A Corvallis restaurant owner is apologizing a week after opening up a Tiki bar downtown and being accused of cultural appropriation and insensitivity.
“I unintentionally made a mistake and I’m very sorry,” said Cloud Davidson, in an interview on Friday.
The Hapuna Kahuna Tiki Bar & Kitchen — until recently, the location was Cloud & Kelly’s Public House, an Irish pub — will close Sunday and reopen Sunday night as an extension of the Downward Dog, an adjacent bar that Davidson owns. Hapuna Kahuna started its short run on June 22.
Davidson said that residents of Polynesian ancestry, including those with the Oregon State University Asian and Pacific Cultural Center, complained about a combination of factors such as the use of a Hawaiian name, traditional iconography displayed in a cartoonish way, and how plastic leis were handed off to customers.
“I’m very sympathetic to the issues that were brought up to me. And I’m not for a moment going to tell a person of color that they’re wrong for how they feel,” Davidson said.
There also were grumbles, however, that Davidson wasn’t selling authentic Hawaiian fare.
In a Facebook post apology to the community in general, Davidson said he will remove the culturally significant items from the space, and reopen by 7:30 p.m. Sunday, when live music is scheduled to begin. The Downward Dog extension will continue to serve tropical drinks that were offered at the Tiki bar.
The controversy ended up spurring an interesting — and sometimes confusing — community discussion, Davidson acknowledged.
Some Hawaiians and other Polynesians liked the Tiki-themed bar and didn’t want him to change it, Davidson said.
A local Facebook forum also had numerous comments about the situation, including questions of whether it was appropriate for chefs to cook ethnic food that wasn’t from their ancestry, such as a Korean chef running a sushi joint, since the cuisine is Japanese; discussion on the origins of Tiki “culture” as an inauthentic fantasy mashup of tropical influences, and how there are Tiki bars in Hawaii; and comments on the evolution of Hawaiian cuisine to include items from numerous cultures, including those of Asian and Western countries.
In an interview this week originally intended for a Monday business page feature on Hapuna Kahuna, Davidson said that he spent much time in Hawaii as a youth, visiting every summer as his uncle, aunt and cousins lived on the Kona side of the Big Island.
Hapuna Beach was just down the street.
“A lot of this has to do with family. That was a big part of my childhood,” said Davidson, who also owns DeMaggio’s New York Pizza and Bombs Away Café, a Southwestern restaurant.
Davidson has lived in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, so the Tiki theme made sense as, despite its origins in the mainland United States, it drew from a wide region of the Pacific, Davidson said. His chef Ko Atteberry is half-Japanese, with a deep background in the cuisine that plays a major role in Hawaiian fare.
The Tiki bar also made more financial sense than Cloud & Kelly’s, Davidson said, as the price of Irish cheddar, heavy creams, butters and lamb was rising. There also are rather obvious limitations to Irish cuisine, he added.
“It all came down to the cost. … I know it had a good reputation but I felt I was at a crossroads and I was willing to try something new,” he added.
That something new included a heavy emphasis on cocktails, his favorite part of the restaurant business.
(37) comments
I hope I don't get in trouble for cooking asian, mexican, and italian food in my germanic cracker household. I guess I'll have to close the blinds when I cook dinner...
And meanwhile, folks fiddle while Rome burns...
And plastic leis too ! Oh ! the horror, the horror !
If one is so insecure about their culture or has been conditioned to believe they are one of life’s victims that handing out plastic leis or seeing a cartoon offends you….then let me give you a nickel so you can buy a life. This is how pathetic things have become thanks to the constant “Wah! Life isn’t fair fix it for me mommy” mantra pumped by the crybaby libs in their quest to grasp some relevance. The only “mistake” made was caving into these social justice snowflake clowns and closing the concept.
Its a business decision.
All businesses adapt.
Its not your money....its his money.
Relax.
I hope everything work out well for you and your family! I don't understand why people pick silly things like leis to complain about. I'm sorry that happened to you. Hope I can visit your restaurant soon!
