TIKI TIME IN COLORADO

Colorado’s boom in breezy, island-themed eateries and bars raises a question: Whose culture is it anyway? Tiki Time

by John Lehndorff

Yes, I like piña coladas. Really. I’m also a fan of poke—the raw fsh salad—as well as SPAM musubi (that’s seaweed-wrapped teriyaki-seared canned meat and rice) and Hawaiian lunch plates with Kalua pork.

Like virtually everyone, I’ve fantasized occasionally about ditching the demands and moving to a tropical island to sip chilled beverages all day and live the mythical Margaritaville/Tiki/ SpongeBob lifestyle.

After the pandemic trials and traumas, it’s easy to understand the appeal of Tiki bars, which provide an immersive Meow Wolf-like escape centered around sociability and strong drinks. That’s why Tiki spots are popping up all along the Front Range.

Jungle, a “Tiki shack” bar and burger spot at 2018 10th St. in Boulder, offers a pineapple and onion ring-topped jungle burger, a Krabby Patty crab cake sandwich and various tropically themed drinks.

You are immersed in a maritime world the moment you walk into Swaylo’s Tiki Restaurant and Bar. The eatery was recently opened at 1315 Dry Creek Road in Longmont. Swaylo’s menu includes ahi poke, Hawaiian fried rice, smoked octopus tostadas and signature libations Trader Vic ’s Book of Food and Drink like hurricanes, blue Hawaiians and Cuba libre.

More island-infuenced cuisine can be tasted at Waikiki Poke (Broomfeld), Rocky Fin Poke Bar (Westminster), Ohana Island Kitchen (Denver), Ohana Grille (Edgewater) and at the area’s longest-serving island eatery, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue (Aurora).

Tiki culture is also embraced at Adrift Tiki Bar in Denver, Castaways Cove in Breckenridge and Denver’s Hell or High Water Tiki bar, which offers this self-description:

“Picture a haunted pirate ship that once housed a gaggle of magnifcently gay pirates, now marooned on a phallically mystifying, bird-infested, tropical island of ill repute.”

WHAT EXACTLY IS A ‘TIKI?’

While the inherent racism in foods associated with African American life has recently been called out and Aunt Jemima “retired,” Tiki culture has seemingly escaped criticism. Maybe it’s because there are so few Pacifc Islanders in the population or because Tiki is such a fantasy mishmash of references, symbols and foods extracted from unrelated cultures across the globe.

Authentic Polynesian culture does not include coconut bras, grass skirts or frozen blue drinks. And, let’s face it, after the Charlottesville horror, tiki torches have lost some of their backyard appeal.

For starters, “Tiki” is a word from New Zealand’s Māori culture for an image or amulet of a human fgure representing an ancestor. In other words, it’s a spiritual symbol. Should it be used on a glass used to drink high-alcohol cocktails?

Tiki as a concept was invented, or appropriated, by West Coast bar owners in the early part of the 20th century. That means our parents and grandparents were knocking back mai tais back in the day.

THE JULIA CHILD OF TIKI FOOD AND DRINK

All this Tiki talk caused me to fnally open my copy of the original Tiki bible I inherited from my parents. Published in 1946, Trader Vic’s Book of Food and Drink (Doubleday) was a bestseller penned by Victor Bergeron. The bartender, bar owner and rum distributor traveled through the South Pacifc before World War II.

This is an important culinary book. Bergeron’s Americanized recipes for dishes like “Chinese chicken” and staging a suburban luau was a gateway for Americans to a larger world of tastes and strange ingredients like soy sauce.

In his snooty forward to Trader Vic’s, book critic Lucius Beebe’s notes that Bergeron “has contrived to make Oriental food not only sound enchanting but also extremely edible.” Trader Vic’s Book of Food and Drink is bursting at the seams with racist language, misogynistic comments and offensive illustrations. Bergeron’s writing voice is very male, rat pack-y and built around the desire to drink overpowering cocktails with then-unfamiliar names like the mojito. Trader Vic’s recommends a drink called “The Fog Cutter”: “You can get pretty stinking on these, no fooling.”

Bergeron explains his beverage preference by writing, “I like rum. I like its history, too. … (Rum was) once the favorite libation of pirates, sailors, massacring Indians, beachcombers and loose women.”

Throughout his survey of global islands and their cocktails, Bergeron delivers some hard-to-swallow white colonial tidbits. For instance, he notes:

“I’ve discovered that those gentle natives, the Polynesians, know how to have fun in simple, unaffected ways. …They are not immoral but, according to our standards, they just ain’t got any.” He states that Cuba’s economy was destroyed by ending slavery.

Some Colorado establishments understand the Tiki dilemma and try to address the giant Easter Island moai in the room.

Boulder’s Jungle makes a point of stating on its website: “We don’t appropriate,” and the business avoids the more inappropriate cultural references.

