Hawaii
SO you own the fourth largest volume restaurant in the country, serving some 3,000 people each day. You're in Hawaii and are getting your choice of where to go to eat. If you're Bob Chinn, owner of Bob Chinn's Seafood House in Chicago, your response is "Chinese! I don't get to eat that much good Chinese food at home." Well, Alex Marn of McCully Shopping Center was hosting Chinn and his family, so he took them to one of his center's eateries. Chinn chose to do the entire Fook Yuen Chinese Seafood Restaurant buffet, ordering some lobster noodle to complement the buffet items ... Busman’s holiday
SINGER Sonya Mendez echoes Sally Field at the Oscars when she gushes, "They like me. They really like me." That's why the Hilton Hawaiian Village people (not related to the group, the Village People) hired her to sing in the Shell Bar 9 p.m. to midnight Sundays and Mondays. That's her old stomping grounds from the Garden Bar days in the '70s when more hotels had trios, quartets and the like. Her pianist (and fellow singer) is Geoffrey Adair, back in the islands after 16 years in Colorado Springs. "You know this haole boy is one true local," says Sonya, "cause his hangout is in Makaha" ...
Lilith who?
MIXING with some pretty heady company this month is Hawaii's own Kim Char Meredith. The Passionate Woman Records artist, along with the B-52's, George Michael, Ani Defranco and Sandra Bernhard are among the list of nominees for a GLAMA in this, the third annual Gay/Lesbian American Music Awards show April 12. Meredith's nomination is for acoustic recording of the year, for the song, "Baby, I'm a Friend," on her CD, "Slender Line of Lavender." On April 16, Meredith will be performing along with Liza Williams and Shawna Sodersten in a program called "Women with Guitars" at Border's in Ward Centre ...LOCALITE Kedric Hasha is getting to be an expert at the "grin and bear it" routine. For instance, when he and wife Suzie got a newsletter from the Whaler's Cove Sportfishing Lodge in Alaska, one of their favorite spots, her name shows up repeatedly for the large fish she caught. He's not mentioned -- except on the address label ... Retired publisher Kim Jacobsen was showing a visiting pal from the mainland how to use an ATM machine. The guy was like a kid with a new toy. Waving around a fistful of twenties, he gushed, "It's just like Vegas!" "Yeah," a wag replied, "you don't get something for nothing out of the ATM either" ...
IF you're looking for a one-of-a-kind gift for your loved one, check out the silent auction at the Junior League's gala Friday at the Royal Hawaiian. There'll be items like three nights at the Hilton Strasbourg with cooking classes from chef Emile Jung of Le Crocodile. Or a weekend for two at Thermes Marins de Monte-Carlo, one of the world's great spas, or a chance to conduct the Honolulu Symphony. Move over, Maestro ...
Horny doofus
THIS guy in a sports utility vehicle must have been in a real hurry heading down Young Street toward Kalakaua. He found himself behind a van whose driver was sensibly waiting for oncoming traffic to pass before making a left turn into One Kalakaua. The van began its turn after traffic had cleared when the doofus in the SUV honked his horn in disgust. It was something of a shock in horn-free Hawaii, especially since the honking was directed to the driver of a Handi-Van ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
His columns run Monday through Friday.Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.