Our Picks for the Weekend
Star-Bulletin staff
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FREEBIES
Many Pro Bowl events on tap besides the game
Sunday's Pro Bowl brings a game to Aloha Stadium, sure, but also free city-sponsored celebrations to Waikiki.
The Pro Bowl Football Festival in Kapiolani Park runs from noon to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, with family entertainment and games.
The Pro Bowl All-Star Block Party takes place from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday on Kalakaua Avenue, with five entertainment stages and appearances by players and cheerleaders.
Sunset on the Beach is dedicated to football. The big screen at Queen's Beach will show NFL film clips Friday and the double feature "Polynesian Power" and "Gridiron Gang," with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, on Saturday.
Food booths open at 4 p.m.; entertainment starts at 6 p.m. Friday and 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Call 923-1094.
For a list of Pro Bowl nightclub parties, see In the Mix, Page 22. For a complete list of Pro Bowl Week events, visit www.nfl.com/probowl or call 233-4NFL.
ART
Glass artist Rosin will appear at Tabora Gallery
Master glass artist Dino Rosin will meet and greet at the Tabora Gallery at the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach, 7 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The gallery has more than 20 of Rosin's pieces on display, including imagery of violins, fish, sailboats and the piece that director Anne Wood singles out as most striking: a life-sized guitar. Prices range from $1,500 to $16,000, but to chat with Rosin is free.
Wood said the pieces are traditional murano glass, but show modern influences. They were created through a technique that involves pouring a nitrate down the back of each piece as the glass is forming, to create unique colors of cobalt blue, deep rose and fiery red.
Rosin, born in Venice, began his apprentice work at age 12 in the renowned glass-making town of Murano in Italy. Working with his late brother, Loredano, Rosin collaborated with such artists as Picasso and Chagall.
This is his first appearance in Hawaii. Call 922-5400.
MUSIC
Haines, Kanoho to sing at Art Song Hana Hou
Soprano Phyllis Haines and tenor Kaweo Kanoho will perform Saturday in this season's fourth Art Song Hana Hou recital, at 7:30 p.m. in Hawaii Public Radio's Atherton Performing Arts Studio.
They will be accompanied by Thomas Yee on piano in a program of arias from Handel's "Messiah," art songs by Poulenc and Barber, an Italian song set and a Broadway sampler or music by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Lerner and Loewe, and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Haines has sung with the Honolulu Symphony, Hawaii Vocal Arts Ensemble and is in her 21st season with the Hawaii Opera Theatre chorus. Kanoho, an Art Song Contest winner in 2001, has sung with in the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival.
Tickets are $17.50; $15 for HPR members; $10 students. Call 955-8821. The Atherton studio is at 738 Kaheka St.
TELEVISION
Mary J. Blige leads pack in Grammy Awards show
Mary J. Blige has the lead going into Sunday night's Grammy Awards show with eight nominations. With she top her comeback year with Grammy gold?
For that matter, who will win the Hawaiian music Grammy? Amy Hanaiali'i, Ledward Ka'apana, Henry Kapono -- or will it be another slack-key compilation?
Track the winners during the broadcast, beginning at 7 p.m. on KGMB/CBS.
A reunited Police -- Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers -- will open the show. Also expect performances by Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, the Dixie Chicks, Gnarls Barkley, John Legend, Ludacris, John Mayer, Corinne Bailey Rae, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Justin Timberlake.
Chris Brown, Lionel Richie and Smokey Robinson will perform in a tribute to great male R&B artists and Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood will pay tribute to country rock.
FOOD
So-so Mexican cuisine likely to draw a crowd
For those familiar with Mexican restaurants around the island, this one is owned by the same family behind Mexico Lindo in Kailua. This restaurant is a more ambitious undertaking, with an extensive menu of seafood specialties. Like so many so-so restaurants, this one offers more than the staff can handle, with uneven results.
Mexico Restaurante
1247 N. School St.
845-9059
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Even with a certain amount of disasters, I've noticed Mexican food here in the islands is essentially critic-proof. One reason is that Mexican restaurants are not as abundant as other ethnic restaurants, so if there's one in the neighborhood, that's the one people flock to. Over time they learn to avoid the culinary land mines. On top of that, the promise of big portions at reasonable prices, few vegetables and recognizable meat is also a draw to people with a childlike aversion to eating anything strange or green.
For affordable eats, an order of two soft corn tortilla taqueras with your choice of meat fillings runs $2.50. On the high end, an order of Vallarta or Guadalajara fajitas costs $17.95 and $16.50, respectively. The Vallarta skillet features scallops, shrimp and fish. The Guadalajara version features a spectacular platter of chicken, steak and shrimp.
I'd go with the latter. I haven't been impressed by other seafood offerings here, from chipotle scallops ($12.95) cooked rock-solid to the Mamamia burrito ($13.95), which was supposed to be filled with fresh fish and shrimp. The shrimp was fresh and delicious, but the mahi seemed to have been cooked stiff in advance of being mixed in with the other ingredients. The saving grace for this burrito is that it's so huge, you could shove the fish to the side and still leave the table full.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Dinner for two runs about $25 to $40 without drinks.
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