• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Toluca Lake MagazineToluca Lake

  • Food & Drink
  • Things to Do
  • Home & Garden
  • Life & Style
  • Health & Wellness
  • The Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • About
    • Issue Archive
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
  • Local News & Events
  • Business Directory
    • Food and Drink
    • Shopping
    • Things to Do
    • Beauty
    • Health and Fitness
    • Services
    • Get Listed
  • The Neighborhood
    • Toluca Lake
    • Burbank Media District
    • Downtown Burbank
    • Magnolia Park
    • NoHo Arts District
    • Studio City
    • Tujunga Village
  • Local News & Events
    • A Note From the Publisher
    • Out & About
    • Community Profile
    • Event Calendar
    • Local Business Spotlight
    • Pets of Toluca
  • Business Directory
    • Food and Drink
    • Shopping
    • Things to Do
    • Beauty
    • Health and Fitness
    • Services
    • Get Listed
  • The Neighborhood
    • Toluca Lake
    • Burbank Media District
    • Downtown Burbank
    • Magnolia Park
    • NoHo Arts District
    • Studio City
    • Tujunga Village
  •  
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Vimeo
Food & DrinkHistory

A Sip of Paradise

Kick your feet up and enjoy these tiki-inspired cocktails from the China Trader.

by Paul Amico | September 22, 2022

The Rangoon Gimlet (left) and the Hawaiian Eye (right) were among the many cocktails created or popularized at the China Trader. Photo by Daniel Deitch.

Although it may have looked like a typical Chinese restaurant on the outside, the China Trader on Riverside Drive — now the location of the Garry Marshall Theatre — served as a tropical escape for many locals in the 1960s and ’70s, thanks to its semi-tiki nautical indoor theme and array of exotic cocktail creations. It was also a frequent haunt of iconic film and TV stars of the era.

“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.

The Rangoon Gimlet ingredients. Photo by Daniel Deitch.

Rangoon Gimlet

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

1 ounce fresh lime juice
2 ounces sugar syrup
3 ounces vodka or gin
2 dashes Angostura bitters
16 ounces (2 cups) crushed ice

PREPARATION
  1. Put everything in a blender.
  2. Blend at high speed for 20 seconds, or until frappéd.
  3. Pour unstrained into two cocktail glasses, piling up the frozen mixture as you go.
  4. Garnish with a green cocktail cherry.

The Rangoon Gimlet. Photo by Daniel Deitch.
P.I. IN PARADISE Robert Conrad and Anthony Eisley starred in the ABC series Hawaiian Eye as the owners of a detective agency and security firm in Honolulu. Aiding their investigations were a photographer and lounge singer played by Connie Stevens, and a wisecracking, ukelele-playing cab driver played by Poncie Ponce (not pictured). Photo from the collection of Toluca Lake Magazine.

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.

The Hawaiian Eye ingredients. Photo by Daniel Deitch.

Hawaiian Eye

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS

½ ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce falernum
½ ounce sugar syrup
½ ounce light Hawaiian rum (or substitute light Puerto Rican rum)
1 ounce gold Puerto Rican rum
8 ounces (1 cup) crushed ice

PREPARATION
  1. Put everything in a blender.
  2. Blend at high speed for five seconds.
  3. Pour unstrained into a tulip glass or a tiki mug.
The Hawaiian Eye. Photo by Daniel Deitch.

About Paul Amico

Paul Amico is an editor for Toluca Lake Magazine.

Primary Sidebar

TLM Local Real Estate Guide 2022

Search

Recent Posts

  • 2022 Holiday Gift Guide
  • Recipe: Breadness Artisan Sourdough Cheese Melt
  • A Path Into Podcasting
  • A Toast to Giving
  • Featured Pet: Milo
Toluca Lake MagazineToluca Lake
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Vimeo

Footer

  • The Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • About
    • Issue Archive
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
  • Departments
    • Food & Drink
    • Things to Do
    • Home & Garden
    • Life & Style
    • Health & Wellness
    • History
  • The Neighborhood
    • Toluca Lake
    • Burbank Media District
    • Magnolia Park
    • NoHo Arts District
    • Studio City
    • Tujunga Village
  • Business Directory
    • Food and Drink
    • Shopping
    • Things to Do
    • Beauty
    • Health and Fitness
    • Services
    • Get Listed

Copyright © 2023 Toluca Lake Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Website designed by Trade News International, Inc.

  • Privacy Policy