Radio duo lands
at DominisPerry and Price pick
Point Panic landmark
for popular party
Come Dec. 6 it'll be Perry on the left, Price on the right and Kewalo's surfers in the background.
John Dominis Restaurant at 43 Ahui Street near Kakaako Waterfront Park has lured the two top-rated radio personalities and their live Saturday morning broadcast on KSSK-AM 590/FM 92.3. The station announced earlier this month that upcoming renovations of the Sheraton Waikiki's Hanohano Room would render it an inappropriate venue for the show it has hosted for 19 years.
Teasing listeners yesterday morning, Michael W. Perry announced that the new location would be revealed at a news conference at the location this morning, but didn't reveal where. News organizations were to be clued in this morning, in time to attend.
During the selection process John Dominis kept rising to the top of the list, he said. The choice was made from among four hotel chains, six restaurants, three country clubs and two private clubs.
"After we had sort of narrowed the field down a lot, I went over there and it was everything that I remembered," Perry told the Star-Bulletin.
"I don't get out to dinner very often and I'd forgotten how good the view was and how good the food was, and just the prestige name. A place that's lasted for 24 years obviously has something going for it, and we've only been around for 20."
A restaurant with existing breakfast service was a station requirement.
"John Dominis has one of the superlative Sunday brunches in the state," Perry said. "All we're doing is scaling that down a skosh and adding the guy on the left and right and a bunch of entertainers and fun and we've got Saturday mornings reinvented."
The upscale restaurant founded by politician and businessman D.G. "Andy" Anderson in 1979 is open for cocktails and dinner as well as Sunday brunch.
"We at John Dominis are thrilled to have been chosen by KSSK as the new venue for the Saturday morning Perry and Price broadcast," Anderson said in a statement.
"We couldn't be any happier with what we expect will be a long and fruitful relationship."
General Manager Alvin Yim echoed Anderson's enthusiasm for the deal, reached after several meetings. "They liked what we had to offer and we wanted what they had to offer.
"The contract we're negotiating will be longer than an annual," he said. "We're looking for a long marriage."
Financial details were not disclosed.
Reservations for show seating will be accepted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday beginning Nov. 3 at 523-0955.
The restaurant's capacity is near 300, including the lounge area and a private room, but the latter is reserved for wedding parties in a contract with Saison des Brides For Watabe, Yim said. The broadcast audience will be about the same size as the Hanohano Room audience, at 250. The Sheraton show is always sold out, according to KSSK publicist David Patterson.
The show and buffet breakfast will be $25 for adults and $15 for children 5 to 12, including tax and tip. There is no admission charge for younger children. Valet parking will cost $2.
The menu by Executive Chef Jean Pierre Maharibatcha will include scrambled eggs, white and fried rice, sautéed herbed red potatoes, macadamia nut-crusted french toast, waffles, bacon, Portuguese sausage, smoked ham with pineapple sauce, croissants, pastries and fresh fruits. A choice of coffee, tea or plantation iced tea is included in the price, but other beverages are available for an additional cost.
Maharibatcha may swap out new items from time to time, Yim said.
In recent years, John Dominis' atmosphere would transform after dinner service from upscale restaurant to a trendy club called The Spy Bar, a nightclub scene in which to be seen. The restaurant no longer hosts an after-hours club, "so the crew won't be overwhelmed," said Yim.
After nearly two decades of spending Saturdays at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, the morning men will miss the Hanohano Room and its staff, Perry said.
The new show will be named "The Perry and Price Saturday Morning Show at John Dominis."
"It was always The Perry and Price Saturday Morning Show at the Hanohano Room," but it was more commonly referred to by its shorthand name, "The Hanohano Room Show." Perry predicts it will be hard to break the habit of calling the Saturday broadcast by the name of its soon-to-be-former venue. "They'll probably get some unwarranted publicity for awhile," he laughed.
