Spirit of Aloha | Articles | Aloha Shorts | September/October 2005

Aloha Shorts

News and Notes from Around our World

The Plate-Lunch King

Successful restaurateurs in Hawai‘i, like in most places where eating well occupies a special niche in life, quickly become folk heroes, champions of a culinary cultural phenomenon. You see it everywhere. What then are we to make of a company called L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, which started as a tiny outlet for a dairy business on Liliha Street in Honolulu in the late 1950s, became a drive-in serving hot dogs and hamburger steaks in the 1960s, and now has expanded to more than 150 restaurants in Hawai‘i, California, Nevada and Washington? The secret, according to L&L founders Eddie Flores Jr. and Johnson Kam, is the special Hawaiian art of the “plate lunch,” which, according to one of our favorite books on local cuisine, is described as “one of the few ways to satisfy a local stomach for not much money.” In other words, sizeable portions, always served on a paper plate, a scoop of this, a scoop of that, often drowned in gravy. A decentralized system of operation in which each restaurant is a separately incorporated profit center run by partners or individual owners, and in which hard-working, loyal employees have an opportunity to share in the gravy by owning their own franchises is another, probably more strongly motivating secret. Whatever the case, L&L continues to grow. A recent menu addition: Chinese takeout. It’s taking off, too. Small wonder that L&L is Hawai‘i’s fastest growing fast-food operation





Big Spender Department

We thank Evins Communications Ltd., a New York public relations company, for tipping us off to the two new Presidential Suites at the Four Seasons Hotel located very high above Gotham, which are now yours for $15,000 per night. We were impressed by a message from Glenn Haussman of Evins, who told us that “these suites may be the most expensive guest rooms in the country, but myriad customized appointments and sweeping views make these rooms a true value.” And, trust us, we are always looking for travel value.




Heart of the Old Culture

Matthew Gray, founder of Hawai‘i Food tours, was once a professional chef, then a celebrity chef in Southern California for rock stars, then a food critic for The Honolulu Advertiser for a couple years, where he made friends, some enemies and spiced up the local food pages. His on-the-road food adventures help Island visitors share a range of good to great to always interesting dining experiences, and sample local cuisine. There is the Hawaiian Feast in Paradise Tour, Monday and Thursday evenings, for $99 per person, in which you’re taken to a sophisticated restaurant and served multiple courses. The Hole-in-the-Wall Tour, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily, $59 per person, visits exotic ethnic restaurants that contribute to Honolulu’s delicious melting pot. Then, the Gourmet Trilogy Tour, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, $149 per person, combines visits to three award-winning restaurants in one evening, where multicourse dinners are served, each course paired with a quality wine. You get picked up at your hotel and taken around to the restaurants. Advice is to bring a good appetite. Call 926-3663 for information and reservations

PHOTO: DARRELL ISHII; FOOD STYLIST: PAUL ROSENTHAL

Do the Hokey Poke

Got poke recipe? Here’s an opportunity to reach for the poke stars. Professional and amateur chefs are invited to enter their recipes and compete for $15,000 in cash and prizes at the 14th annual Aloha Festivals Poke Weekend, Sept. 9 to 11, at Hāpuna Beach Prince Hotel on the Big Island. The event celebrates, you guessed it, “Hawai‘i’s Soul Food.” Prizes will be awarded for the best poke recipes in seven categories: Best Cooked Poke, Poke with Limu (seaweed), Poke with Ogo (seaweed), Poke with Soy Sauce, Poke with Tofu, Best Spicy Poke and Best Traditional Poke. Hurry. Entries close Sept. 2









Finally, a Trans-Fat Free Hotel

We hear from the famed Halekūlani Hotel & Resort that, miracle upon miracle for fat-watchers, the resort is now completely trans-fat free, with these harmful oils having been eliminated from every food item at the property, including—do we really want to celebrate this?—its signature in-house chocolates. Eliminating trans-fats let Halekūlani partner with vendors and suppliers who could provide suitably healthy alternatives. Says Peter Shaindln, CEO of Halekūlani Corp.: “If someone conscious about their diet comes to a hotel, it is reasonable for them to expect this as a lifestyle standard.”










