02:53 AM

By Elizabeth Gibson

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Built for $1 million and opened in 1961, the Kahiki was a landmark on E. Broad Street for four decades and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

FILE PHOTO
Built for $1 million and opened in 1961, the Kahiki was a landmark on E. Broad Street for four decades and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Related content

  • Video: Remembering the Kahiki
  • Photos: See a slideshow of the Kahiki
  • Former patrons and employees share their favorite Kahiki memories
  • Quiz: Test your Kahiki knowledge

Timeline

1961 | Bill Sapp and Lee Henry open the Kahiki after their Tiki bar, the Grass Shack, burns down.

1988 | After a slew of owners, Michael Tsao buys out his partner and takes over the restaurant.

1995 | Tsao starts a frozen-food company next door to the restaurant.

1997 | The Kahiki is put on the National Register of Historic Places.

April 17, 2000 | Walgreens confirms that it wants to build a store where the Kahiki sits.

June 30, 2000 | Tsao says that he will sell the Kahiki to Walgreens but never reveals how much money it took.

Aug. 25, 2000 | The Kahiki closes its doors before a private farewell party the next day.

July 22, 2005 | Michael Tsao unexpectedly dies 10 weeks after the realization of his dream of moving the company into a bigger factory. The company is in debt and in mourning.

2006 | A group of former Kahiki employees opens a restaurant called Tropical Bistro, but it lasts for only two years.

May 2007 | A Pittsburgh company buys Kahiki for $11.7 million, although the factory stays in Gahanna.

2010 | The company makes almost $50 million in sales a year and sells 70 products in groceries across the country. President Alan Hoover said it still makes many of the dishes from the Kahiki menu.

Source: Dispatch archives

No restaurant with a fire-breathing stone head has ever captured the hearts of Columbus quite like the Kahiki.

The Polynesian eatery took Tiki kitsch to the max with an aviary, indoor thatch huts, umbrella-topped drinks, waterfalls and the deep thrum of drums.

Ten years ago today, the Kahiki closed its doors to make way for a Walgreens pharmacy. The Kahiki name lives on in a Gahanna-based frozen-food company, but company President Alan Hoover says he still gets calls about the restaurant.

“Two months ago, I was leaving the office in the evening and a couple was walking up the front walkway,” he said. “I asked if I could help them, and they said, ‘Yes, we’d like to have dinner tonight.’

“It’s amazing that these things are still happening.”

The Kahiki, at 3583 E. Broad St., was the brainchild of Bill Sapp and Lee Henry, also the creators of the Top Steak House near Bexley. Their temple of Tiki opened in 1961 after their Tiki bar, the Grass Shack, burned down.

They built the Kahiki for more than $1 million (about $7.3 million today). Sapp said they sold it to help them finance a new restaurant, the Wine Cellar, also long gone now.

“We were sorry within two weeks that we sold it,” he said. “We had this great big gong, like 4 to 5 feet across, that went bong, and right after we sold it they replaced it with this little thing that went ting.”

The restaurant went through multiple owners. The last was Michael Tsao, who started the frozen-food business and sold the property to Walgreens. Hoover said it was a smart business move. The restaurant was draining, and Tsao wanted more time to focus on expanding the factory.

Tsao’s son Jeff said that before his father unloaded the restaurant he had grand dreams for relocating the Kahiki to the riverfront Downtown. But it never panned out because the factory got busy and government support fell short. Then his father died unexpectedly.

“I don’t know if it could ever happen again,” Jeff Tsao said. “But we’re very, very pleased and thankful that we still have so many fans.”

But that doesn’t necessarily soften the blow.

“I think a lot of people are still bitter about it. We all miss it,” said Stu Koblentz, who was a member of the Ohio Preservation Alliance when the organization labeled the Kahiki one of the top 10 endangered historic buildings in Ohio.

Kahiki fans say the restaurant was a place for special occasions and fond memories.

There are dozens of active Kahiki tribute websites and discussion boards. There are photo albums on TikiCentral.org full of Kahiki swag – drink stirrers, napkins, toothpicks, salt shakers and matchbooks.

Tiki enthusiasts write books and poetry about the restaurant. Columbus resident Jeff Chenault unearthed a 1965 recording of the Beachcomber Trio at the Kahiki.

Dionysus Records produced vinyl copies for sale online, and they’re selling.

