Aloha and happy Thursday Mai-Kai ohana! The weekend is fast approaching and the petition is doing well at 10,830! We have a great Supporter Spotlight this week on Martin Cate! During my college years Smugglers Cove was my home away from home and I can’t wait to return to experience its immersive nautical themed atmosphere. The bar is located in San Francisco California and has one of the biggest, if not the biggest selections of rums I have ever seen! Martin is the proprietor of Smugglers Cove, his flagship tiki bar and he is also a rum scholar, published author and hospitality management entrepreneur/bar owner who you will get to know in this week’s feature!
The Mai-Kai has a lot of news in this update as well! They have NEW merchandise, thanks to a generous donation from Christie “Tiki Kiliki” White, a tiki marketplace event planned for this month and just had a successful car show! The left over merchandise from the car show will be available on the Mai-Kai website at www.maikaitradingpost.com so make sure to check out the link and make a purchase to help support the Mai-Kai!
Much love and mahalo, Tiki Don
Here’s a link to the Save the Mai-Kai petition. Please continue to spread the word by sharing the petition link. https://www.change.org/savethemai-kai
Supporter Spotlight on Martin Cate
"I was bitten by the tiki bug in the late 1990s and made my first trip to The Mothership in 2001. Even 20 years later, the Mai Kai never fails to enchant and amaze. There’s nothing better than luxuriating in a full night at the Mai Kai- from cocktails and apps in the Molokai, to dinner and a show, to an after dinner rum and cigar in the Gardens. Over those twenty years, as I moved from enthusiast, to home bar owner, to bartender, to bar owner, the Mai Kai has been a lodestar and inspiration. From quiet visits for two to large groups of friends to the mighty Hukilau, many of my life’s best memories were made in those hallowed rooms. All of us who have the honor of being in the hospitality industry have fought a hard road over the last year, but few have faced the daunting challenges that lay ahead of the Mai Kai. But we know their story is not over yet, and we’ll all be fighting tooth and nail to secure their future.
It was critical to share the story of the Mai Kai with the readers of our book, “Smuggler’s Cove”, so its final pages are dedicated to the Mai Kai. And when our bar celebrated its 10th Anniversary, we knew there was only one place we wanted to take our staff, and they too took it all in with amazement and delight."
Update on Smuggler’s Cove
Smuggler’s Cove is still closed for inside seating, and with no space for outdoors, we are selling canned cocktails and spirits to go. Available only at the bar, you can place an order at smugglerstogo.com or visit Thurs-Sundays from 3-8pm. I’m sorry but we can’t ship. What we can ship is copies of our book, which you can order https://www.smugglerscovesf.com/store - we will sign and personalize your copy. You can make contributions to our staff fund there as well.
Updates on the rest of Cate’s bars:
Hale Pele in Portland, OR is open for to go cocktails, food and merchandise. Hale Pele will also ship merchandise and there is a staff fund there as well. Visit halepele.com for all the details.
False Idol in San Diego, CA is now thankfully open for 25% indoor seating by reservation only. Visit https://falseidoltiki.com/ to book a seat.
Lost Lake in Chicago, IL has cocktails and merchandise to go at https://www.lostlakechicago.com/
Max’s South Seas Hideaway in Grand Rapids, IL is open for dinner nightly with limited capacity. We also ship merchandise and our limited edition mugs made at our own in-house ceramics studio. Visit https://maxstiki.com/ for more info!
*Photo: The Cates, Martin and Rebecca enjoying an evening at the Mai-Kai Resturant and Polynesian Show
Mai-Kai News!
The Cruise-In Classic Car Show sponsored by Five Points Motor Club was a great success! Hurricane Hayward had this to say, “It was great to be back at The Mai-Kai Restaurant and Polynesian Show on Sunday for the Cruise-In Classic Car Show. Cool custom cars, great cocktails, tasty food (from Mobile Culinary Kitchens-MCK Fusion Food Truck) and good friends. We also picked up a bunch of new Mai-Kai merchandise! Mahalo to manager Kern Mattei, public relations director Pia Dahlquist and all of the staff and owners. Thanks to 5 Points Motor Club for their devotion.” You can read more on his blog The Atomic Grog! http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/ The left over merchandise from the car show will be available on the Mai-Kai website at www.maikaitradingpost.com
Mai-Kai Event News!
The next event coming up will be the Mai-Kai Tiki Marketplace on April 17 from noon till 5pm. The event will feature VIP Rum Tasting, LIVE entertainment by the Mai-Kai musicians from 3-5, Samoan fire knife dances, tiki bingo, Mai-Kai food & tropical beverages and an amazing line up of tiki vendors featuring Robert Jimenez, Mike “Pooch” Pucciarelli, a Mai-Kai Trading Post booth with merchandise from the Mai-Kai’s gift shop and many other amazing tiki vendors. Vendor space is still available! If you would like to vend at the event contact Pia Dahlquist at (954) 646-8975 or email pia@maikai.com. *Event information courtesy of Hurricane Hayward, More information can be found on his blog The Atomic Grog. http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/
NEW Mai-Kai T-Shirts!
Christie “Tiki Kiliki” White was contacted by Kern who wanted to produce Mai-Kai T-Shirts. He asked her about finding an illustrator for the shirts design and Ms. Tiki Kiliki graciously contributed the design fee so the Mai-Kai would have more profit to help the Save The Mai-Kai cause! Christie “Tiki Kiliki” White had this to say, “A designer, and fellow Tikiphile, Patrick LeJeune took on the project of redrawing the classic building rendering and the T-Shirts were made. I’m glad there was a way I could contribute, maybe other ideas can come from this!” The t-shirts look amazing and I will make a separate update featuring a picture of the men’s and women’s t-shirt styles and graphics. Mahalo Tiki Kiliki!!
I hope you have a great weekend and everyone is able to get out and enjoy this beautiful spring weather!
Much love and mahalo,
TiKi DoN!