Mauna Kea Memories— and Anniversary Discount

As they say, it seems like only yesterday that Laurance S. Rockefeller opened the classic Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on Hawai‘i’s Big Island, but in September this classic hotel will celebrate its 40th anniversary by offering select ocean-view rooms at a 50 percent discount and special packages with 40 percent off published room rates. Now is the time to savor a special Hawaiian tradition in an affordable way. Reservations and information at 866-PRINCE-6 or PrinceResortsHawaii.com







A Royal Feast

Aspecial wine-and-food event on Friday, Nov. 18, in Honolulu will celebrate King Kalākaua’s birthday, and it is expected to be a masterful event. Sponsored by a new group called The Palace Hui, the event will feature pairings of wines with modern renditions of Kalākaua’s favorite dishes, with well-known chefs interpreting the historic menus from the palace archives. Proceeds from the event benefit the restoration of Kalākaua’s wine cellar at ‘Iolani Palace. Fund-raising opportunities will include a silent auction and “Keys for a Cause,” presented by Tiffany Co. More information at www.IolaniPalace.org or by contacting Maria at 522-0822.




MUSIC: Listen Up

Brickwood Galuteria, Hawaiian 105 KINE’s “Aloha Morning Show” radio host, chooses this list of recommended music from the Islands, with all selections widely available at Island record stores:

• Hapa—Maui: From the heights of Haleakalā to the shores of Tahiti, Hapa’s Barry Flanagan and Nathan Aweau take you on a musical journey that evokes the special connection b etween the island of Maui and its ancestral forerunner, Kahiki Nui (Great Tahiti). You don’t have to be a student of Hawaiiana to appreciate the soaring riffs and driving rhythms of “Haleakala” and the mesmerizing slack key mastery in “Slacking Off” and “Paniolo ‘Ona Slack Key.”

• Jasmine Trias—Jasmine Trias: In the wake of her international fame as American Idol’s No. 3 finisher last year, Jasmine chooses to go with an eponymous title (which we can spell, but can’t pronounce) for her debut compact disc. All Hawai‘i is still rooting for Trias, who combines Island sounds with California hipness and a soulful R&B edge. Her song “Excuses” is No. 1 in the land of her ancestors, the Philippines, and critics are predicting similar success in the Islands and perhaps across the seas.

• Go Jimmy Go—The Girl with the Fishbowl Eyes: Get on your high-heel sneakers, mama, ’cause when Go Jimmy Go fires up, the footsies ain’t standing still. The sound of today is inspired by the sounds of yesterday in this music roughly classified as ska-rock-reggae with a Hawaiian twist. Visitors may already be familiar with the group, which has toured extensively on the Mainland, “spreading good vibes and representing Hawai‘i.” Our favorite cut: “Set Me Free.” Absolutely.



Books

The Science of Waves
The next time you’re at the beach and the surf rolls in, ask yourself: Where do waves come from and why are they all different? When you can’t answer, rush to your local bookstore and search for a copy of the updated Surf Science: Ån Introduction to Waves for Surfing (University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu) by Tony Butt and Paul Russell, with Rick Grigg (a pioneer of big-wave surfing on the North Shore of O‘ahu), which in fairly complex scientific terms will set you straight on the behavior of a surfing break. The book was originally written as a series of articles for surfers who are fascinated by where waves originate and what affects each of them as they roll to shore. Read it and the next time you overhear a surfer say, “The K2 buoy is already showing three meters at 14 seconds. I reckon it’ll pick up on the push of the tide—what is it anyway, springs or neaps?” you can answer, “It’s a five-point-eight.”



Hawai‘i Cooks, with Roy Yamaguchi
The master of “Hawaiian fusion” cooking is, arguably, Roy Yamaguchi, who in 1988 opened Roy’s in Honolulu and used this exciting restaurant as a springboard to a dynasty that now numbers 30 Roy’s restaurants around the world. Hawai‘i Cooks (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, Calif.) by Roy Yamaguchi, with Joan Namkoong, is a comprehensive look at the recipes and little secrets that made Roy what he is today: a chef of world-class influence. The recipe for “shrimp on a sugar cane stick with pineapple-mango jam” is worth the price of admission.


Is Pidgin Going Be Ma-ke Die Dead?
Not if this book has its say and its way. Da Kine Dictionary (Bess Press, Honolulu), compiled and edited by Lee A. Tonouchi, Da Local Pidgin Guerrilla, is a masterful new collection of local culture, which is described, not with a little tongue in cheek, as “Da Hawai‘i Community Pidgin Dictionary Projeck.” Anyone out there who feels that pidgin words are going, going, gone, should take a fresh look at this pictorial dictionary. As the author proudly notes, “In fack, we get data now dat proves dat Pidgin lives on. Cuz we got planny contributions from young peoples.”                                                   

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