Pupu Platter at Lani Kai Saturday night. The duck potstickers were my favorite. And to drink? Try a Lone Palm or a Crystal Skull if you can handle it!
We spoke briefly with the owner of Lani Kai, Julie Reiner. She also ran Flatiron Lounge for about 6 years and more recently opened the Clover Club in Brooklyn. She was lovely. I told her how refreshing it was to be at a bar with a totally different feel - not too mixology-y, and the menu wasn’t full of super-local super-seasonal boring stuff. Just fun drinks, fun fun food, and palm trees galore. A welcome change from the usual NYC fare. She had an interesting take on what happend to Tailor, the former tenant of the Lani Kai space. She said Tailor, and a lot of places like it, draw crowds at first like a museum does. Everyone wants to check out the art, but no one really wants to go back that soon. So true. I never thought I’d hear that coming from the owner of a Hawaiian-themed bar in New York City, but, I give her credit for having some balls and putting the makers of bubble-gum infused cocktails in their right place. Mahalo!
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