Kahiki Supper Club Read online

  The executive, administrative and sales offices were first to move in. Manufacturing was scheduled to follow, beginning in mid-October. However, the move was not completed until May 2005. Ten weeks later, Tsao died unexpectedly. He had lived long enough to see his dream of a larger factory, but not to enjoy its fruits. Although his family was in mourning, they were also understandably anxious about the company’s future. The visionary was dead, and Kahiki Foods was deeply in debt. Nevertheless, they were determined to continue his legacy.

  In May 2007, ABARTA, Inc., a Pittsburgh holding company, purchased Kahiki Foods for $11.7 million. A family-owned business, ABARTA is involved in newspaper publishing and oil and gas exploration and is also one of the nation’s largest bottlers of Coca-Cola soft drinks. The company decided not to move the Kahiki factory from Gahanna. The transition was so quiet that few Kahiki enthusiasts seemed to realize that the tiki torch had been passed to an out-of-town concern.

  Then, in 2010, Hills Market, a gourmet foods store in north Columbus held a special Kahiki tribute day in conjunction with Kahiki Foods. There were food samples, cooking demonstrations and a three-course dinner. The market also served three rum drinks using the original recipes: Tonga Tale, Suffering Bastard and the Mystery Drink.

  Three years after that, the Columbus Historical Society started its Historical Dinner Club series. The initial offering was a tribute to the Kahiki, held at Alana’s Food and Wine. The special event was limited to forty diners, who were treated to a Kahiki-like meal by owner/chef Alana Shock. At $125 each, the tickets were snatched up immediately by locals as well as one couple who traveled from Maryland just to revisit the Kahiki experience.

  Ten years after Walgreens rose up out of the dust of the Kahiki, Alan Hoover, president of the Gahanna-based frozen food company of the same name, was leaving his office one evening when “a couple was walking up the front walkway. I asked if I could help them, and they said, ‘Yes, we’d like to have dinner tonight.’” He didn’t say whether he tried to steer them toward the frozen food case.

  APPENDIX A

  KAHIKI DISHES

  Polynesian cuisine” sprang largely from the imaginations of Victor Bergeron and Ernest Gantt, including such popular entrees as crab Rangoon and rumaki. Inspired by what he saw at Don The Beachcomber, Bergeron (to quote Nathalie Wright),

  traveled to Cuba, Florida, and Polynesia looking for new drink and food ideas, as well as additional artifacts for Trader Vic’s. In the end he settled on Chinese food with pineapple, coconut and bananas added to give a “Polynesian” flare. His opinion was that Americans would not like real Polynesian food, therefore, he compromised with food that would be considered exotic, but not too foreign.

  As restaurant historian Jan Whitaker has pointed out, so-called Polynesian cuisine had little to do with what real Polynesians ate.

  The Kahiki’s reference point was Tahiti. So, what were Tahitians eating in 1961 when the Kahiki opened? According to a geographer, the traditional Tahitian diet consisted of baked fish, breadfruit, and taro, but natives then preferred French baguettes with Australian butter, rice from Madagascar, canned beef from New Zealand, and Canadian canned salmon, all “washed down with generous drinks of Algerian red wine.”

  A former print model, Marcy Sapp appeared in many of the staged photographs used for advertising. Courtesy Sapp/Henry.

  Whittaker doubted “that Tahitians ate much in the way of Oriental Beef or Tahitian Flambé (flaming ice cream with rum). Not to mention Tossed Green Salads, Eggs Benedict, or Reuben Sandwiches.” A true Polynesian would undoubtedly find the offerings on the Kahiki’s menu every bit as exotic as the typical patron did. But people didn’t go to the Kahiki primarily for its food, although some undoubtedly did. As an unenthusiastic reviewer wrote in 1975, “If decor is your reason for dining out, the Kahiki in Columbus is the place for you.”

  Philip C.W. Chin, a graduate of Texas A&M, was the executive chef and general manager of the Kahiki for a time. He oversaw a kitchen that included everything from a radar range to ancient Chinese kettles. Where possible, an emphasis was placed on showmanship. For example, the maître d’ would prepare a tableside Caesar salad.

