Passing The Bar: Downtown Polynesian

TIKI CULTURE IS synonymous with balmy climes—cue the sound of waves breaking, toes buried in sand and frothy, fruity drinks garnished with a colorful toothpick parasol. In other words: paradise. That being said, tiki bars not actually located in paradise (wherever that is) habitually cater to dreams of escapism and, for the most part, try to create an experience that struggles to rise above kitsch.

Not so at the Lower East Side’s Painkiller, where pedigreed mixologists Richard Boccato and Guissepe Gonzalez are trying to change the game. (Collectively, these guys have worked at such cocktail temples as Milk & Honey, The Clover Club, Flatiron Lounge and Little Branch.)

While you’ll find skull-shaped shot glasses, a deep list of classic tiki drinks and, yes, various incarnations of busty island women, that’s about where the similarities between the old and the new end.

With this latest venture, the owners of Dutch Kills in Long Island City have given tiki a makeover, la ZIP Code 10002.

The result is a mash-up of this city’s vibrant booze culture, tempered by an obsession with tiki-style cocktails (the owners took a multi-national tour of tiki bars before opening Painkiller) and New York pride.

“We’re keeping things on the island of Manhattan, not escaping to the island of Oahu,” Boccato, who is a Brooklyn native, is fond of saying.

And while you may (or may not) agree that Manhattan is paradise, the New York influence at Painkiller reads loud and clear. Think exposed brick paired with thatch and bamboo; The Ramones on the radio instead of Don Ho; a list of scorpion bowl drinks named after ’70s New York street gangs and original graffiti pieces by Joshua Ivory, Tich TM7 and NOC 167 OTB (who coined the term “style wars”).

And how about those drinks. Shaken, stirred or simply poured over shaved ice, every cocktail on the Painkiller menu is served in tiki glassware and garnished in the traditional tiki style, which will please both the classicists (pineapple wedges, maraschino cherries!) and the ladies (cute factor).

But keep in mind that these are serious cocktail masters diving into tiki culture, no holds barred. Those icy piña coladas poured like Slurpees from a giant, churning vat? They’ve got nothing on the lovingly crafted one served here.

Also, it’s not uncommon for a drink to have upwards of three types of booze—the Inglorious Bastard, a variation of the classic tiki drink the Suffering Bastard, is a half-ounce each of 151 Demerara, Cachaca, Coruba and Rhum Agricole. So drink thoughtfully, not quickly. If need be, grab a free hot dog to sop up the excess.

The Painkiller logo is a swizzle stick and a bar spoon, which are a mixologist’s primary tools, skewering a tiki mask in an X-shape, with the letters “P, K” and “N, Y” filling the horizontal and vertical quadrants, respectively. It’s a direct reference to the New York Hard Core logo Boccato saw around town as a youth.

It’s fitting. In other circles—say, a guerilla supper club—the passion these guys have might be too sweetly referred to as love. Here, it’s just hardcore.

>> PAINKILLER 49 Essex St. (at Grand St.), 212-777-TIKI.