Jardin Tiki

Jardin Tiki was a tiki-themed buffet restaurant established in 1986 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and closed 28 March 2015.

Jardin Tiki
Jardin Tiki's marquee
Location within Montreal
Restaurant information
Established1986
ClosedMarch 28, 2015
Owner(s)Danny Chan
Food typeCanadian Chinese cuisine
Dress codeCasual
Street address5300 Sherbrooke Street East
StateQuebec
Postal/ZIP CodeH1V 1A1
CountryCanada
Coordinates45.568148°N 73.552645°W / 45.568148; -73.552645
Websitejardintiki.com (archive)

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 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

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

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]

  • Tiki statue, 2004
  • Entryway, 2005
  • Tiki-themed door handles
  • A cocktail at Jardin Tiki
  • A cocktail at Jardin Tiki

References
  1. "Our History". Jardin Tiki. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  2. 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.
  3. Roxanne Arsenault, Les commerces kitsch exotiques au Québec : reconnaissance et sauvegarde d'un nouveau patrimoine, septembre 2011.
  4. "Tiki Doré". Critiki.
  5. USA Today, "10 great places to carry a torch for Tiki bars", 3 August 2007
  6. Hamelin, Marilyse (2015-03-12). "Le " Tiki ", c'est fini". La Presse (Canadian newspaper). Gesca Limitée. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  7. Harrison, Ian (2015-01-27). "Marvel at Montreal's Palace of Kitschy Tiki Relics Before it Faces Auction". Montreal Eater. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  8. Langlois, Claude (17 November 2004), "René Lévesque, le beau risque d'Emmanuel Bilodeau", Journal de Montréal
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