  Joe Blundo is the oft-quoted (but seldom credited) pundit who wrote, “Some entrees are served in whole pineapples, others are delivered on fire. The Kahiki is one of the few restaurants in Columbus in which food can injure you.” He was thinking of William E. Thompson of Columbus, who recalled, “My wife ordered a flaming dessert. When the waiter ignited the dessert, the flames were about 2 feet high and quickly advanced across the table and engulfed the bread basket.” It required several waiters to extinguish the blaze.

  Similarly, “Christine Rodabaugh of Lima, Ohio, once mistakenly dipped a meatball on a stick into an accelerant fueling a tableside fire. She thought it was the sauce pot.” Blundo wrote, “I quickly noticed it was flaming as fiercely as a marshmallow left too long in a campfire, totally engulfed in leaping flames…My entire family was falling off the sides of their chairs laughing uncontrollably. Now, where else can you get that kind of entertainment?”

  Judy Frye of Tucson, Arizona, and Judy Ottney of Dublin, Ohio, have both admitted to mistaking the hot hand towels, served in a wicker basket, for egg rolls. Maître d’ Bill Harrison described one incident in which a young lady told him they were the worst egg rolls she had ever had. He could hardly keep a straight face as he saw that she had covered the towels with mustard and sweet and sour sauce. So he said, “I’m sorry. Please excuse me. I’ll have them bring you fresh egg rolls right over.” Then on the way out she told him, “Thank you very much. The second was delicious.” He then thanked her for giving them a second chance.

  If there is a Kahiki recipe book in existence, we have not seen it. If there were, we could sell a few copies. However, we have tracked down several authentic—or allegedly so—recipes from various sources.

  KAHIKI BEEF KATIKI

  This recipe was published in a restaurant journal in 1963 and attributed to the Kahiki.

  1½ pounds lean beef, cut against the grain and sliced

  1 medium yellow onion, chopped

  1 clove garlic, chopped

  1 pound precooked green pepper, chopped

  1½ pounds tomatoes, chopped

  1 stalk celery, chopped

  1 cup tomato ketchup

  1 tablespoon soy sauce

  1 teaspoon salt

  1 tablespoon sugar

  ½teaspoon seasoning powder

  2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in ½ cup water

  Sauté meat, onion and garlic in skillet on medium-high heat. Add green pepper, chopped tomatoes, celery, ketchup, soy sauce, salt, sugar, seasoning and cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil. Then turn down heat and simmer until the water has been absorbed and the mixture thickened. Makes 4 servings.

  TAHITIAN MERMAID

  Mickey Cheung, former chef at the Kahiki, provided the Ohio Department of Agriculture with this recipe for the 1998 Ohio’s Heartland Cuisine cookbook. The tablespoon lemon juice is an odd measurement, but that’s what the recipe says.

  2 6-ounce beef filets

  ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

  ½ teaspoon seasoning salt

  ¼ teaspoon pepper

  FILLING:

  3½ ounces crabmeat

  3½ ounces cream cheese

  ½cup coarse bread crumbs

  ¼ teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco

  ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

  ¼ teaspoon salt

  teaspoon pepper

  teaspoon garlic powder

  tablespoon lemon juice

  1 tablespoon chopped onion

  In a medium bowl, combine the filling ingredients. Set aside. Butterfly the filets of beef (they will look like an open shell.) Season with the Worcestershire sauce, seasoning salt and pepper. In a skillet, sear the inner part of the steaks over high heat for 30 seconds. Remove from heat, and stuff half the filling into each steak. Then slightly close each and r
eturn to the skillet. Cook each side of the steaks on high heat for 1 minute. Serves 2.

  CHICKEN PINEAPPLE KAHIKI

  The next three recipes were published in A Taste of Columbus by Beth Chilcoat and Cindy Kusmer (Corban Productions, 1978). The entire series is a tremendous resource for food historians.

  1 ripe pineapple

  2 meaty chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch pieces

  butter

  1 tablespoon white wine

  1 cup water

  1 green pepper, diced

  ½ cup sugar

  ½ cup vinegar

  ½ cup water

  ½ cup ketchup

  pinch ginger powder

  pinch garlic powder

  cornstarch

  Wash pineapple; cut lengthwise into two halves. Using a grapefruit knife, cut meat from the shell leaving about a ½ inch of pineapple. Working around the core, dice pineapple meat into ½-inch cubes; discard core. Set aside pineapple meat.

