FIDDLING around the globe is Lisa Leung. Star-Bulletin staffers discovered her for the first time when the zydeco group in which she plays fiddle, Bon Ton Roule, performed at the staff Christmas party last year. Previously I'd seen and appreciated her talents for some time when she was with an Irish group called the Cast-Offs, since disbanded. Besides Celtic and zydeco music, Lisa also is adept at Bulgarian and other East European musical traditions and only recently returned from California, where she was playing Hungarian music. Once back, she got a call and was soon on a plane to Rumania to record Gypsy music with a group there. On the plane to Zurich, she met famous blues fiddler Clarence Gatemouth Brown and talked to him about coming to Hawaii to perform. She'll rejoin Bon Ton Roule on her return, but the vibrant fiddler also plays with a new Irish band Fridays from 8 p.m. to midnight at O'Toole's Irish Pub downtown. She rejoins them this week ... EVER since the Royal Thai Government opened an office here last year, it's thrown some of the biggest parties in town, all aimed at enticing people to do business in Thailand. One man who does is Jerry Breeden, who with wife Maggie owns Royal Hawaiian Heritage Jewelry. The two, who have been involved with the Thais for over 20 years, have been introducing the new head of Thai Trade Export Promotion Dennis Pollard to some of Honolulu's finer restaurants. This is in preparation for the arrival and entertaining of the top ministers and government honchos who'll be in town this fall. Breeden, a former restaurant critic, has dined in top restaurants around the world, and compiled his own Top 10 list in Hawaii. He lists Michel's as the "Best of the Best." My one experience at the new Michel's was mixed - four of us had terrific dinners and every dish served was delicious. But one appetizer was forgotten and one wrong dessert was prepared at the table and served. Unacceptable at Michel's prices. An example lept off the page at me: A steak tartare appetizer is priced at $22 ...
Al Souza Jr.
UP until Al Souza Jr. got the first and only hole-in-one in his life a couple of years ago, he used to cry at stories like the one in yesterday's sports pages. An ace had eluded Souza, a member of the Hawaii Golf Hall of Fame, while all around him lesser golfers were holing that lucky shot. Yesterday's story was about a 9-year-old girl in Ontario who took her first swing ever at a golf ball under the tutelage of the club pro and holed it. She should quit while ahead ...
IF you didn't get your fill of beach volleyball during the Olympics, you can catch some more this weekend. The sixth annual Emporio Armani Hawaii Beach Volleyball State Championships will be held at Queen's Surf Beach Saturday and Sunday, with top teams competing for over $6,000 in cash prizes. And viewers can help benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Honolulu by purchasing an Armani shirt for $20. Of course it's a T-shirt, but what do you want for twenty bucks? ...
