CARRYING A TORCH

August 13, 2001
Section: BUSINESS WEEKLY
Page: 10
KELLY CRAMER kelly.cramer@herald-trib.com

When Azure Tides, Sarasota's only beachfront Tiki bar, closed this spring, the regulars mourned as if an old
friend had passed away.
The shady oasis on Lido Beach, where you could sip a mai tai while the sun slipped into the Gulf of Mexico, was a
quick stumble down the beach and a home away from home for some. Fear not.
It turns out Southwest Florida is a Tiki bar mecca of sorts, home to dozens of kitschy hideaways where those
seeking a tropical vista with their cocktails can kick back.
"It's the atmosphere," said Richard Spoon, manager of the Ramada Inn in Osprey. "You can sit and sip a drink
and relax even if it's raining because you know you're not going to get wet."
The Ramada Inn in Osprey opened its poolside Tiki during a renovation years ago. Spoon added more Tiki lights
and some light fare when he arrived in April. After he spread the word with some advertising, sales jumped from
$50 a day to $400.
And don't expect the Azure Tides site to be vacant for long. A Ritz-Carlton hotel and a new Tiki bar are set to
move in. The hotel will open this fall and the bar will open next fall.
The Bahi Hut, an indoor Tiki at the Best Western near the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, shows no
signs of closing after 42 years in business.
The Hut serves steady streams of customers, many of whom arrive after 10 p.m. for their favorite drinks -- or a
signature mai tai topped with Bacardi 151 rum, so named because it's 151 proof.
The potent blood-red concoction comes with a two-drink limit. Why? So its drinkers can "make it to the bathroom,"
said bartender Sylvia Godin, 27.
Spoon, who once ran the Holiday Inn Tiki at Vero Beach that earned more than $5,000 on a Saturday, credits the
Polynesian charm for the Tiki's endurance.
The Tiki's attributes are pretty universal, regardless of the latitude and longitude: lots of bamboo, palm fronds,
vague Polynesian themes and paper umbrellas in the drinks. The name derives from the carved wood or stone
figures from Polynesian mythology. Tiki refers to the first man.
After World War II, the Polynesian myth morphed into kitsch, and the long-faced wooden totems turned into icons
of tropical leisure.
Thatched huts, which started as places for Polynesian torch ceremonies -- hence the Tiki torch, available in many
hardware stores today -- became magnets for GIs returning from the South Pacific.
The Tiki style peaked after World War II, thanks to the servicemen. The addition in 1959 of Hawaii as a state
added to the craze.
Across the nation, regular Tiki patrons and newcomers wanting an offbeat experience keep the bars afloat.
Sometimes-elaborate Web sites add to their mystique. One Web site, www.Tikinews.com, declares its mission to
"preserve any and all remaining elements from the Polynesian Pop era."
Hrnjak Bosko, a Tiki carver and Internet retailer at www.Tikibosko.com, says "Tiki just takes you to this whole
other world, a fantasy world." Getting tropical is easy in Florida, as well as in San Diego, where Bosko has run his
site since 1996. He says revenues at his Web site, which sells Tiki products, have doubled each of the past three
years and have hit $125,000 so far this year.
There are clubs that devote themselves to selling and trading Tiki memorabilia, from Maui mugs to pinup girls.
Some aficionados even build Tiki huts in their back yards.
Sarasota builder Knick Barger has installed a Tiki hut at every house he has built for himself, and a dozen others.
His current incarnation is modeled after Azure Tides.
"Being in a Tiki hut makes you feel like you're in the islands," Barger said.
He spent $5,000 to $7,000 on his latest personal Tiki, which includes a bar carved from an old boat.
Jeffrey Hyde, another Sarasota builder and developer, also built a Tiki bar in his back yard, poolside, but takes
the Tiki craze a notch higher. Hyde out-spent Barger, dropping $20,000 and including, among other amenities,
hot water, cable television and a ceiling fan.
He liked it so much, he said, he expanded his business to market the thatched huts. Through his Web site,
www.Tikibars.com, he sells Tiki bar plans to local and faraway fans.
Deed and building restrictions can hamper homeowners from erecting their own poolside Tikis. But Barger said
folks might find a legal loophole by having the structures permitted as landscaping features.
"I know the market's there," he said. "I just haven't tapped it yet."
What is Tiki?
Tiki attributes are pretty universal, regardless the latitude and longitude -- lots of bamboo, palm fronds, vague
Polynesian themes and paper umbrellas in the drinks.
The name derives from the carved wood or stone figures from Polynesian mythology. Tiki refers to the first man.
Tiki-fans can find out more about Tiki lore on www.tikinews.com. A sampling from the site:
"Looking it up in 'Reed's concise Maoridictionary,' we find: 'Tiki: First man, or personification of man.' Through
ancestor worship, this Moari Adam evolved into a demi-God, and eventually 'Tiki' was used to signify all carvings
resembling the human form. Some of these were used as dwelling places for ancestral spirits or as the vehicles of
gods, while others were used for sorcery."
But what about those thatched-roof huts?
Thatched huts, which started as places for Polynesian torch ceremonies -- hence the Tiki torch, available in many
hardware stores today -- became magnets for GIs returning from the South Pacific.
Across the nation now, regular Tiki patrons and newcomers wanting an offbeat experience keep the bars afloat.
A few local Tiki bars
Bahi Hut
4675 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
Bob's Boathouse
1310 Old Stickney Point Road, Siesta Key
The Captain's Club
1855 Gulf Blvd.,
Englewood
Marker 17
260 Maryland Ave., Englewood
Tiki Bar at the Ramada
1660 Tamiami Trail,
Osprey

Caption: Knick Barger spent $5,000 to $7,000 on his latest personal Tiki hut, which includes a bar carved from an
old boat. "Being in a Tiki hut makes you feel like you're in the islands," he says.
COURTESY PHOTO
Sarasota developer Jeffery Hyde built his own personal, private Tiki bar next to his backyard pool.
STAFF PHOTO / TYRONE MACK
Knick Barger used a boat for the bar in his backyard Tiki hut.
FILE PHOTO
The Azure Tides, Sarasota's only beachfront Tiki bar, closed this year. It will reopen next fall as part of the Ritz
Carlton.
(Tiki)
STAFF PHOTO/MIKE LANG
(Sand and palm trees)