A Sip of Paradise

“Lee Marvin, Bob Hope and Jack Webb were regulars, along with a steady stream of contract players from Warner Bros. Studios down the street,” says Jeff Berry, author and historian of tiki culture, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley and became fascinated with the tiki scene as a child in the 1960s when his parents took him to the popular Chinese restaurant Ah Fong’s in Encino. He adds that Webb — the creator of hit shows like Dragnet, Emergency! and Adam-12, who is said to have lived in Toluca Lake for a time — was such a fan of the China Trader that he even owned the restaurant at one point. Webb’s ex-wife, the singer and actor Julie London, would occasionally drop by and perform with her second husband, jazz musician Bobby Troup, who invested in the China Trader and played there frequently. 

One of the drinks that were either invented or popularized at the China Trader was the Rangoon Gimlet, a refreshing vodka- or gin-based cocktail created by bartender Tony Ramos.

Another was the Hawaiian Eye, which Ramos dedicated to regulars Robert Conrad, Poncie Ponce and Connie Stevens, who starred in the 1959–1963 TV series Hawaiian Eye. The drink gets its distinct taste and flavor from falernum, a ginger, almond and clove syrup from Barbados.

“The trio would take over the China Trader bar four to five nights a week after filming interior scenes on the Warner lot,” Berry says. “Connie and Poncie were honored by the drink and made it their usual, but Robert Conrad stuck to his previous favorite, the Rangoon Gimlet.”

Berry, who received both China Trader recipes from Ramos before he retired, kindly shared these tropical concoctions from his book, Beachbum Berry Remixed, so you can make them at home and enjoy a taste of Toluca Lake’s past.