Jardin Tiki

Jardin Tiki

Jardin Tiki's marquee
Restaurant information
Established 1986
Current owner(s) Danny Chan
Food type Canadian Chinese cuisine
Dress code Casual
Street address 5300 Sherbrooke Street East
State Quebec
Postal code/ZIP H1V 1A1
Country Canada
Coordinates 45°34′05″N 73°33′10″W / 45.568148°N 73.552645°WCoordinates: 45°34′05″N 73°33′10″W / 45.568148°N 73.552645°W
Website www.jardintiki.com/en/

Jardin Tiki is a tiki-themed buffet restaurant established in 1986 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

History

Jardin Tiki was opened by Douglas Chan, a Chinese immigrant who arrived in Montreal in the 1950s and worked as a waiter at Kon-Tiki,[1] a renowned tiki-themed restaurant located from 1958 to 1981 at Le Centre Sheraton Hotel downtown Montreal.[2] Chan, who left Kon-Tiki in the 1970s,[3] bought back many elements of the restaurant's decor at an auction sale held after the restaurant's closure in 1981.[2] He founded his own business on 14 February 1985 and the following year[1] opened Jardin Tiki (literally Tiki Garden) with the help of then co-owners Albert Wong and Paul Yee, in a former car dealership.[3] Chan also opened Tiki Doré, a restaurant he sold in 1990.[1]

Since its inception, Jardin Tiki has been located at 5300 Sherbrooke Street East in Montreal, facing the Olympic Village in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district. It is notable for its kitsch Polynesian decor, its large atrium filled with tropical plants and its pond with live turtles.[4] Jardin Tiki can host 400 patrons[2] and has a terrace and a reception room where dance partys are held every Saturday night, in addition to Wednesday nights musical dinners.[5] Its tiki bar and exotic drinks and cocktails,[6] many served in coconut shells or pineapples, are also popular.[7] It got raving reviews in James Teitelbaum's book on the pop-polynesian phenomenon Tiki Road Trip.[2][3] The all-you-can-eat buffet serves Canadian Chinese cuisine. Danny Chan, son of Douglas Chan, who passed away in 2002, took over his father's business.[5] As of 2015 and according to the current owner, the only day Jardin Tiki had been closed was the day of his father's funeral.[8]

Significance

The 2008 movie Truffe by Kim Nguyen,[5] the 1998 film C't'à ton tour, Laura Cadieux and the 2006 René Lévesque televesion miniseries[9] had been shot at Jardin Tiki. It is a venue for the annual Red Hot & Blue Rockabilly Weekend festival.[10][11][12]

As of 2011, Jardin Tiki was the last tiki-theme restaurant remaining in Montreal and one of a handful or tiki establishments in Québec, with the Hôtel Motel Coconut in Trois-Rivières.[3]

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Our History". Jardin Tiki. Montreal, Canada. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Dubuc, André (2014-08-19). "Jardin Tiki, haut lieu du kitsch, en péril". La Presse (Canadian newspaper) (Gesca Limitée). Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Roxanne Arsenault, Les commerces kitsch exotiques au Québec : reconnaissance et sauvegarde d'un nouveau patrimoine, septembre 2011.
  4. ↑ USA Today, "10 great places to carry a torch for Tiki bars", 3 August 2007
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Hamelin, Marilyse (2015-03-12). "Le " Tiki ", c'est fini". La Presse (Canadian newspaper) (Gesca Limitée). Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  6. ↑ Horowitz, Gemma (2013-08-19). "Tiki is sort of alive and well in Montreal". Cult MTL. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  7. ↑ Sarah Musgrave, Jardin Tiki, Polynesian paradise for kitsch lovers, ECW Press, 2003.
  8. ↑ Harrison, Ian (2015-01-27). "Marvel at Montreal's Palace of Kitschy Tiki Relics Before it Faces Auction". Montreal Eater. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  9. ↑ Langlois, Claude (17 November 2004), "René Lévesque, le beau risque d’Emmanuel Bilodeau", Journal de Montréal
  10. ↑ Olivier Robillard Laveaux, Brève musique 2009-09-03, Voir, 3 September 2009.
  11. ↑ Sylain Cormier, Red Hot & Blue Rockabilly Weekend no 6, Le Devoir, 2 September 2010.
  12. ↑ Sylvain Cormier, Red Hot & Blue Rockabilly Weekend - Tous déchaînés comme Iz, Le Devoir, 30 August 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jardin Tiki.