I would have been more than happy to spend my hard earned pesos on this establishment if Cloud Davidson had the courage to take a stand against these professional grievance mongers. After reading his pathetic apology letter, I will stick with Local Boys when I'm in the mood for Hawaiian fare. Sorry, but Davidson only emboldened these lunatics with his capitulation, which I personally find unacceptable. If Davidson grows a pair in the future, I will reconsider.
Sort of off topic, but: does anybody else find it ironic that the "Hawaiians" who get in Haoles' faces the most about respecting their culture, ohana this, haole that, are Hawaiian in area code only? A Portugese, chinese, japanese mishmash who demand respect without showing any, who conflate their address with their culture.
Real Polynesians (e.g. Tahitians) do not behave in this manner.
Yeah, I get it, crackers committed innumerable atrocities against Polynesian culture, but most of the folks who protest the loudest are the descendants of those same cultural oppressors.
Flame away...
So now your ignorance about Hawaii and Hawaiian culture really shows.
What, you like make beef?
How many native, full-blooded Hawaiians do you know?
Why don't the wankers protesting a good local citizen's business endeavor instead protest the republicans' stated intentions to dismantle the Papahānaumokuākea national monument instead? You know, something that actually matters?
How absolutely petty and pathetic this whole story is. It highlights the decay of freedoms that Americans in liberal communities like Corvallis are enduring. Cloud, you did what you thought best for your business, but a little bit of American values died by your actions. Freedom of choice. What's next , Burger King closed because European Americans are offended by the cartoon King and paper crowns they give to kids?! This is truely a low during what should be the most beloved holiday for all Americans. Independence Day. Enjoy your freedom and independence; if you have the balls!
Oh come on.
Businesses adapt to make money.
Would your response be the same if this was a strip club?
A strip club has no bearing on this topic. He would have made more money with the Tiki bar than the Irish themed place. Over sensitive snowflakes blocked his aspirations. We will really never know how well it would have done because the masses were not allowed to let their money do the talking. Social censorship at best.
Try the indica next time. Good grief.
My question as a person of Irish heritage, how was the Irish pub not cultural appropriation? He also has a Mexican restaurant. That is allowed? Why can't people simply open and run their business. If it is no good, then the money will not be there and it will close naturally. Who are these people who claim to own "Tiki-ness"? I am Irish and enjoyed Cloud's take on an irish pub. No, it was not actually all that Irish, but I enjoyed it.
I don't get this. People have been appropriating aspects of other cultures since forever. What's next; people won't be allowed to eat Chinese food with chopsticks unless they're Chinese? I'm Scottish, but I don't get upset if Americans play bagpipes, or Mel Gibson makes an totally inaccurate movie like Braveheart. If people try to do Scottish things, I take it as an honest interest in my culture and not some attempt to misappropriate my heritage.
"Tiki is a reflection of America's cultural experience, not an appropriation of Polynesian culture. It is an example of Americana, not Polynesia."
This article is full of very interesting thoughts on all points, for anyone interested in learning more about tiki bars and cultural appropriation.
http://yesterday-tomorrow-and-fantasy.blogspot.com/2016/11/is-tiki-cultural-appropriation.html?m=1
I haven't read all the comments, but I'll cook up and serve anything I want, to anyone who wants it. Save the sophomoric feigned outrage. This is a free country.
/\/\/\ what he (or she) said /\/\/\
How many pizza joints here are owned and operated by ethnic Italians? Where's all the outrage over their appropriation of Italian culture? This same thing happened in Portland just recently. Google up "Kooks Burritos Portland Oregon." Two white women traveled to Mexico to learn authentic recipes and opened a burrito cart downtown, and the loons claimed the same cultural appropriation nonsense and shut it down.
Can the left go just one day without having to have something to be outraged about?
I read about the Kooks Burritos incident shortly after it happened. According the article I read, Kooks was extremely popular and successful until they were featured in a local alternative newspaper in which they told the story about their trip to Mexico, and then the real Kooks (social justice warriors) came out with their cultural appropriation claims. Being Portland, I'm willing to bet both of those women were dedicated HRC or Bernie supporters too, and in the end, they were eaten alive by their own kind.
What are you talking about?
