Daniel Parks, Pagan Idol
Some people, and even some places, just have tiki in their blood. This is the case with Daniel Parks and Pagan Idol.
The space at Bush and Kearny where Pagan Idol now stands was once the second outpost of Tiki Bob’s, a famed San Francisco Polynesian Pop restaurant in the 1950s whose flagship occupied the corner of Post and Taylor (a carved face of Tiki Bob can still be found on the building’s facade).
And while we can’t verify whether Parks was a bartender in a previous life, we can be sure that he grew up surrounded by tiki culture in San Diego.
“My grandparents were very close friends with Bill and Bonnie Seely — Bonnie was Trader Vic’s youngest daughter,” explains Parks. “My mother is very close to their son, Peter, who went on to become the CEO of the Trader Vic’s corporation. There was always Trader Vic’s paraphernalia around while I was growing up, and I was reading the Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide before I could even drink legally.”
When Parks moved to the Bay Area in 2011, there was no question that he would join the bar team at the Emeryville location of Trader Vic’s. That influence can be found at Pagan Idol today in drinks like the Mai Tai Float, which takes the Trader Vic Bergeron original and adds a pool of a magical mixture on top (basically all the things the staff there loves, like Sherry, amaro, rum and crème de cacao).
Trader Vic’s is where Parks honed his bartending techniques, but it’s also where he learned to deliver exceptional hospitality.
It’s a delicate balance since many new customers often have a preconceived notion that tiki means sugary drinks that will, in his words, “yield regret and a hangover.” Guiding people to something they’ll enjoy when presented with a menu of unfamiliar drinks is part of the hospitality, and those conversations are part of making sure they have a good time, even if they’re not drinking rum.
“I keep on top of mind that the guest’s experience, more often than not, will leave a longer lasting taste in their mouth than the delicious cocktail that they order,” says Parks.
375 Bush St., S.F.