Mark Sellers, the founder and chairman, of HopCat, who opened his first Kansas City location in Westport in February, has a secret passion for all things tiki.
Working in secret with a team of tiki experts and artists for months, Sellers is now proudly ready to unveil TikiCat, his new underground tiki bar located in the basement of HopCat, which opens to the public tonight.
“Over the last 10 years, as I traveled for work, I’ve been to tiki bars across the country, in the hopes of one day opening my own, and when we took this space in Westport for HopCat, it came with this basement space that was perfect for this project,” says Sellers.
The basement bar at TikiCat can seat 55 people and is an absolute feast for the eyes, oozing with Polynesian-themed art, tropical water fountain, a collection of antique tiki mugs, thatched roof rooms filled with comfy retro furnishings, a bamboo covered bar and bartenders ready to serve over 20 different tiki cocktails.
Sellers sought out experts in the world of tiki to help him make sure he nailed all of the important parts of a tiki bar experience. He brought in “Bamboo Ben" Bassham, a world-renowned tiki woodworking expert, who did much of the work in the space, and was the gatekeeper to several other tiki artists that were brought in to help bring TikiCat to life.
Bassham is the grandson of Eli Hedley, who was doing tiki before there was a word for it. Tiki exploded in America after World War II, and when the military men came home craving a piece of the island life they left behind in the South Pacific, Hedley found himself in high demand for his tiki creations.
Although, tiki is considered influenced by the South Pacific, the culture, art, music and design that came from it is considered strictly an American phenomenon.
From the 1930’s -1970’s tiki bars, like Don the Beachcomer and Trader Vic’s were catering to America’s love of tiki, then in the 1980’s when the bars fell out of favor, many of them closed and their pieces of memorabilia were scattered to the wind.
Even here in Kansas City, we had several well-known tiki bars that had opened back in the day, including Castaways, Kona Kai and Kon-Tiki, each imprinting their own version of tiki culture on our Midwestern town.
Then in the mid-1990’s tiki experienced a real revival in the U.S. with people creating tiki oasis in their own basements or backyards, and new tiki bars began to open across the country.
Tiki bar owner, author and expert, Martin Cate, who was also brought in by Sellers to teach tiki history and culture to the bar staff and to help train them on making the drinks that tiki made so popular, says it is important to understand the philosophy of tiki culture.
“Tiki is at its core a $10 cocktail vacation,” Cate says, “it is an escape from your everyday worries or cares, and it is one of the reasons that tiki bars don’t have windows, but are packed with things to look at that you notice each time you visit – you are meant to lose yourself in the experience.”
That is surely delivered with the unbelievable décor at TikiCat and continues into the menu of their mostly rum-based tropical drinks, with favorites like the mai tai, zombie, fog cutter, painkiller and a classic daiquiri to four brand new drinks listed under “house flavors” on the menu that by this summer will be served in their own unique TikiCat mugs.
Looking to share a drink with your friends, then slide up to the bar and order The Luau, a tiki-style punch made with aged Jamaican rum, fresh lime juice, demera syrup, allspice dram and a couple of dashes of bitters. The drink serves 2-4 people and comes to the table in beautiful bowl that is set on fire, tableside. The squeals of delight from those around you, is almost worth ordering one just for yourself.
They offer three beers on tap at TikiCat, but not 103 like they offer upstairs at HopCat. There is also no food served in the tiki bar, but they are happy to seat you upstairs in the restaurant should hunger strikes.
If TikiCat does well here, Sellers says he would consider opening another one somewhere else, but for right now, Kansas City is home to TikiCat.
TikiCat is open Wednesday – Saturday evenings, and reservations are suggested and are being taken online at the TikiCat website via OpenTable.
If you are planning to try to walk-in, simply head for the basement and look for the green and red lights on the outside of the door of TikiCat. If the green light is on it means they are accepting walk-in’s, but if the light is red, it means they are full.
TikiCat, located in the basement of HopCat at 401 Westport Road, Kansas City, Missouri, tikicatkc.com
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