Dan Welcher, Melissa Chang
SOMETHING for everyone's taste! How often we've heard that expression, and it seems most appropriate in Hawaii today. For instance, one of the most unusual tastings will be the Halekulani's "delayed celebration" of Cinco de Mayo, which will take place on May 15, hereafter called Quince de Mayo. And beside Mexican pupus, empanadas and jalapenos, which lead to flautas, etc., seven different tequilas will be sampled. That seems like a lot until you know there are more than 150 different brands of tequila and that it's the oldest distilled spirit in North America with Mexico's early Indians drinking it in 200 A.D. Cigars to follow, presumably Mexican. Cost is $35 ... Seven tequilas
on May 15—ole!AND since the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation's upcoming heel-and-toe'er is called "Wok for the Cure," the kickoff luncheon tomorrow at the Hilton Hawaiian Village will feature wok-prepared dishes from eight restaurants serving Chinese fare ... For something really tasty, Andre Soltner, retired chef and sole owner of Lutece, widely considered the finest restaurant in New York if not the U.S., will be in the kitchen at Henry's Market, Ala Moana -- of all places -- tomorrow from noon to 1 p.m. After he prepares a recipe from his "Lutece Cookbook," chef Soltner will be in the Liberty House Cookware department to sign copies of the book, which contains 333 French classic recipes ...
AND while chef Soltner missed the UH Theater Department's production of Tina Howe's "The Art of Dining," he can still enjoy "The Grapes of Wrath," which opened at UH last night, followed perhaps by a Chateau Margaux to remove the taste of wrath from his palate ... This month there's theater as well for everyone's taste, what with Joyce Maltby's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" running on the HPU Windward Campus. (William Shakespeare's 433rd birthday was yesterday -- think his stuff will last?) And fresh from presenting Joe Moore's play "The Buck Stops Where?" at the Hawaii Theatre last week, Manoa Valley Theatre this week opened Tony Kushner's award-winning "Angels in America" at its own home base in Manoa. And "South Pacific" is being reprised at Castle Performing Arts Center ...
THE former composer in residence of the Honolulu Symphony, Dan Welcher, has won a Guggenheim, a real coup, and will be spending three months in Europe this summer and fall, ending with a monthlong residency in October at the Bellagio Institute on Lake Como in Italy. Not exactly hard to take, particularly coming on the heels of a two-week residency at the American Institute in Rome. And if that doesn't sound like a pretty full year, it will after you hear he and wife Ann will also spend three weeks in a rented thatched cottage in Donegall, then cruise around Amsterdam, Paris, etc. Welcher's most recent work, "Bright Wings," was just premiered by the Dallas Symphony with Andrew Litton conducting. Sounds like the boy's gone far ... Welcher scores big
ALSO checking in from Europe is Melissa Chang of ProComm public relations, who's found herself on the other side of commercial making. She visited transplanted Americans Greg Schooley and sister Vicki in Paris, and they stopped at a trendy bar called the Lizard Lounge. While there they were photographed by a crew shooting a commercial. So if you see a TV spot for the Lizard Lounge, she's the token Asian ...
MAESTRO Sam Wong and wife Hae-Young Wong went straight from a "Requiem" (by Verdi) to a celebration (courtesy of Symphony execs Michael Tiknis and Lynn Johnson) at Nick's Fishmarket Tuesday night. It was a small baby shower for the Wongs, who are expecting a baby girl on July 1, anniversary of the couple's original collaboration ... And since ex-isle anchorwoman Emerald Yeh (now with KRON in S.F.) didn't know what sex her twins would be, it took a couple of days to come up with just the right names. She and husband Ron Blatman settled on Robert Mendel and Daniel Benzi Yeh Blatman. No hyphen ... Oh, babies
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.