Other Ohioans remember a prom night, an anniversary getaway, playing table games in the basement or bouncing with excitement as a child, sipping virgin mixed drinks and roasting meatballs over an open flame. Zsa Zsa Gabor famously ordered milk.

“When I was a kid and we’d drive by the huge sloping roof with dragons and torches, it always seemed to me to be a grounded ship on E. Broad Street,” Newark resident Lesa Best said in an e-mail.

“There were macaws in the bar, and the booth walls were lined with aquariums, or ‘rain forests’ complete with thunderous sound effects. By the ’80s, it was past its prime, definitely, and cheesy? Yes it was. But my friends and family loved going because it was different, it was campy and the food was really quite good.

“I long for just one more Mystery Drink.”

Each time someone made a pilgrimage to the Kahiki, they would take word back to their hometowns.

“When I was a kid growing up in Pittsburgh, my dad regularly traveled to Columbus on business,” said Worthington resident Bill Nordquist. “We had a postcard picture of the exterior, and in the mid-1970s I had never seen anything like that.”

Even some people who never went to the Kahiki said they were dismayed to hear it would be torn down.

Jennifer Akers grew up nearby and begged her parents to take her there for her birthday. They told her the Kahiki wasn’t in the budget for a family of six, so she never set a foot inside.

But when she heard the Kahiki was auctioning off its wares, she had her chance. Now she owns a copy of its blueprints.

“I spent hours and lots of dollars buying treasure,” she said. “I have boxes of menus, match boxes, napkins, cups. I have the boss’ couch right out of his office.”

New Yorker Frank Decaro flew to Columbus when he heard the Kahiki was closing. Ten years later, he still can’t believe they tore it down.

“At the point when the last great Tiki bar closes, someone will open a new one and everyone will say these are great,” he said. “It’s a shame we always seem to realize too late how much things mean to us.”

egibson@dispatch.com

August 29, 2010by Dionysus Records
Dick and Jane, Los Angeles area events, West Los Angeles

8/28: An evening at Stronghold by the Sea

An evening at Stronghold by the Sea in Marina Del Rey, CA.

9:30: The Dick and Jane Family Orchestra
10:30: Ruthann Friedman
11:30:  Azalia Snail

Saturday, August 8, 2010
9:00 pm – 1:30 AM
Stronghold by the Sea
4211 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, CA 90292

Get Directions

THE DICK AND JANE FAMILY ORCHESTRA
Featuring buxom high priestess of splendor, one of LA’s first 100 punks, Miss Jane Cantillon and her husband Richard Ross’ memorable audience participation provoking LA-centric original compositions,  The Dick and Jane Family Orchestra also perform favorites by Dylan and Leonard Cohen along with acoustified Jaynettes, Jimi Hendrix and Captain Beefheart songs. Dionysus Records’ Lee Joseph plays bass and Michael Peffer, formerly with Cleveland’s Biblical Proof of UFOs plays percussion.

RUTHANN FRIEDMAN
Ruthann Friedman is an enduring gem, a jewel in the headband of 60s culture. With a serious clutch of songs, she defines an exact space and time. Her smooth and undulating vocal line is combined with polished stone-washed lyrical poetry. Her legend starts with “Windy”– The Association took it on and pushed it to the top of the charts in 1967.  A former housemate of David Crosby and the Jefferson Airplane, her jazz-touched, melodically complex songs go beyond mere hippie confessions.

AZALIA SNAIL
Azalia Snail has been making her uniquely sweet, viscous, noise-inflected, tempo-bending psychedelia for over two decades, recording a dozen or so albums between 1990 and 2010 on labels including Dark Beloved Cloud and Powertool Records. The music has its share of discordant moments and harsh textures, but somehow these are enveloped in a softening sheen. She has toured the USA, Europe, Japan, and New Zealand.  She has jammed with Beck, The Black Heart Procession, The Grifters, Trumans Water, Low, and many other unique musical artists. Joining Azalia for this show will be sax player Emily St Amand Poliakoff.

August 24, 2010by Dionysus Records
Dionysus bands, Dionysus Records, Garage Music, Orange County, Surf Music, The Creepy Creeps

8/28: The Creepy Creeps in Anaheim!