  Brown chicken in butter and wine. Then add 1 cup water, the prepared diced pineapple and green pepper. Bring to a simmer. Mix together sugar, vinegar, ½ cup water, ketchup, ginger powder and garlic power to make sweet and sour sauce. Add sauce to chicken/pineapple mixture. Cover with pineapple shells for five minutes. Remove shells and thicken with cornstarch. Put chicken mixture into shells and serve. Serves 2.

  KAHIKI EGG DROP SOUP

  ½ cup fresh or frozen peas

  1 teaspoon chicken base (homemade or from gourmet grocery)

  ½ teaspoon sugar

  1½ cups water

  2 stalks green onion, finely chopped

  2 eggs, well beaten

  Combine all ingredients except the eggs in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to rapid boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add well-beaten eggs, combining thoroughly. Serves 2.

  KAHIKI HAM FRIED RICE

  1 tablespoon cooking oil

  ½ yellow onion, chopped

  ½ pound cooked ham, diced

  2½ cups cooked rice

  2 tablespoons soy sauce

  pinch salt

  1 teaspoon sugar

  2 eggs, scrambled

  2 green onions, chopped

  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown onion and ham until onions are tender. Add rice, soy sauce, salt and sugar and combine. Add scrambled eggs. Mix well. Top with green onions. Serves 4.

  CHINESE CHICKEN SAUTÉ WITH STAR ANISE

  This recipe is attributed to Chef Ping Lee of the Kahiki.

  1 whole (fryer) chicken

  2 tablespoons soy sauce

  1 to 1½ teaspoons brandy or sherry

  3 slices of ginger, mashed and then chopped

  2 whole star anise, processed in spice mills or chopped

  pinch sugar

  1 ounce dried black mushrooms, soaked for 30 minutes (or fresh sliced mushrooms)

  2 or 3 green onions, cut in 1-inch strips

  cup chicken stock or water

  cornstarch and water slurry (1 tablespoon cornstarch to 1 tablespoon water)

  Bone the chicken and cook in halves, or prepare the recipe with halved bone-in chicken. (A bone-in chicken retains more juices, but a boned chicken is quicker to prepare.)

  Make a marinade by mixing the soy sauce and brandy or sherry with the ginger, star anise and sugar. Thoroughly rub the outside of the chicken with the marinade.

  Brown the chicken halves in a wok or heavy skillet and add mushrooms, green onions and chicken stock or water. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water; then add to skillet. Cover and simmer slowly for 15 minutes or until the chicken tests done (juices flowing from the chicken when stuck with a fork near the bone should be clear rather than pink). More stock or water should be added if needed.

  KAHIKI CAESAR SALAD

  Having “bluffed” his way into the job of maître d’, Bill Harrison learned that he would be expected to prepare a tableside Caesar salad. So he borrowed a book from the library by the famous French chef Auguste Escoffier. It said to start with a coddled egg. “I’m a poor boy from Youngstown,” Bill laughed, “and I didn’t know a coddled egg from a bacon sandwich.” But he looked it up. Unfortunately, his first customer was Ed Docherty, who was with his wife, Mary, the daughter of the owner of the rival Jai Lai Restaurant.

  “The lettuce went up in the air,” Bill recalled, “…and nearly all went into his lap. He had a beautiful sense of humor and said, ‘Well, I would have preferred it on the plate’ and then added, ‘So far the show is nice.’ It was ridiculous. I was sweating and I was dying, and the bus boy brought me another and I remix[ed] and he said it was very good and he tipped me ten bucks on the way out.”

  Note: This recipe is included for historical purposes. Many people are allergic to MSG, and salmonella bacteria may be present in raw eggs unless they are pasteurized.

  1 medium clove garlic

  2 or 3 anchovy filets

  pinch salt

  ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

  pinch monosodium glutamate (MSG)

  juice of ½ lemon or 1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar

  2 to 3 ounces olive oil

  1 raw egg

  2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

  1 quart mixed Romaine and Iceberg lettuce, refrigerated

  cup seasoned garlic croutons

  freshly ground pepper

  Drop peeled clove of garlic into a salad bowl. Use the back part of a spoon to mash the garlic down into a pulp. Add the anchovy filets with a sprinkle of salt and mash the garlic and anchovies together. Combine Worcestershire sauce, MSG, lemon juice, olive oil, raw egg and cheese. Mix ingredients together until almost creamy.

