Seduced by 'Tiki Dreams'

Are we being swayed by the intoxicating call of the South Seas?

Must be. Because the seductive siren behind an enchanting tiki-filled exhibition keeps on calling us north.

Napa Valley, here we come!

Curated by Baby Doe and Otto von Stroheim, event producers and aficionados of all things tiki, their 'Tiki Dreams: from Far-Away Fantasy to Pop Culture Phenomenon' exhibition is currently hosted at the Main Gallery of the Napa Valley Museum, in Yountville, 56 miles north of San Francisco.

'Tiki Dreams' is "more than Mai Tais and swizzle sticks," to quote the museum's website, and was also quite a challenging assignment to pull off. "Putting an exhibition together is one of the toughest things I have ever done," admits Baby Doe.

"We had done a couple of tiki events for our friends over at the Walt Disney Family Museum [in San Francisco], and that's how our names came into the mix. We learned a lot along the way, and now I am so proud of what we've produced."

Indeed, 'Tiki Dreams' offers endless opportunities to learn all about tiki lore, and how the exotic tiki lounges and restaurants of California came to be.

Though much of the history of the 'Golden Age of Tiki' was written here [in California], Otto says, "We felt that Northern California had been sort of left out. But with the cocktail scene growing so big now, it was good timing for the exhibit."

With his passion for Polynesia shining through, Otto views the exhibit as a great chance to meet like-minded folks and to learn about the history of California's tiki lounges—Don the Beachcomber, for example, and Trader Vic's, which has an entire wall of the museum devoted to it.

"People think Don the Beachcomber built a Polynesian palace, but it actually had a very modest start as a cafe" [in Hollywood], says Otto. "Don didn't have 75 drinks on his menu in 1934. Trader Vic's jumped in right away, and added a whole new dimension to it, introducing the Scorpion Bowl, wine…this whole other aspect.