island time

New weekday concept sets sail at famous Austin tiki bar

The Retreat at the Nest at Tiki Tatsu-Ya Austin

Tiki Tatsu-Ya knows it's a little much; It now offers a more casual concept two days a week.

Photos courtesy of Tiki Tatsu-Ya

It's like Disney World without the lines (and the constant brand controversy). The immersive bar and restaurant Tiki Tatsu-Ya has captured Ausitnites' imagination with water features, kitschy decor turned up to 11, audiovisual displays, and of course creative tiki drinks. But the novelty of this nearly three-year-old bar keeps coming, with a brand new bar concept inside, open Mondays and Tuesdays only, unveiled June 3.

Whether visitors are looking for a more casual experience or killing time before heading to their table, they can now head to The Retreat at the Nest. A release calls it a new concept, but it is part of the same space, which is also connected — although more opaquely — with Ramen Tatsu-Ya on South Lamar Boulevard.

Ramen Tatsu-Ya, one of the chain's seven locations, is visible from the street, while Tiki Tatsu-Ya embraces the speakeasy life. The only visible marker from the front is the convincing-but-suspect Aikawa Tropical Tours storefront; In the back, signs point to "ramen" in one direction and "tiki" in the other.

The Nest, for short, is located on the second floor in a previously private space that some Austinites may have seen during special events. Now it's flipped the script. Instead of offering a super-exclusive experience, this bar actually tones down Tiki Tastu-Ya's more theatrical offerings for an "approachable tiki experience," according to the release.

The approachable factor seems to come from the bar service, which allows folks to order and find seats at their leisure. (Not to overexplain how bars work, but Tiki Tatsu-Ya's carefully paced style is very much not like this.) It also comes with its own menu, offering eight new tiki twists on classic cocktails for $10-15 each. These are Hawaiian, Polynesian, and Asian-inspired, if not authentic, highlighting various rums.

Menu highlights include:

The 'Guests’ Choice’ Daiquiri: a build-your-own cocktail with possible bases including white, agricole, Guyana, Spanish, Saint Lucian, Jamaican, and Haitian rums
Marghhh: Since no Austin bar menu is complete without a margarita, this one features an agricole rum blend from Martinique, housemade fassionola syrup (passionfruit, et al.), and a Szechuan pepper foam twist
King Kong: A play on an Old Fashioned with banana, a Jamaican rum blend, and housemade Chinese Herbstura (bitters)
Umami Tsunami: Rum-lovers may already have a Dark and Stormy as their usual pick; this one features house-made ginger syrup that turns up the ginger flavor
Pain Forest Cafe: Another classic tiki drink, the pineapple-based Painkiller gets more twists with miso coconut cream and Midori (melon licquer)

Alongside the cocktails are highballs ($8), beers like Kirin Ichiban and Electric Jellyfish ($5), and Secret Handshake Cider.

The snack program focuses on small plates that are also more casual than the offerings downstairs. That includes wings, ribs, coconut shrimp, Spam sandos, and tarot tots; The latter can come together as a combo.

The Retreat at the Nest is open 5 pm to midnight on Mondays and Tuesdays. More information is available at tiki-tatsuya.com. The Nest does not accept reservations.

openings cocktails tiki

Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

Confituras/Instagram

Confituras Little Kitchen is closing its brick-and-mortar store, but feeling optimistic about the future.

A famers market find is returning to its natural environment after six years in a brick-and-mortar location. Confituras Little Kitchen, which specializes in locally sourced preserves, is closing its jam and biscuit shop after service on Sunday, December 22. However, it will continue selling goods at the Barton Creek Farmers Market and via retailers.

Confituras announced the change in a newsletter to its customers in December. The letter called the news "bittersweet."

"Although the brick and mortar will no longer be, the good news is that this will be a fresh new start for us – we are bursting with energy and creativity at the thought of being back out in the community where it all started for confituras," it said.

The kitchen is closing because the lease is up, and the team has decided to "give up the chase." The newsletter emphasized the ups-and-downs of business over the past several years — ones that were chaotic for just about any business, let alone a small, fairly niche food operation.

"So much has happened since we decided to open a brick + mortar – a wonderful kickstarter fundraiser, THE PANDEMIC, the AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC, and an ever growing city," the letter says. "We tried so very hard but never really got our footing. We know we are not alone, many small business are in the same boat. We renewed our lease during the pandemic because we were hopeful we could make it work - the changing times had other ideas."

Finally, it shared how customers could keep enjoying Confituras creations:

The Barton Creek Farmers Market is open at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.
A list on confituras.net compiles retailers including Royal Blue Grocery, Farmhouse Delivery, and Antonelli's Cheese Shop.
Jam share and Table22 subscription customers will have more instructions coming soon about picking up their goods in January at the same space, 2129 Goodrich Ave.
Customers may also reach out to inquire about continuing to order meals directly.

The kitchen also hosted frequent events and workshops, but the letter did not address this aspect of the business.

A shorter message shared on Instagram has inspired 63 comments so far, five days later. Customers eulogized the shop for its community feel and providing a sense of regularity during the height of the pandemic thanks to weekend pick-ups.