The recent Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off was really a Godzilla-size throwdown at which 24 professional cookers competed for cash, trophies and bragging rights. Along the way, they sold 240,000 pounds of bones to a Rib Nation a half- million strong. The top winner was Back Forty Texas Barbecue, walking away with $7,500 in first-place money.

John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks, near Reno, created the cook-off 23 years ago. All along Victorian Avenue, fragrant wood smoke filled the air, beer flowed, onion rings and funnel cakes sizzled in oil, and live music played in the background.

Inside the hotel-casino and out of the fray, we sipped mai tais at the Aquarium Bar of Trader Dick's and admired the 6,000- gallon saltwater fish tank. And wondered: What's a Polynesian-themed restaurant doing here in the first place?

There's a template for the restaurant lineups at most hotel-casinos in Reno and Lake Tahoe: steakhouse, Italian and/or Asian, buffet and 24-hour coffee shop. Add a twist here and there: oyster bar, bistro, sports book deli, Mexican restaurant.

But Polynesian? Not anywhere we've been. So we asked around.

Briefly told, restaurateur Dick Graves opened the Sparks Nugget in 1955, building Trader's across the street in 1958. Yes, it was modeled after Victor Bergeron's hugely successful Trader Vic's in Oakland, which made sense at the time.

"Tiki culture" – featuring Polynesia-themed dining and decorative kitsch – was a nationwide sensation in midcentury postwar America. It was a grand fantasy inspired by the waves of Word War II GIs returning from the Pacific theater, lugging back souvenirs and fond memories of hula girls and whole roasted pigs.

Fueling the tiki movement was James Michener's 1948 Pulitzer Prize-winning "Tales of the South Pacific," followed by the musical version, followed by the TV adaptation of his "Adventures in Paradise" (1959 to 1962). Let's not forget that Sacramento's own Coral Reef restaurant was hugely popular from 1949 until it closed in 1994.

In 1960, John Ascuaga – then the general manager of the Nugget – bought the property from Graves for $3.75 million. Trader Dick's was moved inside the casino in 1973 and repositioned to its current site in 1988.

Ascuaga grew the Nugget on top-name entertainment and the premise that people wanted good food with their gambling. The Nugget has been a longtime dining destination with a loyal clientele that recalls its earlier restaurants, such as the Prime Rib Room and the Golden Rooster.

Now the award-winning lineup is the Steakhouse Grill, Orozko Basque-Mediterranean, John's Oyster Bar (the pan roast is tops), Rotisserie Buffet, Rosie's Cafe, Noodle Hut, Gabe's Pub & Deli and, of course, Trader Dick's.

"Many of our customers are revisiting or discovering tiki culture, and Trader Dick's is a throwback to (that era)," said Nugget chief operating officer Stephen Ascuaga. "It's a time warp that's part of our history, and so iconic I don't think the ukuleles will ever stop playing."

Trader's is a comfortable, soothingly dark oasis of faux foliage, tiki heads, an outrigger canoe and other island mementoes. The menu shows a range of pan-Asian dishes, along with steaks and seafood ($7 to $37) and 25 classic tropical cocktails.

We enjoyed delectable slipper lobster tails in ginger sauce; lemon-accented chicken breast in a light, crisp coating; luscious seared scallops and prawns with fried rice; and scoops of house-made raspberry and mango sorbets.

On a nearby stage a band played happy tunes, but coming from somewhere there was another sound, a haunting melody. Yes, there it was, no mistaking it: "Here I am, your special island / Come to me, come to me."

Bali Hai was calling, and we were nearly there.

TRADER DICK'S

WHERE: John Ascuaga's Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave., Sparks, Nev.

HOURS: 5-10 p.m. Fridays- Saturdays, 5-9 p.m. Sundays- Mondays

FOOD:

AMBIENCE: (for the tiki retro)

HOW MUCH: $$-$$$

INFORMATION: (800) 219-1786, ext. 3784; www.janugget.com

COUNTER

CULTURE

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