It's A Tropical Heat Wave

By Mimi Sheraton

It is nightfall on Macumba Landing. Wild cries of birds and the trumpeting of elephants come from the nearby bush. A sign warns of a deadly piranha and frequent native attacks. From a downed Cessna lying wrecked in the tropical greenery come eerie blinks of emergency lights, revealing the mock skeleton of a pilot. Adventurers gather, some wearing the suits of corporate strivers, others in guerrilla battle dress or the Panama hats of dissolute plantation owners. But as waiters serve frosty pastel drinks, yam chips and shrimp fritters, it is obvious this is no jungle clearing, no stage set for The Emperor Jones. It is the garden of Bananas, a new, good Brazilian-style hot spot in Manhattan that is cashing in on the nationwide fad for tropical restaurants.

Encouraged by the success of the excellent Claire, a breezy offshoot of a Key West, Fla., restaurant that opened in New York City in 1982, restaurateurs are playing to the enduring dream of an island paradise that has beguiled such disparate spirits as Gauguin and Gilligan. The idea is to create a Caribbean state of mind, drawing inspiration from Key West to Trinidad, with occasional wide detours to Brazil and Mexico, and stressing decor and drinks. The palette runs to hot pink, orange and turquoise that sparkles even in drinks made with blue curacao -- concoctions that may look suspiciously like Windex to the uninitiated. Frozen in slush machines, the rainbow drinks of tropical fruits and assorted rums, vodkas and liqueurs sport such names as Bora Bora, Goombay Smash and Creamsickle, and have instant appeal to the Kool-Aid generation.

Unlike the eclectic, subtle cuisine at Claire, most restaurants have menus that stick close to or are adapted from native specialties. Coconut-covered shrimp, plantains, codfish and conch in various guises, and the marinated, then grilled jerk chicken and pork are among coast-to-coast favorites. Along with callaloo (a soup of crab meat, kale and pork) and Jamaican meat patties, the chef at Manhattan's Sugar Reef also dishes up the aptly named but pallid "trendy wrapped fish" (perch cooked in banana leaves). At the Sugar Shack in Los Angeles, Cuban Moors and Christians (black beans and white rice) are offered with Caesar salad. The Indigo Coastal Grill in Atlanta adds Mexican carnitas and seviche.

Some restaurateurs are introducing Carib accents to existing menu themes. Among them is Roger Greenfield, the owner of Chicago's Dixie Bar & Grill. Lobster calypso, jerk chicken and pork, conch chowder and Jamaican Red Stripe beer are now on his basically Cajun menu. At the Omni International Hotel in Norfolk, Va., Food and Beverage Assistant General Manager Michael Przybyla is featuring a two-month tropical-night promotion with "gentrified Caribbean" food adapted for a conservative clientele.

More outposts are being readied for opening. In Santa Barbara, Calif., Steven Sponder, proprietor of the Cajun-Creole Palace Cafe, is planning Key Largo, scheduled to open next January. "In one word, it's Hemingway," says Sponder of his new venture. Bruce Monette of Southern Exposure in Boulder has big dreams for his Southern and Caribbean food, to be served in a 19th century stone building. "It will appeal to students, professionals, Buddhist vegetarians and steak-and-potato traditionalists," he boasts.

Bending to the tropical trade winds is Bombay Palace Restaurants Inc., best known for its 17 Indian restaurants in the U.S., Canada, London and Hong Kong. Last year the company opened two New York tropical outposts: a bar called Bamboo Bernies, and Panama City, an East Side singles hangout that is usually mobbed, more a tribute to its $2 drinks served during happy hour than to the dreadful food. Management contemplates more Panama City installations. Also betting on the tropical trend is the Dallas-based S & A Restaurant Corp., a subsidiary of the Pillsbury Co. Having successfully launched the Key West Grill in Clearwater, Fla., last year, Vice President Dennis Hood cloned a branch in Dallas three months ago, where a waiting line forms 15 minutes after opening. Hood projects $4 million in sales for the Dallas Grill this year and in 1988 hopes to open three others "up North." Modeled after Key West gingerbread mansions, the Grills dish up Floridian seafood with Jamaican accents. Observes Hood: "This is a sit-back-and-loosen-your-tie type of place. Yuppies are drawn to that."

How long they will be drawn is the question.

With reporting by Sara Just/New York and Janet Sanzo/Chicago