Post #415172 by bigbrotiki on Fri, Oct 24, 2008 9:49 AM

Here we go, now THIS is being talked about and already accepted as an example of the NEW form of Tiki style:

...even as the owner disavows the title "Tiki", but calls it "Polynesian panache". Polynesian in name, "The Luau", but where else? It is these mixed messages that the place is sending out that make me classify it as a MISSED OPPORTUNITY.

After years of reading articles about the new Tiki wave just being around the corner, I am kind of pragmatic about articles such as this. So pragmatic (and ambivalent about the Luau) in fact, that I wasn't mentioned in the article, probably because in my phone interview with the writer I expressed doubts that did not fit in with his agenda of high end Tiki (I am surprised he didn't mention the Mahiki as a prime example of that theory--while I believe it actually might have been one of the main impulses for the Luau's Beverly Hills set).

This is not to say that this is not a well-written and balanced article, I think the writer does an admirable job at describing the place accurately and objectively, noting its lack of actual Tikis, and giving the Tiki traditionalists and Tiki Central their voice without being condescending, kudos for that.

And after all, as they saying goes, there is no such thing as bad press (meaning anything that is printed about a subject is good as it creates more public awareness).