The article seemed to indicate that not the entire community agreed with the complainers. Like other similar situations, this was likely a very small but very vocal group of people who took issue with the theme of the restaurant. Rather than good business practice, the owner probably caved in out of fear of being declared a racist and/or having his property vandalized. I don't hate anybody, but this manufactured outrage in the form of cultural appropriations and microaggressions is pretty lame and annoying, IMHO.
Here is a thought maybe someone would to elaborate on. How can multiculturalism and the concept of cultural appropriation coexist? As a nation consisting of people of virtually every culture on earth, we strive to coexist and learn and grow together through the free exchange of ideas and practices, but when we put those freely shared ideas and practices to use, its considered an act of insensitivity or racism? Does anyone else find the ideas of multiculturalism and cultural appropriation mutually exclusive?
"Does anyone else find the ideas of multiculturalism and cultural appropriation mutually exclusive?"
Amen.
Did you ever hear about the "Compton Cookout" at UCSD? A group of students held a cookout wearing blackface and serving fried chicken, watermelon, and other stereotypical "black" food. Now that's something I can understand people taking issue with, as it could easily be taken as mocking and belittling of black people. Taking issue with a restaurant serving ethnic cuisine just or any other legitimate business endeavor just because the owners and staff are not of the respective ethnicity is just plain ridiculous. This whole cultural appropriation/microaggression thing would be comical if not for the fact that people are losing jobs, getting expelled from colleges, and having to shutter their businesses over it just to appease the supermajority of the perpetually aggrieved SJWs.
Superminority, not supermajority (ugggh)
In the spirit of equality and social justice, can a white American of Anglo-Saxon descent legitimately claim to be a victim of cultural appropriation when a non-white, non-American business owner of non-Anglo-Saxon descent uses electric lightbulbs to light his or her business premises? Thomas Edison was a white American of Anglo-Saxon descent after all, and White Anglo-Saxon is a separate and distinct culture, is it not?
I liked the previous incarnation of Cloud & Kelley. But if he wants to open a Hawaiian-themed place and hire non-Hawaiian chefs, who cares? People will either like it or not. Jeez, do you have to be Hispanic to cook Hispanic food? Or Italian to cook Italian food? Ridiculous!! This cultural appropriation business is getting out of hand.
I think the only answer to this conundrum is for Mr. Davidson to open a restaurant that serves bagels, matzo, gifelte fish, and Manischewitz. Then all will be right in this unfair, unsafe world.
IDK. Jew bashing seems to be just as acceptable as white bashing to the SJWs (e.g. the BDS movement), so I could see that business venture being successful.
If your reference to the "community" is meant to imply that a majority of the community took issue with the ethnic theme of the restaurant, I think you're mistaken judging by the comments and reactions to this article against the cultural appropriation claim. As is the norm in other similar situations, this was a very small number of very vocal grievance mongers who seized on the very first opportunity to be offended about something and bolster their self images as champions of racial justice by standing up to some imaginary injustice.
Normally, I think most calls of "cultural appropriation" are bullshit but this definitely was in poor taste and not at all what I expected. Having been to Cloud's other businesses, I was expecting something on theme but in a low key, classy way. I didn't even realize the name wasn't Tiki Bar until I saw the ultra cartoonish logo. The decor looked cheap and tacky, far too exaggerated, and again not at all what I expected from one of his establishments. I think that if all of that had been done in a less exaggerated way - tiki with a modern twist - it would have been amazing.
I get your point, but I still don't think tacky decor equals racial/ethnic injustice. The problem here is these SJWs and their racial/ethnic patsies who buy into their BS don't really care about righting wrongs committed against racial/ethnic minorities. Their real goal in these situations is power. They get their jollies from forcing people and businesses to change their ways and adopt their ideologies, and when those people and businesses refuse to play ball, the SJWs resort to tactics like doxing and getting people fired from their jobs, expelled from their schools, or forcing them to shutter their businesses.
I agree, they are useless whiners and killjoys who are only capable of destroying, not creating
Sounds like you've got a lot of ideas; You should start your own business.
I don't know who I despise more, the SJW scum whining about nonsense like Cultural Appropriation of the gutless owner who caved to these useless harpies?
I suppose this means that Local Boyz should probably be packing their boxes as well?
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