The Weekly Eater
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THE CATCHIEST names are often instinctual and immediate. In restaurant names, for instance, they don't get any more immediate than U Hungry?, Yummy or Simply Ono. The names speak of instant gratification. Couple scored with bagels and
aim to bring bialys some fameMaking an even bolder statement is This is It Bakery & Deli. You're sort of left wondering what "It" is, but now you want to find out, don't you? Once you've walked into the Cooke Street site, there's little reason to walk out without a full belly or brown paper bag.
For those who hold fond memories of the old Hawaiian Bagel, Inc., on Halekauwila Street, this truly is it -- the return of Mona and Steve Gelson. The couple started Hawaiian Bagel back in 1979 and in the midst of the state's long economic descent, sold the business to Zippy's. Steve went to work for Zippy's and Mona turned to bookkeeping, but when their non-compete agreement expired, they decided to return to the bagel biz. "We started so young -- I was 24 and Steve was 27 -- it's all we really know how to do," Mona said.
They've brought back the old Hawaiian Bagel menu. That means that you can get fruit-topped muffins; scones; brownies; good as home-baked chocolate chip cookies; a turkey pastrami sandwich for $5.95; a half sandwich with soup such as a thick corn chowder for $5.95 to $8.25 depending on your sandwich choice; or a chicken salad sandwich ($6.95) that tastes as wholesome as homemade.
If a Mediterranean diet is more your style, there is a Middle East sampler ($6.20) which features tabouli, a salad, three stuffed grape leaves, hummus and your choice of a bagel or bialy (more on this later). You can also get these items a la carte at $1.50 to $2.25.
IN SPITE OF the vast sandwich and salad offerings, I have to admit they never registered on my radar at the old Hawaiian Bagel. I had tunnel vision back in the early '80s when bagels were still new and exotic in the 50th state. I had to have one each time an office run was made -- a plain bagel with lox and cream cheese ($2.75) if I wanted something savory, or with walnut-raisin spread ($2.40) if I wanted something sweet.
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I'm told by This is It staffers today that any combination of bagel and spread works, and it must be true. I've mistakenly combined onion bagel (thinking I'd snagged a plain) and the walnut-raisin spread, and its just as good as a more traditional combinations such as a garlic bagel with a veggie or herb-and-garlic spread.While the old site looked makeshift and warehousy, this new one is a lot slicker and pristine (look both ways before crossing Cooke, where mad truckers seem to make sport of accelerating for pedestrians -- H.P.D. take note) with glass windows that allow you to peek into the expansive kitchen as the bagels roll out of the oven. You have to get up pretty early for the show though, it may be over by 6:30 a.m. People usually drive over for takeout, but there are a few tables for lingerers. It's quite pleasant and more importantly, now that it's summer, it's air-conditioned.
FOR MONA, a Maui girl who learned to love bagels while attending secretarial school in New York -- where she met Steve when the two worked together at an espresso bar -- bagels were her ticket back to Hawaii.
"My dad joked that starting a business was a way he could have his daughter back," she said. But trying to peddle an unknown product meant education would be a major part of the couple's business, and likely the most difficult.
"It was a hard sell. Nobody knew what a bagel was," she said. "We literally had to pull people off the street, and not too many people came down Halekauwila in those days.
"Some people actually thought we were selling dogs. They'd say, 'Why are you selling Beagles? Or they thought it was a doughnut."
Luckily, the golden rounds with a puka in the middle and what she describes as a "gutsy" mouth feel caught on.
Maybe that's why they're not afraid to take up a new cause, building on the great bagel campaign to introduce the bialy (70 cents), which has been described as similar to an English muffin. It's more like a heavy, flattened bread, or a chewy pizza crust with a dimple on top onto which goes onions or sesame seeds. The cream cheese spreads also work well with the bialys, which you should get toasted if your teeth aren't as good as they used to be.
It'll be interesting to see if the couple's instinct proves true.
443 Cooke St. (across from Fisher Hawaii) / 597-1017 This is It Bakery & Deli
Hours: 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays
Food 1/2
Service Ambience Value
Cost: About $5 to $8 per person
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Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews run on Thursdays. Reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Bulletin. Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants:
To recommend a restaurant, write: The Weekly Eater, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or send e-mail to nkam@starbulletin.com
excellent; very good, exceeds expectations; average; below average.
