Kahiki Supper Club Read online

  To assist them in realizing their vision, the partners hired architect Bernard C. “Bernie” Altenbach. As Bill Sapp recalled:

  The design of the Kahiki went beyond the standard A-frame construction. Fraternal Order of Moai Archive.

  Bernie came up with the idea of the Polynesian meetinghouse, and he got it started and well on its way. Coburn Morgan came in as the decorator. Bernie Altenbach designed the different rooms inside the Kahiki but never really got the credit that he deserved. Bernie had just finished remodeling the Top at that time. We hired Bernie to do it, but when he got too busy, he had Coburn take over. Coburn Morgan was very outgoing and got all the credit.

  A resident of Columbus, Bernie was fifty-six years old when he undertook the project, which he modeled on a “New Guinea meetinghouse.” Chris Altenbach recalled that his father’s “intention was to showcase ‘the four forces of nature—earth, wind, water and fire—in a South Pacific island setting.’” Bernie had been friends with Bill and Lee since their college days. However, after he passed away on July 24, 1995, at the age of ninety-one, the memory of his contribution to the restaurant began to fade.

  Ned B. Eller and Ralph Sounik took over for Bernie. Fraternity brothers at Ohio State, the two men had formed S.E.M. (Sounik, Eller and Harry W. Martin) Partners in 1959, specializing in educational and religious architectural projects. They were responsible for creating the final construction blueprints. Ned eventually relocated to West Virginia, and Ralph passed away on March 17, 2012.

  While traveling through Lexington, Kentucky, Bill and Lee saw a Polynesian mural. “We learned it was painted by Coburn Morgan, who was in Columbus doing a job for Nationwide Insurance,” Lee said. “He was selling a ceiling material called Tectum.” Coburn was a brilliant but difficult guy, Bill would later say. A talented artist, he often relied on others to execute his ideas. For example, he sculpted a miniature of the moai that guarded the main door of the Kahiki and shot gas flames from the tops of their heads, but Philip Kientz constructed the actual full-size statues. As a result, it is sometimes difficult to identify who was responsible for what.

  “He devised a method to make the water in the fountain glow,” architect Barry Follmer recalled, “and he put together the sound and light effects for the thunderstorms that occur periodically in the glass aviary. He fashioned the knots in the ropes that hold the bamboo huts together. He even designed the tin lamps that sit on each table.” With Lee, Coburn traveled to the West Coast to handpick many of the numerous artifacts that were not his original creations.

  “We were traveling all over the world and all doing research on Polynesia,” Bill recalled. “I went through the Polynesian dictionary and found the word Kahiki, which means ‘sail to Tahiti.’ It sounded like it would work.” Coburn sketched hundreds of ideas for the Kahiki’s décor and hired teenage art students to fabricate handmade lamps and wall designs.

  An aerial photo of the Kahiki Supper Club during construction. Authors’ collection.

  Ground was broken in July 1960 on the former site of the Grass Shack. Those in attendance included Bill Sapp, Lee Henry, Robert Henry, Coburn Morgan, Ned Eller, Ralph Sounic, model Marsha Gleaves and L.M. Berry, Henry’s stepfather, who operated an advertising agency in Dayton and had a financial interest in the project.

  Because the Grass Shack had burned, fire chief McFadden wasn’t going to allow Bill and Lee to use any grasses or thatch in the construction of the Kahiki. However, examining the ruins of their tiki bar, they pointed out to the chief that everything had been consumed except those materials that had been treated with Flame-Art. They were only charred. After that, McFadden said, “It’s alright with me.”

  Not surprisingly, Central Ohio carpenters did not have much experience working with bamboo and palm fronds, so they had to learn on the job, Linda Becker remembered. Her father was one of them and made the “flaming” plywood fish that ran along the ridge of the roof. Years before, he had worked on the Desert Inn across the street (which would later benefit from the Kahiki’s overflow business).

  These blueprints show the layout of the restaurant’s main floor and basement. Fraternal Order of Moai Archive collection.

