Trader Vic's Tiki Restaurants
Trader Vic was the nickname of Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr., who was born in 1902. He was the founder of a chain of Polynesian-themed restaurants, each of which bore his nickname. Along with Don the Beachcomber, purveyor of a competing chain of tiki-style restaurants, Trader Vic claimed to have invented the Mai Tai drink.
Trader Vic’s tiki restaurant chain began in 1934, when he opened a small bar and restaurant near his parents’ grocery store in Oakland, California. Known as Hinky Dink’s, this restaurant had a tropical flare, but had not yet developed the full tiki style for which later Trader Vic’s restaurants would be known. Through the years, Hinky Dink’s developed an increasingly Polynesian or Hawaiian theme, which would be carried through Trader Vic’s other theme restaurants.
By 1936, Trader Vic left behind Oakland and his Hinky Dink’s restaurant to travel the world. Immersing himself in Polynesian culture, he returned invigorated, with a clear mission to inject the spirit of the islands into his restaurants so that those on the mainland could enjoy this relaxing and exotic culture in their everyday lives. Many of the artifacts seen in his earliest restaurants were those gathered during his travels in the mid-1930s.
As the tiki craze grew during the 1950s and 1960s, Bergeron took this opportunity to build his restaurant into a chain which was soon seen at quite trendy. As many as 25 Trader Vic’s locations opened around the world. Each was known for an unusual mix of Polynesian style, original cocktail recipes, and exotic cuisine. Although many of these original locations have since closed with the decline of the tiki fad, tiki culture is currently experiencing a resurgence, and along with it, Trader Vic’s has recently opened several new locations. At each of today’s incarnations of Trader Vic’s restaurants, a wood-fired oven slowly roasts meat to perfection in traditional island style.
In addition to his popular chain of restaurants, Trader Vic also published several food and drink recipe drinks and story books with a Polynesian or tiki theme. More than simply the founder of a restaurant chain, Trader Vic influenced cuisine nationwide as one of the very first theme restaurants, not to mention the popularization of tiki cuisine and culture. Bergeron himself was known for his penchant for telling colorful and exciting stories to visitors of his restaurant. A popular host, Trader Vic invented potent tropical drinks and Americanized many traditional Polynesian foods, while serving standard American or Asian dishes with a tropical flair.
Trader Vic is said to have created the Mai Tai rum cocktail at his restaurant in 1944. The name of the drink means “the very best” in Tahitian. He is also known for dozens of other unique concoctions; today over 200 original drinks can be found at Trader Vic’s bars. Many of these carefully guarded secrets have never been printed in Trader Vic’s menus or books; some of these mystery concoctions must be asked for by name, and are served in special figural glasses.
Rene Thompson,
Sunday, November 15th