I’m an unabashed meat eater. So how do I find myself at Hale Macrobiotic, a mostly vegan restaurant? Not for a need to jump on the health food, veggie bandwagon or for a sudden desire to curtail my soaring cholesterol levels. I’m at Hale because, quite simply, I hear… [»Read]
The word “absinthe” strikes a visceral chord. It brings to mind a crazed Van Gogh seeing the world in yellow and cutting off his ear. It conjures up fear of others (or yourself) hallucinating from a meeting with the “green fairy.” Or it draws curiosity and appreciation… [»Read]
Intentionally or not, most of the food film screenings at the Hawaii International Film Festival are scheduled around dinner time. Too bad none of the films feature hot dogs and popcorn; the usual movie concessions probably aren’t going to satiate post-viewing food… [»Read]
“What do Japanese people traditionally eat for breakfast anyway?” I asked myself. Rice, miso soup and fish, right? I couldn’t see what was so special about that. Can’t you just grab that at Shirokiya or any izakaya? To my surprise this article proved to be… [»Read]
For the hardcore beer enthusiast/amateur chemist/do-it-yourself aficionado, there is home-brewing. People who are fanatically serious about wine can move to Napa and sell their multi-million start-up companies to finance a hillside vineyard. For the rest of us, there are… [»Read]
Almost every eco-savvy parent is familiar with the lunch box dilemma–what to send the children to school with that’s nutritious and fun, yet keeps Mother Nature in mind. Sadly, most prepackaged convenience snacks geared towards tykes offer little true nourishment. Plus,… [»Read]
Everyone knows at least one sandwich lover. Sometimes this lover is a former sandwich artist or comes from a place where hoagies and cheese steaks rule. Sometimes it’s someone who hails from a city where pork chop sandwiches are king. Or maybe it’s someone who just can’t… [»Read]
Waialae Avenue is home to old Kaimuki establishments, a run-down movie theater and a plethora of restaurants. A recent Friday night dinner experience left me in a bit of a parking dilemma, proving once again that everyone eats on Waialae on weekend nights. And why… [»Read]
Prior to the Okinawan Festival this past weekend, my exposure to Okinawan food culture has been decidedly limited. First, there’s the bit of trivia that Okinawans have one of the longest life expectancies in the world, a fact often attributed to their diet My sole personal… [»Read]
A liquor trade show is at once the best and worst situation in which to find your self. The rows upon rows of free booze. The buffet of free pupu. Attractive smiling liquor representatives happy to pour you more. Could this be real? Have you died and gone to alcohol heaven?… [»Read]
We’ve all been there. 2pm. Lunch was two hours ago, dinner isn’t until six and your stomach is starting to grumble. As Americans have proven themselves more health conscious and weight-sensitive in the last few years, many of us have started heading for the nearest… [»Read]
No matter what one’s feelings about Hawaii’s statehood are, 1959 marked the end of a decade where Pacific and American cultures blended and borrowed on a vast scale, partially via soldiers returning home from abroad. Thanks to factors like the lingering post-WWII… [»Read]
We all have a love affair with hole-in-the-wall eateries, which let us feel like we’re privy to a little secret that only a couple of (thousand) people in Honolulu know about. More to the point, we love them because they are cheap. So what are we to make of a hole-in-the-wall… [»Read]
As if vegetarians don’t get enough flak from meat eaters fiercely loyal to the carnivorous lifestyle, imagine what macrobiotic vegans must go through. The mockery is one thing, but the challenge of shopping and cooking is much more of a burden. A vegan macrobiotic diet,… [»Read]
Movies could use more gratuitous food scenes. The image of a skilled hand rhythmically working its way through supple vegetables, grill marks searing into raw steak, the steam rising from a plated dish as it’s being sauced–the cinematic pleasures of food are at least… [»Read]