  General contractor Jack Liberatore’s involvement ended when construction was done. Herman L. Leitwein, who had worked on the Grass Shack, Top of the Isle, Desert Inn and Larry Flynt’s Hustler Clubs, continued to work for them. “He was our guy,” Lee said. He remained as the restaurant’s building and maintenance superintendent while Jesse Howard handled all the electrical installation. Majestic Paint created a custom color—Kahiki Brown—that was used throughout the restaurant.

  Leitwein recalled that when the bamboo dried out, it would split with a loud crack that sounded like a gun being fired. On two occasions, live snakes purportedly emerged from the bamboo. He also said that the live palm trees and other tropical plants had to be replaced on a yearly basis.

  “I remember when we had just brought up some palm trees from Florida, and I took my mother to the Kahiki for the first time,” Bill said. “A little green snake fell out of one of the palm trees onto the table, which of course made a lasting impression on my mother.” During its heyday, the restaurant required a truckload of banana tree leaves each month to meet its needs.

  When the doors opened in February 1961, “Polynesian was the theme; pineapple was the flavor; Far East eclectic was the cuisine; Kahiki was the name,” to quote Doral Chenoweth, the Grumpy Gourmet. It was an immediate hit. And as a result, some thought was given to opening another one.

  “We were so tired from all this and the way it went over and everything. We were making money like we never dreamed of. We really didn’t think of any others,” Bill said. “At one time, though, after we had been open a year we got a call from some people in Hawaii that wanted us to open up over there, but we didn’t. We thought about that pretty seriously, but in the meantime, we were working on plans to open a Kahiki in Cincinnati. We applied for a liquor license and did everything down there, but we were never able to make any kind of deal for a lot down there. So it just fell through.”

  The scramble to build tiki bars and restaurants included several other notable Buckeye State establishments. In 1953, sometime actor Stephen Crane, best known for his two marriages to film star Lana Turner, bought Lucy’s, a popular Hollywood hangout on Rodeo Drive. Reopened as the Luau, it quickly became a magnet for celebrities, who were attracted by its exotic décor, beautiful table and dinnerware and flamboyant cocktails. Five years later, Crane began parlaying his “tiki oasis” into a small chain of restaurants. Taking a cue from Trader Vic’s, he formed a partnership with Sheraton hotels to open Polynesian-themed restaurants in more than a half dozen Sheratons. He called them Kon-Tiki after purchasing the rights to the name from Thor Heyerdahl, author of the bestselling book. For the third outlet in his chain, Indiana-born Crane chose the Sheraton-Cleveland Hotel. Located on Public Square, it opened in 1961 and seated 230. It closed in 1976. In 1965, Crane opened his seventh Kon-Tiki in Cincinnati’s Sheraton-Gibson Hotel, occupying what had formerly been the Florentine Room. Situated on the edge of Fountain Square, the hotel closed in 1974 and was demolished three years later.

  Toledo’s contribution to “tiki culture” was AkuAku, located in the Town House Motel. Between its opening in 1960 and its closure ten years later, this “Polynesian Room” hosted many major acts, including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Duke Ellington, Henny Youngman and Phyllis Diller. The club was owned by Irving “Slick” Shapiro, a gambler and bookmaker with a number of arrests under his belt by the time the AkuAku opened. “There’s no question: He ran the last of the great clubs in this town,” Seymour Rothman, retired Toledo Blade columnist, recalled. “There’s never been any place like that since. Not even close.” As might be expected, the club was popular with both city leaders and well-known mob figures. It also had the same logo tiki as the Luau 400 in New York City. It is unclear if the logo was lifted or if the two locations had a rel
ationship. Shapiro also owned several other Toledo eateries: Guiseppe’s Italian, the Embers, the Gas Light Club (later the Lamplite Club) and the Granada Gardens.

  Bill Sapp (on left) and Lee Henry promoted the Kahiki throughout Central Ohio and beyond. Courtesy Sapp/Henry.