  Add salad greens to the dressing and toss over and over in dressing until every leaf is coated, using a wooden fork and spoon.

  Add garlic croutons and toss only a few seconds more. Serve immediately with a generous amount of freshly ground pepper.

  APPENDIX B

  KAHIKI DRINKS

  Restaurant historian Jan Whitaker claims that what really made Polynesian restaurants attractive to investors was the high profit margin on rum drinks: “Their marketing relied on bar decoration, bartender apparel, drink names, elaborate serving vessels, and imaginative presentation.” Kahiki co-founder Bill Sapp agrees. “It was all shortly after the war, and everyone was coming home and happy. And the economy was starting to boom again. They said our drinks tasted like fruit juice, and they certainly were strong. Our colorful drinks were good for the happiness.” And happiness was good for business.

  All such tropical beverages were American inventions and in no way representative of what Polynesian natives actually drank (besides Algerian red wine). A roll call of the drinks would include Mystery Blossom, Smoking Eruption, Kahiki Coffee Grog, Piña Passion, Idol’s Cast, Barrelito, Zombie, Fog Cutter, Port Light, Native Nectar, Satan’s Sin, Maiden’s Prayer, Tonga Tale, Mai-Tai, Widow’s Wail, Kahiki Pearl, Navy Grog, Bahía, Polynesian Spell, Pago Passage, Jungle Fever, Suffering Bastard, Mystery Drink, Hot Buttered Rum, Derby Daiquiri, Backscratcher, Kahiki Swizzle, Headhunter, Instant Urge, Malayan Mist, Penang, Coconut Kiss, Potent Potion, Misty Isle and Starboard Light.

  The most famous beverage offered at the Kahiki was the Mystery Drink, which was served communal style in a large bowl. Trader Vic’s had introduced the Kava Bowl during the 1940s. Don The Beachcomber’s introduced the Volcano, which had “a central cone filled with overproof rum.” Of course, there was a certain amount of ceremony accompanying the arrival of the drink at the customers’ table.

  A view of the Outrigger Bar in the Kahiki. Courtesy Sapp/Henry.

  Because the tiki bars would freely steal one another’s prize drink recipes, Don The Beachcomber’s resorted to replacing the labels on its liquor bottles with a series of letters and numbers. The bartenders were directed to mix drinks according to coded recipes that referenced the bottles by number and letter. In this way, the chain hoped to reduce the chance of their bartenders’ taking their drink recip
es with them when they were hired away by the competition. As a 1948 Saturday Evening Post reported, “Infinite pains are taken to see to it that the service bar help cannot memorize Don’s various occult ingredients and proportions.”

  Skip Davis, who bartended at the Kahiki for twenty-one years, has a lot of stories from the Kahiki that can’t be told in polite company. However, this one is worth repeating because of its contribution to local football lore. “There was a young man from my wife’s hometown who was Brutus Buckeye one year,” Davis wrote, referring to the Ohio State University mascot. “Long story short, the head on the costume didn’t get turned back in right away. Well, we just kind of filled it up with some kind of concoction and drank out of it. Here was Brutus’s [fiberglass] head upside down on the bar and we’re all sipping out of it.” He was also known to drink champagne from his tennis shoe on occasion.

  Davis was one half of the popular bartending duo of Skip and Jim (Davis and Carasco). The latter had worked at the Kahiki for eighteen and a half years. During Skip and Jim’s years of service, the recipe book fell by the wayside, but it didn’t matter because they had memorized all forty of the drinks on the menu long ago. “Some of the drinks are easy: the only difference between a Zombie and a Barrelito is [a half ounce of] Navy Grog mix,” Carasco noted. However, as he explained to Otto Von Stroheim of Tiki News, the Navy Grog mix is another story altogether.

  The Kahiki Navy Grog mix is so complex and made so infrequently (once every 5 years) that the recipe was seldomly seen let alone memorized. Jim made it once when he was first hired at age 20, then again at 25. I noticed [the recipe] hanging on a wire one day in the kitchen and I thought “That’s gonna fall off and get lost.” Jim divulged [it] to me as I navigated my Navy Grog. So I copied it down and kept it at home. Months later when it came time to make the recipe the other bartender said, “It’s gone!” and I said, “No it isn’t I have it at home.”