Honolulu Weekly

Food Inc. / Donato has shuttered his popular lunchtime spot at Restaurant Row: Basta Pasta with its great pizzas and homemade pastas is no more. Lots of disappointed waterfront foodies counted on Basta for good, inexpensive Italian food. Donato continues to promote his latest passion, beer, having hosted a beer festival last week at Pipeline Cafe.

Savas of Olive Tree fame continues to toil away on his future restaurant site in Manoa. No word on what the format will be, but shaping up already is an outdoor patio, a rotisserie and a wine bar. Lots of handsome hand painted tiles and iron grill work.

Food Inc. will be shown at both Punahou School and BYU on Labor Day weekend as part of Slow Food USA’s campaign to change the Child Nutrition Act in Congress. Panel discussions will follow each screening. Seating is limited. Free, courtesy of Kokua Hawaii Foundation. This film, if you haven’t seen it yet, will change the way you look at food, and not in a good way. Cognitive dissonance guaranteed for the fast food crowd. Not recommended for children under 12 (and what does that say about how scary our food system has become?). Visit [slowfoodoahu.org].