Asiantique has come up in the world. When you enter its furniture warehouse on Ashby below San Pablo in the Berkeley flats, you’ll probably find a scene of barely controlled chaos, with workers stacking chairs, tables, and decorative wood assemblages up to the rafters. There’s a reason to be so busy: Asiantique furnishes all the Trader Vic’s restaurants worldwide, including the newish San Francisco location. If you’re in the mood to create your own tiki fantasy island, or simply want to recapture the ambience (if not the oppressive heat) of a night beside a Balinese rice paddy, Asiantique’s Peter Gaspers can do the job. The company operates its own factory in Java, where old-growth teak is crafted into semirustic chests, beds, armoires — you name it. Both the warehouse and the Fourth Street (at Delaware) store are strewn with carved-wood moldings, wayang kulit shadow puppets, alligator benches, tribal totems from Papua New Guinea, ikat table runners, masks, and likenesses of Dewi Sri, the rice goddess.
.Worldliest Housewares
Asiantique Interiors and Gifts