My wife and I found the GPS coordinates on a nondescript corner of L.A.'s Chinatown district, wondering if we had made a mistake. We were the first to arrive and saw little more than a plot of asphalt and a blank, white container truck. Turning the corner a very friendly woman asked if we were there for Tiki Mirage and then checked us in as we awkwardly stood, wondering what would come next. What unfolded over the 90 minutes or so was a master class in storytelling and placemaking, in the form of a pop-up bar completely contained within the truck.
A poem we were sent before the event, the "Ballad of Daniel T. Coleridge," hinted at what may lay inside:
"...In plain sight now the box is hid
Disguised in camouflage,
So only those with piercing eyes
Discern Tiki Mirage."
And in fact, once we entered the truck we discovered a fully themed experience, every inch of the interior covered in bamboo, thatch, or seashells. Moreover, the theming hints at a vast backstory, in which a stowaway on a merchant trading vessel collected meaningful objects that reminded him of his travels and hid them in a shipping container, eventually inviting guests in to share drinks and fellowship within the walls of box 83.
Tiki bars have had a bit of a resurgence over the last decade, channeling the exotic cocktail lounges that sprouted up in the 1940s and 1950s as a form of celebratory escape from the realities of the Great Depression and WWII. These were led by Donn Beach, whose Caribbean-inspired rum-based drink creations, or "Rhum Rhapsodies," were served alongside Chinese-inspired cuisine in a setting pulled from the cultures of Polynesia. If this sounds like a mess of colonial appropriation, well...it was. It gave mid-century white patrons a fictional view of other cultures and cuisines, all in the name of exotic escape. But the fully-realized themed interiors were engaging and inspired Walt Disney and others to run with the idea of building detailed movie-quality sets to actually spend time in.
Which brings us back to Tiki Mirage. It turns out that this experience was created by a former Disney Imagineer, Max Masuda-Farkas, along with his friends Aaron Girard and Nick Newberg. Looking to bring some of the storytelling magic of the Disney parks into a more everyday-accessible experience, the trio crafted a narrative experience that attempts the fully immersive spirit of the old tiki bars while avoiding some of the pitfalls. They largely have pulled this off. Clever use of lighting, sound, and narration - both from the two-person staff and a surprise resident of the truck who makes his presence known from time to time - creates a sense of arc to the evening, and helps build a community among the 12 strangers sharing the experience together. The drinks don't hurt in that effort either!
We were served a four-drink "omakase"-style tasting, each inspired by a classic rum cocktail but with a "twist." The drink program is run by the staff at Thunderbolt LA, recently listed as one of the world's best bars, and specialists in unusual deconstructions of classic libations. As an example, our first drink used a mixture of fine rums, spices, bitters, and fresh juices to create the tasting profile of a classic Rum Barrel cocktail. But the bartender took inspiration from an even older drink, the whiskey sour, by giving it the frothy mouthfeel of that drink traditionally shaken with raw egg white. The Tiki Mirage version was completely vegan, however, using the ingredients of molecular gastronomy to capture that texture in a way that all of the guests could enjoy. My wife, who is vegetarian, especially appreciated that thoughtfulness. (It is worth noting that the $85 all-inclusive fee per person includes the four drinks, tip, and light snacks, and that alcohol-free versions of the drinks are also available for those who don't drink alcohol.)
As the evening progressed, and we started to get to know the other guests, we were asked to share a bit about ourselves, and voluntarily leave a small offering for the "collection." This was a lovely touch, as it did more to break down the barriers between the patrons, but also turned the colonial fetishization of "exotic" objects idea on its head. Instead of ogling the art pieces of a culture we didn't understand, we ourselves would help create the collection for the next guest.
By the time we exited back into the heart of Chinatown, we were pleasantly lubricated, had met some lovely new friends, and were ready to face the real world, which at that moment was not too difficult as we discovered that the Dodgers had just won game two of the World Series. Would that escapism always leads to such positive outcomes!
Tiki Mirage requires advanced tickets and the experience is available on select evenings, with new date drops occurring every month or so.
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Thanks for this awesome write up! As immersive and mysterious that a well themed tiki bar or speakeasy can be, often times they are overly campy or super schlocky. That, or just a generic modern sports bar that happens to be in an underground room in an alleyway.This definitely sounds like a top-notch experience and I wish that I didn’t live in Florida so that I could experience it!
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Great writeup, Jonah!