  Dayton was also home to a Kon-Tiki of its own, but rather than a tiki bar, it was a Polynesian-themed movie palace. A longtime landmark at 4100 Salem Avenue, the Kon-Tiki was built in 1968 by the local Levin family, specifically Samuel Levin, who owned three other movie houses and thirteen drive-in theaters. Also decorated by Coburn Morgan during the peak of the tiki-craze, the Kon-Tiki was patterned after Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. It featured illuminated tiki faces on the façade, volcanic rock and abalone shells on the walls and enormous seashells for sinks in the restrooms. There was also an enormous marquee and tiki torches studding the parking lot. Unbelievably, the theater did not have a concession stand when it first opened because Sam felt it would cheapen the experience. However, since concessions are often more important than film revenues to a theater, one was soon installed. In 1987, the Kon-Tiki became part of the Lowes movie house chain. Twelve years later, it closed and was demolished in 2005 to make way for a medical center.

  A meat cutter by trade, George Rudin opened a Dayton grocery in 1946 at 1721 North Main Street. Within two years, it had evolved into a cocktail lounge and delicatessen and eventually a supper club. Inspired by a Polynesian restaurant he had visited in California, George and his wife, Minnie, made trips to Hawaii and the Philippines to purchase canoes, surfboards, wooden tiki gods, lava rocks and other knickknacks that carried out the island theme. He called it George Rudin’s Tropics, and clearly it was. As his daughter, Natalie, recalled for writer Benjamin Kline, “Dad was here until 4 a.m. for 40 years. He bought the food, prepared the menus, cut his own steaks. He did everything.” That included the remodeling. “Once he built a mother-of-pearl wall around the bar, didn’t like how it looked and the next day it was gone.” Rudin served Cantonese and American food, along with standard cocktails and tropical drinks in tiki mugs. He also provided entertainment, ranging from major stars such Lucille Ball, Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis and Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs to local favorites Big Red (“Dayton’s one and only Red Hot Mama”) and even Vicki & the Rest, an all-girl teenage rock band from suburban Kettering. From the flaming torches in the parking lot to the profusion of bamboo and palm trees, the Tropics was the height of tiki kitsch. And then, in August 1987, Rudin abruptly closed his little corner of paradise.

  However, during the 1960s and 1970s, it was a rare city that didn’t have some form of half-hearted tiki bar or tiki room. After a few drinks, they all looked pretty much the same anyway.13

  4

  THE STORY OF KAHIKI

  It was one of the greatest Tiki temples ever. I remember getting a little weak-kneed. You saw that A-frame building and you’re, “Oh, this is going to be good.” Then you go in and see the fireplace, and that’s everyone’s Tiki dream.

  —Frank DeCaro

  For many people, their first exposure to the Kahiki was a billboard. There was one on Olentangy River Road and another at Hamilton and Livingston Avenues. It featured the face of a “Polynesian Goddess” that would mechanically “wink” at passersby. As a young boy of six or seven, Doug Motz remembered seeing it every Sunday morning on the way to church, which “scared the devil out of me, and I would duck down behind the seat of my parents’ station wagon for fear she would see me.”

  From several blocks away, the Kahiki was as conspicuous as Noah’s ark run aground on an asphalt beach. It was surrounded by strip malls, fast-food outlets and an assortment of bars and motels. However, these distractions were offset by an oasis of landscaping. In combination with the striking architecture, the heavy concentration of vegetation, especially along Broad Street, helped to create an exotic atmosphere. This was further enhanced at night by a series of patio lights that outlined the driveway, as well as the red glow of the Kahiki sign, supported on faux bamboo posts. The lettering on this and the few other signs that dotted the property employed an “oriental” font.

  When attempting to describe the Kahiki, many patrons found that mere words failed them. They couldn’t capture it all. There was just too much to process. Even repeated visits did not suffice. “We already overwhelmed the customer as they walk in,” Michael Tsao, who later purchased the restaurant, told Renee Montaigne in an interview broadcast on NPR Morning Edition. “Then you have to go through the whole experience of dining.”

  One of the famous Kahiki billboards (note the young lady suspended from a crane just below the “K”). Courtesy Sapp/Henry.

  The following marketing piece dates from early in the Kahiki’s history, perhaps as far back as the opening, and conveys a sense of what the restaurant was like. It may have been written by Robert F. “Bob” Slatzer, a former reporter who later claimed that he had been secretly married to Marilyn Monroe. He was a friend of Lee’s who was a talented copywriter. Or it could have been written by Bill Kite, who also worked on promotional materials for the restaurant. It is entitled “The Story of Kahiki.”