Swaylo’s Tiki Restaurant and Bar in Longmont donates 10% of its profts toward cleaning up the Great Pacifc Garbage Patch.

Shrunken Head Tiki in Colorado Springs notes on its website,”We have the utmost respect for the origin of Tiki and our name itself intends to pay homage to our genuine esteem and true admiration.”

Tasting real Polynesian fare

You can sample authentic Hawaiian and Polynesian fare at several local eateries such as Kealoha’s BBQ (16th Street Mall), feldTRIP (Denver) and Today Hawaiian BBQ in Thornton. Operated by Shauna Medeiros-Tuilaepa and Cornelius Tuilaepa, No Ke Aloha in Aurora dishes the simple classic dishes ranging from loco moco to coconut shrimp and pulehu steak served with rice and mac salad.

Finally, in researching my 1946 edition of Trader Vic’s Book of Food and Drink, I discovered that it may be worth more than $150, so it did turn out to be an inheritance of sorts. (To try a Trader Vic’s cocktail recipe, turn to Cuisine, Page 29)

Local Food News: Longmont Duck Confit

The folks at Longmont’s Whistling Boar catering will host a special dinner Sept. 8 at Left Hand Creek Farm in honor of a friend lost a year ago to suicide. The fare will include appetizers and a three-course dinner. Proceeds from the meal and silent auction beneft Colie’s Closet, a nonproft focused on preventing teen suicide. whistlingboar. com/farm-dinners … Coming soon: Suti + Co Scandinavian Shop and Cafe, 2031 16th St.. … Longmont’s Fatworks is offering a handy new artisan food: ready-to-eat cagefree fully cooked duck leg conft.

Words to Chew On

“Food is a great literary theme. Food in eternity, food and sex, food and lust. Food is a part of the whole of life. Food is not separate.” —Novelist and critic Jim Harrison

Authentic Afghan Food!

Open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-10pm • Sunday 10am-8:30pm • Closed Mondays 2607 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO 80302 303-443-1210 • silkroadgrillandmarket.com

Much ink has been spilled on Colorado beer, discussing at length hop varietals, yeast strains and an industry that continues to grow. When I took over this column, I had no intention to add to the discourse on beer, yet here I am. I couldn’t help myself. With the Great American Beer Fest just a couple months away, I’ve been preparing. Thinking about what makes a good beer, let alone a perfect one. In an instance of fortunate timing, a local brewery topped a list of the best Pilsners in Colorado, so I thought I’d visit them to fnd out what made it perfect. As part of its blind tasting series, ranking Colorado beers based on merits in an individual class, PorchDrinking.com released its list of the best Pilsners in Colorado. Out of 28 entries, only nine placed in the tasting, and only two of those Pilsners earned “Best in Show,”

Denver’s Ratio Beerworks and Longmont’s

Grossen Bart Brewery. Grossen Bart’s German-style Pilsner is called “Perfect Pils,” so I dropped by the brewery to chat with owner Taylor Wise and brewer Kevin Paquette to fnd out what goes into a perfect

Pilsner. “Honestly, it’s the ingredients,” Paquette says. “We use only German ingredients, and you have to get the right yeast strain. From there it’s all about the execution.” Pilsners are notably crisp and clean, a refreshing beer that’s easy to drink year-round.

Grossen Bart’s Perfect Pils hits those notes and then some. The body is light, with a golden color and clarity to it that certainly adds to the appeal. The mouthfeel rests easy on the tongue, with enough carbonation to bring out the malty, biscuity favors one should expect from a Pilsner. I trust the judges that put the beer through its paces, but I’m inclined to agree. It’s a pretty perfect Pilsner. “My rule is to keep it simple,” Paquette says. “Every step that you’re doing, you just pay attention to the details. I think a lot of brewers just overthink it.” The name itself, a fortuitous coincidence, wasn’t even picked by brewery staff. A regu-

lar customer was sampling it while Wise and Paquette mulled over names. “We were trying to come up with the name and he just looks at us and says, ‘It’s perfect’,” Paquette says. “I thought, why don’t we just call it GB’s Perfect Pils,” Wise adds. “It ended up being pretty perfect, but that was all him. We didn’t Pouring a perfect Pilsner actually name it.” Pilsners aren’t Grossen Bart’s only notable brew. Last year, the brewery Grossen Bart’s best-in-show beer, the Perfect Pils made it on the Best in Show list for Porchby Matt Maenpaa Drinking.com’s blind tasting of Colorado märzens, the German-style lager popularized by Oktoberfest. “That was pretty badass,” Wise says. Grossen Bart’s märzen returns in just a few weeks to kick off Colorado’s slate of Oktoberfest festivals, with the beer expected to be released by Sept. 3. The brewery is also returning to the St. Brigit Celtic Festival in Frederick with its Irish red ale. The festival took a break during the pandemic, but returns Sept. 24 with beer and whiskey. “We’ve been the main beer sponsor for that for a few years,” Wise says. “We haven’t decided if we’re going to pull out something classic or try something new.” You won’t fnd Grossen Bart cans or bottles in your local liquor store, though a DETAILS: Friendly few kegs can be found Mutton Chop on tap at bars around Märzen Release the county. Best to stop Party. 4 p.m. by the taproom in LongSaturday, Sept. 3, mont to sample Perfect Grossen Bart Brewery, 1025 Delaware Ave., Longmont Pils yourself and maybe take a crowler home for later. Email: Mattmaenpaa@ gmail.com