Saturday, August 28: Dionysus Records recording artists, San Diego’s wildest surf-garage-tiki-monster combo The Creepy Creeps will be performing The Juke Joint‘s fifth anniversary party with local surf gods The Dynotones and garage-punk-rockabilly from The Hexxers. This event will be filmed for a surf documentary.

August 24, 2010by Dionysus Records
DJ Lee, exotica, Fundraiser, San Diego, Stuff We Like, Surf Music, Tiki, Tiki Oasis, Vinyl Vendors

Tiki Oasis 10 Year Extravaganza in San Diego starts Thursday!

TIKI OASIS 10 YEAR EXTRAVAGANZA!
Thursday August 19 – Sunday August 22
taking place at The Bali Hai and the Crowne Plaza
San Diego, CA


Event website:
www.tikioasis.com

Several Tiki Oasis Events are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
Please note – all ticketed Tiki Oasis events are SOLD OUT but there are a number of great things happening off and on site that are FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC – for adults AND kids!

Thursday August 19:
Tiki Oasis Meet and Mingle
:

Bali Hai Restaurant
2230 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106
619-222-1181
www.balihairestaurant.com

Doors: 6:30 PM
Show: 6:30 PM – 1:00AM
This event is FREE and open to the public
Bali Hai, Indoors
Luxuriamusic.com DJ’s all night long!

Bali Hai, Outdoors
King Kukulele
Sultry Savage Burlesque
Tikiyaki Orchestra
(two sets)

Special guest
Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid

Friday, August 20
Keep A Breast Foundation Benefit Art Show

Crowne Plaza Hotel, Lahaina room, 11:00AM – 4:00PM,
2270 Hotel Circle North
San Diego, CA 92108
1-619-297-1101
www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/cp/1/en/hotel/sancp

Preview art show here

Saturday, August 21

Tiki Oasis 2nd Annual Car Show
Crowne Plaza Hotel Parking Lot, 9:00AM – 4:00PM,
Chum 10:00AM, 1:00PM, 3:00PM

Tiki Oasis artist Derek Yaniger Book Signing + Special Guests

Crowne Plaza Hotel Grand Hanalei Ballroom Foyer, 10:00AM,
Free – Details

Keep A Breast Art Show
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Lahaina Room, 11:00AM – 4:00PM,
Meet and Greet with artists/castees
1:00PM – 2:30PM

Sunday, August 22

Tiki Oasis Marketplace with over 70 vendors!
Crowne Plaza Hotel Courtyard,
10:00AM – 4:00PM

Keep A Breast Art Show
Crowne Plaza Lahaina Room, 11:00AM – 4:00PM,

Uke Jam
Crowne Plaza Atrium, 1:30PM

Kids Activities
Tot Tour with King Kukulele
Poolside, 9:30AM

Tiki Farm’s Tiki Tot 10 Year Anniversary Party
Paradise Room, 10:30AM

For more details on all above events, please click here

August 18, 2010by Dionysus Records
Country Music, Echo Park, Events, Los Angeles area events

8/14: The Skip Heller Trio, Patria Jacobs, Chris Lockett in Echo Park

Saturday, August 14 at 8 pm
The Skip Heller Trio, Patria Jacobs, Chris Lockett
Playing for you at
Rafa’s Gallery & Lounge
1836 W Sunset Bl
Los Angeles, CA

$5  cover, there’s coffee and beer. Right around the corner from the Echoplex,

August 11, 2010by Dionysus Records
Dance Club, DJ Lee, downtown Los Angeles, Events, Free Event, Los Angeles area events, Mod, Soul

8/8: Velvet Lounge at La Cita, Downtown Los Angeles

Velvet Lounge
August 8 at 10:00 pm – 2:00 am

La Cita
336 S. Hill St. (across from Angel’s Flight)
Los Angeles, CA
www.lacitabar.com

This month’s Velvet Lounge is gonna be hotter than the weather featuring Nica Tine churning out some Boss Jamaican sounds, Frankie the Face making a public appearance from his Secret Affair, and local L.A. Icon Lee Joseph of Dionysus Records making his rounds around town and stopping by to lay some tracks down!

Come by after the Dick and Jane Family Orchestra set at the Lotus Light Arts Fundraiser!

Next Month Velvet Lounge will have the 45 Flying Dutchman: Kula Baker, Powder from the old school days of L.A. Mod, Rocksteady Lounge’s Nina and Viktor plus… many others! Tell your friends and spread the word, cause The Velvet Lounge is still here and is 100% drama free!

