Herds stampede
Palomino’sTHE newly opened Palomino Euro Bistro seats "roughly" 295 at lunch, I'm told. When a friend and I lunched there Friday, there must have been 293 in the house. Andy Bumatai and a business associate came in looking for a place to sit, and he was very grateful when we asked him to join us. The place was packed! When we had arrived extremely early and without reservations, we were seated in the bar lounge. I prefer it to the brighter main seating area, despite the lack of a view. It was amazing how many people I knew there, as everyone seemed to be trying out the new eatery. My lunch was delicious, though our most gracious waitress couldn't seem to get drinks or water to the tables with dispatch. Perhaps more back of the house help is needed. The restaurant's logo is a horse in speedy flight. The service needs to follow suit. Still, it's as handsome a restaurant as we have in Honolulu, and as soon as management finds out how many are needed to keep a full house happy, they'll likely have one for a long time ...
REMEMBER when the Rev. Robert Schuller got in a little scuffle with a flight attendant in the not-so-friendly United skies? Apparently it isn't likely to happen again. On an L.A. flight this week, Rev. Schuller was aboard Hawaiian Air this time and, according to fellow passengers, he was "very polite and cordial." ...
ONE gauges the state of affairs and the economy in various ways. Some stock market analysts, for example, believe in the World Series Effect: If the National League team wins, the market will do one thing, and if the American League emerges victorious, it'll do the opposite. Pure nonsense, perhaps, but some people believe in it. Dean Ho, son of late Honolulu financier Chinn Ho, has lived in Shanghai for 10 years now, and he often rides his bicycle to work. "Head down and eyes mostly forward," he writes friends, "I have a perverse view of derrieres." He's determined that in the past 10 years, "Shanghai's bottoms have become more round, more broad, often more pleasant and certainly more heavy than before." From this he concludes, "For all the problems of getting ahead here, people are content and looking forward to the next meal. It unleashes the confidence and initiative of their commercial mind-set. That's tremendous progress. From that standpoint, prospects remain excellent." And you thought that baseball theory was strange! ... Bottoms up!
COMEDIAN Gary Shandling, star of his own show on HBO, is a believer in out-of-the-way places. He lunched twice last week at the Contemporary Cafe at the Contemporary Museum on Makiki Heights Drive, and he so enjoyed the smoked mahi that he asked to visit the kitchen to see how it was prepared. Chef Noreen Lam even shared some secret recipes with him ...
SO there was John McLaughlin, service manager of One Fas Lube in Costco Center, standing near the station bay when in drives a confused taxi driver -- entering the wrong way. "Fill it up," he ordered, but McLaughlin eyed him warily. "You guys put gas?" "No," said McLaughlin. "You guys got batteries?" McLaughlin replied, "No, but we can change your oil or flush your radiator." And with that he drove off, still going the wrong way. McLaughlin figures he saw the Chevron logo in the window -- they sell Chevron products and accept their credit cards -- but failed to notice there were no gas pumps in the service bays. Wonder if his passenger ever got to the airport? ... Which way is the airport?
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.