Restaurant Scene: Ernest gives Chattanooga elevated Chinese takeout and tiki cocktails

Kudos to owner Max Poppel for not stepping into the “authentic” booby trap. In the unforgiving world of food and beverage, that nine-letter word — if not handled with care and caution — could be catastrophic. For instance, a French bistro in a small town in Kentucky using “authentic” as an attempt to boost the credibility of their cassoulet runs the risk of damnation if diners don’t think it tastes as authentic as a cassoulet in Toulouse, France.

All that being said, the version of Chinese food at Ernest will not be “authentic.” After all, Poppel is a white, Jewish guy from the suburbs of Boston. Instead, Ernest finds its niche with Americanized Chinese food and fruity, flamboyant tiki cocktails.

The combination may seem bizarre on the surface, but as you get to the bottom of that ceramic tiki mug of your Shanghai sour or the last tidbits of your General Ern’s chicken, you’ll realize that “Chinese-tiki” is a real thing, a theme that caught wildfire in an era when Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack made Palm Springs their playground, when Marilyn Monroe’s blonde bombshell persona exploded and America developed a voracious appetite for the exotic Far East and anything Polynesian.