There is nothing more beautiful than a tiki bar outside. But what do you do if you live somewhere that actually gets cold in the winter? The answer is you do what Pete Flessas did and extend your tiki bar into your basement. Pete and Kelly’s Kapu Tiki Lounge started with a tribal mask and ended with a super cool tiki escape that goes inside and out, or would it be the other way around? Here is Pete’s story about tribal masks, Dark ’n’ Stormies and graven Images …
What is the tiki scene like where you live?
Pete- Milwaukee is a smaller Midwestern town so I can’t say that we have much of a “scene” here. We do have a handful of local friends though who are into Tiki and a couple of Tiki bars. But, usually, when we want to get our Tiki fix we’ll drive south to Chicago and visit Tiki Terrace, Hala Kahiki or Three Dots and A Dash. The Chicago Area Tiki Tour is also an event that we look forward to attending every couple of years.
What brought you into the tiki lifestyle and how long has it been part of your life?
Pete- I remember as a small child often driving past a local venue here called The Leilani. It was a mid-century tiki bar/dinner club and motel and featured faux palm trees outside. Entertainers from Las Vegas would often perform there. Even at that young age and not knowing exactly what Tiki was I was still fascinated by its exotic appeal. What was this place? Then, sadly, sometime around 1990 The Leilani was bulldozed and a box store was built in its place.
It wasn’t until the Internet came to be in the 90’s that I finally re-discovered Tiki. I began researching online about The Leilani and soon learned that there was this huge thing in American culture called “Polynesian pop” or “Tiki”. It featured tribal masks, Tiki idols and dimly lit establishments which were meant to evoke an exotic escape. This Tiki thing even had its own music – exotica jazz and surf rock. From there I was completely hooked! I had to have more …
Can you give a little history of how it all came together?
Pete- One day early in my interest of tiki I was at a garage sale and purchased a tribal mask. I hung it on the outside wall of our home overlooking a backyard deck. At the time, I never really intended to build a Tiki bar inside our home. I just thought the mask looked cool. As time passed I’d buy more items and eventually built a freestanding Tiki bar on our deck which has since been updated several times.
However, living in Wisconsin I was forced to move things indoors during the winter months. Our basement was the perfect place to relocate those items. I started in one corner of the basement where I attached rolls of reed and thatching. Over the next decade or so our inside home Tiki bar grew organically and I eventually added walls creating a proper room.
Sometime around 2015 our Tiki bar went into overdrive when I acquired a bunch of decor from the closing of Lucky Joe’s Tiki Room. This included thatching, masks, bamboo, tables, carvings, signage and even the sign from outside (which is now displayed in our backyard).
I am also a huge Disney fan and have incorporated aspects of Adventureland into our backyard with signage and some pirate elements. Our backyard also features a small waterfall and is adorned with lava rocks throughout. It is still a work in progress.
Interestingly, a doofus neighbor thought that we were operating an unlicensed tavern in our home and complained to the police. She said we served alcohol and that we were placing a Hawaiian flag outside to signal our customers when we were open for business. The place even had its own Facebook page. This gave my wife and I a pretty good laugh. I guess we’re doing it TOO good!
Any story behind the name of your bar?
Pete- We have a relative who is very religious. She is a good person who we love dearly. One day though she was over at our home and remarked that the tiki idols we had on our deck are “graven images” and “forbidden” under her faith. Accordingly, I named our tiki bar the “Kapu Tiki Lounge” in honor of her which of course means, “forbidden tiki”.
What is your favorite Tiki drink?
Pete- Dark ‘n’ Stormy. I’ve always enjoyed the taste of ginger beer especially in a Moscow Mule. Combined with dark rum and mixed properly it’s an absolutely delicious drink. In fact, when I had my 50th birthday party a few years ago we served the Dark ‘n’ Stormy to guests as our signature drink on a special menu that I made.
What is your favorite Tiki bar? Not including your own!
Pete- My favorite Tiki bar used to be Lucky Joe’s Tiki Room in Milwaukee. My surf band The Revomatics was the house band and performed there every month right up until their closing in 2015. Since then Wauwatiki has become our regular local watering hole for Tiki drinks. However, if I had to name the ultimate Tiki bar of course that would be the Mai Kai in Florida, hands down.
Outside of great drinks, what do you think are essential elements in creating the perfect Tiki environment?
Pete- The lighting and shadows. It took me a really long time to get that right. It’s not a matter of just placing some colored lighting in a room with bamboo and thatching and expect it to all fall into place. You really need to work hard to create the right mood. In fact, I would often experiment with different lights and constantly adjust them to balance the colors with the shadows. When it was pleasing to the eye and pulled me in then that’s when I knew it was just right.
What does the future hold for you and your home tiki bar?
Pete- As I’m hoping to semi-retire in a few more years we will probably move somewhere warm. Wisconsin is a nice state to live in but the winters can be pretty brutal here. Hopefully we can take most of our Tiki bar with us when we move. If not, we’ll just make sure it all goes to a good home. 🙂
Anything else you would like to add?
Pete- After my band The Revomatics wrapped up a few years ago I turned to DJing. And although I spin an eclectic mix of music at various events and gigs my favorite genres are exotica jazz and surf music. So if you’re planning a Tiki event or party consider hiring DJ Tikinaut! You can check me out at www.djtikinaut.com
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Goodness sakes!! How can Pete seemingly not know about Foundation??!! He’s going to be pleasantly surprised!