Wood Craft Ben Wood

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D.K. Kodama is again invited to cook at Super Bowl event

SANSEI SEAFOOD restaurants' owner-chef, D.K. Kodama, is headed for his fourth Taste of the NFL, to be held on Super Bowl weekend in the Detroit area. This year's Taste will be held Feb. 4, the day before the Super Bowl, in Novi, Mich. Each of the 32 NFL teams will be represented by a chef serving a signature dish. A chef from Hawaii is invited because the Pro Bowl is played here. Kodama will prepare braised prime short ribs with spicy Thai curry sauce, fresh herbs and peanuts. Don Maruyama and Keith Endo will assist D.K., who said 3,000 to 4,000 people attend the huge affair that raises funds to feed the hungry and homeless. Tickets for the Taste are $400, with early entry VIP tickets going for whopping $600. Following the Taste, D.K. and the guys will go to New York where they will meet D.K.'s wife, Lori. "She's going shopping and we're going eating. Now you know why I have to work so hard," he said with a laugh. They will go to four to six restaurants a night, tasting small portions of several dishes at each, he said. They will return home Feb. 9 full of ideas and with full stomachs ...

SWINGING ON: Jimmy Borges will sing Cole Porter's hits as well as songs from Broadway and the movies tomorrow at the Honolulu Club, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Working with the crooner will be jazz stars Gabe Baltazar on sax, pianist Don Del Negro and bassist Steve Jones ...

Vuitton Golf tourney raises $181,500 for charity

THE LOUIS Vuitton Golf Cup 2006 Hawaii Charity Tournament raised $181,500 to benefit the Hawaii Opera Theatre and Rehab Hospital. The Jan. 7 event was held at Mauna Lani Bay's North Course on the Big Island. The Vuitton tourney has raised more than $2.6 million for Hawaii charities in its 23 years. The Opera Theatre will use its proceeds to sponsor "The King & I," operetta style, this summer ... Akaku Maui Community TV's media efforts for Molokai will get a shot in the arm thanks to a $75,000 grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The project will strengthen Molokai's Hawaiian community through video and TV media training. Matt Yamashita, head of Akaku's Molokai Media Center, says the grant will enable them to take the 4-year-old training program to the next level ...