David Paul's feast to remember
IF the normal bill of fare at David Paul Johnson's handsome new restaurant in the Colony East Hotel -- David Paul's Diamond Head Grill -- is anywhere nearly as rich as that served up at the Saturday night's grand opening, my advice is to not eat anything all day to prepare for it. What a feast for the nose and palate (prepared with special tender loving care by David Paul and some guest chefs), the eye (from the Diamond Head view to the modern design of the restaurant to the Jan Kaspczycki paintings and the lissome hostesses), and the ear, a nonstop eclectic selection of singers and musicians including Nohelani Cypriano, Jimmy Borges, Azure McCall and many more. A great addition to Hawaii's restaurant scene in a luxury boutique hotel that's also a winner. Having the honor of being seated at the Chef's Table (in a private glassed-in room) at the Marimed benefit were Mr. and Mrs. Kenny Brown, Judge James Burns and wife Emme Tomimbang and two other couples ...
SPEAKING of Emme, she was just back from another whirlwind trip to L.A. where she joined actress Tia Carrere at the Maui Beach Cafe. "At last," Tia gushed, "a place to get my Hawaii fix." The two went shopping on Sunset Boulevard (with Norma Desmond nowhere in sight) and Emme carried Tia's bag as the latter tried on some duds. One onlooker who recognized the actress asked Emme if she were Tia's maid. "Of course," the TV hostess deadpanned. "She never travels without one." Two local girls, having a good time, out on the town ...
Curtain call and then some
WE had a good time at Friday night's performance of "Kismet" at Army Community Theater. There were some excellent performances, not the least of which was from chorus member Karl Sakamoto. He stepped forward at the conclusion of the curtain call and surprised girlfriend Kalene Shim into something akin to shock by asking her to be his wife. A cast member led her from her seat onto the stage, where Sakamoto dutifully knelt and repeated the question as the cast looked on. Kalene grinned, looked at the audience and nodded "Yes." The cast then all burst into applause and as for Kalene, she seemed like, well, a "Stranger in Paradise." ...SO this young man comes up to me at Havana Cabana and introduces himself as Dave Donnelly. Turns out he's a senior at Hawaii Pacific University who aspires to become a lawyer. It's not a bad name, the other D.D. says, and does have advantages: "People always return my phone calls, and I never fail to get a good seat when I call for restaurant reservations." Go for it, Dave ...
Downtown is happening!
NEVER was the action attraction of formerly sleepy downtown Honolulu so evident as it was Friday night. In the space of four blocks, there was Palomino doing its usual gangbuster business in Harbor Court (until the building's air conditioning system went out), and a block away, Murphy's had its best Friday night ever. Across Nuuanu Avenue, Irish Hearts was playing Irish music to another full house at O'Toole's, and a block mauka, Puanani's had its own large weekend local crowd. Continuing up the street you'd find Rocky Brown and her combo with a full house taking in her dynamite renditions of show tunes, standards and current fare at Indigo. And just next door at Havana Cabana, Miles Jackson and his newly named group Second Hand Smoke was smoking to an overflow crowd of beautiful people dancing, drinking and puffing 'gars. If the economy is in trouble, you couldn't tell it downtown Friday night ...
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.