Jardin Tiki
| Jardin Tiki | |
|---|---|
 Jardin Tiki's marquee | |
 | |
  Location within Montreal | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1986 |
| Closed | March 28, 2015 |
| Owner(s) | Danny Chan |
| Food type | Canadian Chinese cuisine |
| Dress code | Casual |
| Street address | 5300 Sherbrooke Street East |
| State | Quebec |
| Postal/ZIP Code | H1V 1A1 |
| Country | Canada |
| Coordinates | 45°34′05″N 73°33′10″W / 45.568148°N 73.552645°W |
| Website | jardintiki.com (archive) |
Jardin Tiki was a tiki-themed buffet restaurant established in 1986 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and closed 28 March 2015.
History
[edit]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 1455 Peel Street, at the former Mount Royal Hotel in downtown Montreal.[2] Chan, who left Kon-Tiki in the 1970s,[3] opened his first restaurant Tiki Doré in 1974 at 6976 Sherbrooke Street East in Montreal. Chan bought back many elements of the Kon-Tiki restaurant's decor at an auction sale held after the Kon-Tiki restaurant's closure in 1981, in order to use them in another more spacious restaurant that he wanted to open.[2] He founded a new business on 14 February 1985 and the following year[1] opened his second restaurant Jardin Tiki (literally Tiki Garden) with the help of then co-owners Albert Wong and Paul Yee, in a former car dealership.[3] Chan sold the Tiki Doré restaurant in 1990.[1] The Tiki Doré restaurant closed in January 2000.[4]
Jardin Tiki was located at 5300 Sherbrooke Street East in Montreal, facing the Olympic Village in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district. It was noted for its kitsch Polynesian decor, its large atrium filled with tropical plants and its pond with live turtles.[5] It got rave reviews in James Teitelbaum's book on the pop-Polynesian phenomenon Tiki Road Trip.[2][3] The all-you-can-eat buffet served Canadian Chinese cuisine.
Danny Chan, son of Douglas Chan, who died in 2002, took over his father's business.[6] According to its last owner, the only day Jardin Tiki had been closed was the day of his father's funeral.[7]
Closure
[edit]The Jardin Tiki closed on 28 March 2015. The land and building (including the decor) were purchased by retirement-home mogul Eddy Savoie of Résidences Soleil to make way for a new retirement residence to be built on the site.
Significance
[edit]Scenes from the 1998 film C't'à ton tour, Laura Cadieux, the 2006 René Lévesque television miniseries[8] and the 2008 movie Truffe by Kim Nguyen,[6] were shot at Jardin Tiki.
At the time of its closing in 2015, the Jardin Tiki was the last tiki-themed restaurant remaining in Montreal and one of a handful of tiki establishments in Quebec. A notable survivor is the Hôtel Motel Coconut in Trois-Rivières.[3]
Gallery
[edit]-
Tiki statue, 2004 -
Entryway, 2005 -
Tiki-themed door handles -
A cocktail at Jardin Tiki -
A cocktail at Jardin Tiki
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References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Our History". Jardin Tiki. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ^ a b c Dubuc, André (2014-08-19). "Jardin Tiki, haut lieu du kitsch, en péril". La Presse (Canadian newspaper). Gesca Limitée. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
- ^ a b c d Roxanne Arsenault, Les commerces kitsch exotiques au Québec : reconnaissance et sauvegarde d'un nouveau patrimoine, septembre 2011.
- ^ "Tiki Doré". Critiki. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
- ^ USA Today, "10 great places to carry a torch for Tiki bars", 3 August 2007
- ^ a b Hamelin, Marilyse (2015-03-12). "Le " Tiki ", c'est fini". La Presse (Canadian newspaper). Gesca Limitée. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
- ^ Harrison, Ian (2015-01-27). "Marvel at Montreal's Palace of Kitschy Tiki Relics Before it Faces Auction". Montreal Eater. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
- ^ Langlois, Claude (17 November 2004), "René Lévesque, le beau risque d'Emmanuel Bilodeau", Journal de Montréal, archived from the original on March 15, 2015
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External links
[edit]
- Official website (from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
- Photo Gallery at Cult MTL
- Photo gallery at Montreal Eater