Good to Go co-owner Drew Breen greets customer Vickie Hyatt,
who says eating there is "like going to a friend's house for dinner."
o understand the exacting wholesomeness of Good to Go, all that's necessary is to understand the perfectionists that are partners John Akana and Drew Breen.Of the two, Akana is the mellower, working quietly, methodically. Breen bounces throughout the tiny restaurant, greeting guests, filling faxed orders, all in the middle of an interview.
"When I met Drew two years ago, I could have decked him," said employee Chris Kennison, who was a student of Breen's at Kapiolani Community College when Good to Go was just a dream.
"I mean, he's so demanding, but it's a good demanding," she said.
"The way I figure," Breen says in his defense, "is if you've got talent, you might as well use it. If I'm hard on you, that means I like you and think you have potential.
"As for how much to tell people, well, if they know you like them they might start to take advantage of you, so some things should be left unsaid," he says with a wink and a nod in Kennison's direction.
Doesn't sound much like work does it?
Yet the staff takes its healthful mission very seriously in this fully professional take-out restaurant that doubles as a "classroom" for student employees angling for a little real world experience.
Even the kitchen is designed like a classroom, with eight work stations that enable the staff to work efficiently in a minimum of space.
Out front, in the dining area, it's even more compact, with basically, two glass cases full of cookies and desserts separating the customers and the kitchen. It's easy for staffers to see customers as they come in. With little street parking, customers often call ahead, run in, pay and run out with their orders.
"What's unique about our restaurant is that you pick up the food and go," said John Akana, a Kamehameha Schools graduate who has a master's degree in business, and trained at the Culinary Institute of America in New York.
"Our menu is constantly changing. We have a variety of items -- soups, salads, pastas, sandwiches, vegetarian dishes, chicken and fresh fish, along with daily specials. Everything is made from scratch. We make all of our own breads. It's hard to find one restaurant with that kind of mix," Akana said.
The goal is to take quality ingredients and do as little as possible to them so as not to destroy their nutritional value, according to Breen, who has a degree in finance and accounting and also studied at CIA. It's food that "makes sense."
Both chefs are quick to share the credit for their success with their devoted staff members. Cherilyn Chun, Kennison and Anna Kozuki have been with the restaurant since it opened. Good to Go Hawaii also employs 14 high school and college students, and Francis Akana, John's father and a retired GTE executive, volunteers his time to bake all the breads, cookies and carrot cakes.
"We're very community based," Breen said. "How many times have you seen these big food service companies come in, who have nothing to do with the community?
Good to Go's involvement ranges from showing local art and refusing to collect commissions on pieces sold; making up gift baskets with the wares of neighboring Coconut Grove General Store in a cross-promotion; and participating in events such as last weekend's "I Love Kailua" fest.
"If we ever franchise our company, it will be run by kids who worked for us, who grew up in communities like Pearl City. Businesses need to reconnect with these communities."
Breen said he knows 80 percent of his customers by first name. "There's a real validity in that. I know my customers, I know my customers' children. There's a lot more than just cooking going on."
And those customers have a lot of good things to say about Good to Go. Their only complaint? That Good to Go is open weekdays only, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., leaving them to their own devices weekends.
Vickie Hyatt, a registered nurse at Tripler, has figured a way around the "problem." "I've started buying food for the weekend and putting it in the refrigerator so I don't have to go without."
Still, she prefers going in person, describing the experience as "fun, like going to a friend's house. I just wish there were more places like that."
Hyatt added that one of her friends describes the Good to Go cookies as "heroin biscuits." "They're so addictive!"
Another customer, Maggie Fleming said, "I eat here just about every day -- breakfast, lunch and dinner."
wasn't here. It's my daughter's favorite place. She likes the sandwiches, the corn chowder and cookies. We all love their cooking."
Bingaman, a vegetarian, reserves cooking for the weekends when Good to Go is closed, and said she can't remember what she did at meal times before Good to Go opened. "But the quality of our eating has gone way up," she said.
Both love Good to Go's risotto. Fleming adds Shrimp Pesto Scampi and any kind of Quesadilla to her list.
Meanwhile, customer Claudine Uyehara said her favorite is the Grilled Ahi Club.
No big fan of health food per se, she said, "You always try to eat healthy but ... I've been coming here since they've been open. Ever since that first day I could tell everything was fresh -- fresh tomatoes, sprouts, lettuce. But everything tastes so good you don't realize you're doing without all the fat."
Ann Felzer Amalu, wife of the late columnist Sammy Amalu, also dropped by for lunch, saying, "It's a small place, but they put a lot of feeling into the food.
"It's not the usual, where the menu is here to here and you don't know what you're getting."
Good to Go's food has even won women's hearts beyond the store front. Said James Abbott, whose work is environmental program management, "It's perfect for bachelors."
It's not that he simply can't cook, but Good to Go's food is available in a pinch, when he needs to impress a date with an example of his kitchen artistry.
"Well, it works the first time," he said. "By the second time she's wondering why she doesn't see any pots and pans and starts asking questions. Then I'm in trouble."
Barbara Burke is a Hawaii-Pacific University instructor who has been teaching and writing about food and nutrition since 1975. Her column, Good For You, appears Wednesdays in the Body & Soul section.
Address:307 Uluniu St., Kailua