  When the Islanders say “Kahiki” they speak of a joyous voyage filled with laughter and expectation of all that awaits them at their destination…Tahiti. For only here can be found the great heart of the South Sea Islands, which beckons with the timeless enchantment of tradition and promises a fantasy of tropical splendor in every phase.

  It is here, amid the breathtaking beauty of a jungle paradise, that many exotic preparations of food and drink have been originated for festive occasions and for the never-failing approval of gracious Tiki gods.

  So, with this most inadequate bit of background…Welcome to your “Kahiki” the fabulous, million-dollar Polynesian supper club, where not one detail has been overlooked in making your trip to Tahiti come true.

  And now that your car is in the hands of a capable attendant, let’s pause and observe this magnificent structure, as it covers over seventy feet in width, approximately one hundred and fifty feet in length and gracefully arches to a majestic five stories of height. We are reminded of a great gleaming jewel as it reflects the highlights from many flaming luau torches which border the winding drive of the spacious, three acre area.

  The spell is surely upon us and we hesitate only long enough to look with wonder at two towering Easter Island Heads whose heights are crowned with fiery halos; and passing between them now, we cross the bamboo bridge which spans a lagoon of sparking waters.

  Before us is a huge bronze door, and through this we enter the realm of strangely glowing waterfalls which spill from lofty heights and cascade over frothy cliffs of coral. We are watching the magic action of “black light,” an iridescent substance in the rushing waters, which appears to have captured straying tropical moonbeams, for the sole purpose of illuminating this entire area.

  Just beyond the waterfalls, and through the massive bronze double doors, we come upon the Grand Foyer or “Giant Hut,” as it is so aptly named, and to the left our attention is drawn to a large collection of odd and beautiful shells which are arranged and labeled for easy identification; also in this location are entrances to the “telephone shells”…where you may experience a most delightful way in which to send a message, by simply stepping into a giant shell whose inner contours shape a tunnel-like hallway, which winds into the soundproof center.

  Another charming appointment can be found in both guest lounges, where the washbasins are giant shells, presided over by Tiki gods, whose mouths issue forth hot and cold running water. You will note that every effort has been made for comfort and accommodations here in Kahiki, which includes a large six hundred coat checkroom and the spacious downstairs party room which seats two hundred guests.

  Directly opposite the shell collections and to our right, is the exclusive “Beachcomber Shop” that features one of the most unusual displays of unique merchandise to be found anywhere. These exotic items have been imported di
rectly from the islands of the South Pacific and include exciting Hawaiian dresses, handsomely tailored shirts and garments for both men and women, smartly styled from original tapa cloth print. There are gaily colored leis, shoes of the popular thong-type, metallic cuff links of Tiki design, a wide selection of earrings, enticing costume jewelry, a complete line of various type dishes, drinking cups and bowls cut and carved from rare woods, sparking glass and all of native origin.

  This iconic head was used in various advertising campaigns. Courtesy Sapp/Henry.

  Dominating the “Giant Hut,” by its very presence, looms the massive carved head of the sacrificial Tiki god. You are not alone with the impression that nothing escapes notice of this idol’s blazing green eyes. Special lighting effects color the flood of red waters which pour from the mouth of this threatening god, as he jealously guards the peaceful, contented way of life in the Quiet Villages.

  Beyond this Tiki idol, a golden doorway beckons and we see a lovely fountain in the center of a primitive cocktail lounge. On our left, from the direction of the Hawaiian Bar and nearby piano, rippling notes of soothing melody fill the air and we want to relax in the land of South Sea Island enchantment. While to the right of the fountain is the gleaming “Outrigger Bar,” encircled by comfortable Captain’s Chairs. We may choose from a wide variety of exotic tropical cocktails in which rare rums, spices and fruit juices go into the making of the most exquisitely refreshing drinks you have ever enjoyed, while cares of the outside world seem far away from this wonderland of music and whispering waters.