August 5, 2010by Dionysus Records
Art, East Hollywood, Events, Free Event, La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles area events, Los Feliz, Stuff We Like

8/6: Christopher Ulrich “Illuminator: The Royal Wedding” at La Luz de Jesus Gallery

Christopher Ulrich
“Illuminator: The Royal Wedding”

August 6 – 29, 2010
Reception for the artist: Friday, August 6, 2010, 8pm – 11pm
Print Release & Signing will precede, from 7-8 pm

La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90232
323-666-7667
info@laluzdejesus.com
www.laluzdejesus.com



Choice
Oil on canvas
36″ x 48″ in 44″ x 71.5″ frame

This is Christopher Ulrich’s second show with Billy Shire. The first was “The Fourth Enochian Key,” which debuted on June 13, 2009. This next chapter is a continuance of the “Demoneater” series recently catalogued and exhibited at the Grand Central Art Center Museum at CSUF. “Illuminator: The Royal Wedding” is the second chapter of three in Ulrich’s ongoing journey. It was on this very day 38 years ago that Ulrich was born.  Each piece in the series is designed to be its own portable temple marked and charged by the number 8. There are 16 paintings with 16 illustrated studies, 1 additional drawing, hidden, conceptual notes and 16 print editions that complete the show.

“Illuminator: The Royal Wedding” is a merger, a multi-faceted view of the crystal. Light and dark begin to dance within the circle. As the black continues it’s metamorphic process, the heat and flame of experience (and a time-crunching deadline) increase and the whitening begins. The white aspect of the alchemical process is the manifestation of a deep healing process. What happens is it gives birth to axioms.  These insights form the images, which create personalized alchemical recipes. Various figures from history -both real and imagined- have folded with cross-cultural counterparts significant to the artist. This manifested array marks the interior witnesses that revolve around the axis of the third part, that which has yet to be. All the works can be viewed simultaneously, as if they are all happening at the same time in different places and dimensions. Poetic conception is the moment in which a certain resonance rings out throughout the universe; dark beacons echoing across the depths of space and time. As the piper plays his hypnotic melodies so, too, the aspirant chooses his card. As the Promethean hare reveals nuclear magic to primates so, too, St. Margaret rises from the belly of the dragon. These moments capture a singular message. And that is an awakening with the white and black truly integrated. The red man and the white woman merge and not only give birth to the divine child but absorb its golden aura, which is the backdrop of the whole show. The entire universe spirals above, below, and within. The Royal Wedding heals all wounds, and establishes treaties amongst all houses; a rekindling of friendship; truce between enemies; the harvesting of fruits of labor; the newborn gifts between lovers; a new manifestation between father and son, god and warrior, mother, sister and friend. :Illuminator: The Royal Wedding” has revealed that there are no mistakes, no regrets and no lies. All parts of the greater whole bear witness that life is a magical process with “magic” defined as the transforming agent. The ability to make the unreal reality, to make impossibility possible, to bring a sense of inspiration, joy and insight is your birthright. We live in abundance, not scarcity. Everyone is invited to experience his or her own inner awakening by witnessing the call that the artist has truthfully labored to answer.


Grace
Graphite on strathmore
12″ x 17.5″ (plus 3″ matte & frame)
Also available as a proof edition lithograph  (1/16)


There is a great wedding occurring. The bride and groom could be myth and reality or science and religion. Seeming opposites come together. You have to choose: there are four paths with four different directions all going to the same place. All who attend this show will see various paths revealed.
The Universe will be drawn back to its singularity. There is no expansion without contraction. Each guest is invited to contribute and share their own gifts within the court. May the masks come off and the archetypes dance. Who knows what they will bring forth. Amen, Glory, Peace, and Triumph!

###

Contact the Gallery Director for availability and purchase info: (323) 666-7667

La Luz de Jesus Gallery is located in the Soap Plant/Wacko building, in Los Feliz at 4633 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Gallery hours are Monday – Wednesday: 11am – 7pm, Thursday – Saturday: 11am – 9pm and Sunday 12-6pm.  For high resolution jpegs, interview requests and more information contact: Lee Joseph Publicity, leejemail@gmail.com, p (818) 848-269, f (818) 848-2699.

August 5, 2010by Dionysus Records

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