DINE-IN OR ORDER ON-LINE FOR TAKE-OUT phocafelafayette.com

1085 S Public Rd. Lafayette (303) 665-0666 Hours: Tues-Sun: 11a-8:30p

Best Asian Fusion

by John Lehndorff

Breakfast chorizo burrito with a view, a Denver pizza nd, and Nederland’s wine fest debuts

Santo may boast Boulder’s shortest breakfast menu, yet a steady parade of folks rush in and out of Hosea Rosenberg’s New Mexican eatery on weekday mornings. I know they’re not here for the exceptional Flatirons view from the patio because most walk away with foil-wrapped cylinders and hop on bikes or drive away oblivious to the landscape. Santo’s morning selections are: 1) Vegetarian breakfast burrito 2) Breakfast burrito with meat That’s it, except for cookies, coffee drinks, juice and aguas frescas. Dozens of Boulder County eateries sell ready-togo breakfast burritos. The prices vary, as does the burrito size and heat level. Honestly, some are just potatoes and eggs garnished with hot sauce and meat. The Santo breakfast burrito ups the a.m. ante and draws a crowd because of the quality of everything enclosed in a large, thin four tortilla. There’s an ideal balance of scrambled eggs, crisply fried tater tots, green chile, red chile, cheese and house-cooked beans. My choice included house-made chorizo sausage and I added a side of real roasted green chile sauce. It had enough spice to wake me up but not so spicy that I couldn’t taste the goodies. Santo’s sister eatery, Blackbelly Market, offers a wider menu including more types of smoked meats inside the breakfast burritos. Nobody knows exactly where and when Colorado’s breakfast burrito boom started, but it was somewhere in the late 1970s. Whenever it spawned, the morning entrée is so popular now that it has its own holiday. This year Colorado will celebrate Breakfast Burrito Day on Oct. 8.

Another Roadfood Attraction: Widespread Pizza

Like most new neighborhoods in the Denver metro area, Lowry is populated primarily by the same old chain restaurant names. I looked for a local spot to meet up with old friends and found Walter’s 303 Pizzeria & Publik House. A pizzeria is only as good as its crust, and Walter’s hand-tossed crust passes the crunchy-but-tender test. We enjoyed it under two pies. The classic margherita crowned with herb-garlic olive oil, basil leaves, Roma tomatoes and mozzarella. The Greek pizza features herb-garlic olive oil, spinach, sun-dried tomato, artichokes, garlic feta and mozzarella. Walter’s—which is decorated with Widespread Panic posters—also offers deep-dish versions, gluten free and caulifower crusts and pizza sauce choices include BBQ marinara and herb-garlic olive oil. Top shelf toppings range from Genoa salami to caramelized onions. The menu at Walter’s 303 also features calzones, lasagna and a substantial chicken marinara sub sandwich.

Tiki Recipe Flashback from Trader Vic’s

This is a recipe from Trader Vic Book of Food and Drink (1946, Doubleday Books).

Trader Vic’s Punch

1/2 an orange 1/2 a lemon 1 1/4 ounces dark Jamaica Rum (Red Heart or Myers’s) 1 1/4 ounces Puerto Rican rum (Ron Merito or Brugal) 1 slice pineapple 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon orgeat syrup (almond favoring) Squeeze orange and lemon; drip in glass; add a handful of shaved ice with the liquor, fruit, and rest of the ingredients; hand-shake and serve unstrained in a 14-ounce stubby glass.

Culinary Calendar: Peaches and Wine

The inaugural Ned Jazz and Wine Festival in Nederland’s Chipeta Park on Aug. 20 includes live music, vendors, food and tastes from Colorado beverage makers. On the menu are wines from Augustina’s Winery (in Nederland), Alfred Eames Cellars, Jack Rabbit Hill Farm, Mesa Winds Winery and Silver Vines Winery, with spirits from CapRock, Gold Dirt Distillery and Suerte, plus ciders, lemon wines and meads. Festival proceeds beneft programs for Nederland area seniors. nedjazzwine.com … The menu at Lafayette Peach Festival Aug. 20 includes peaches by the pound, peach pie and cobbler from The Huckleberry, plus queso fries, Nepali food and mini donuts.

Send information about local food events, classes, tastings, pairings, farmstands and eatery openings to: Nibbles@BoulderWeekly.com