Iva Kinimaka plans
By John Berger
a musical comeback
Special to the Star-BulletinAs a headliner in Waikiki, you'd think Iva Kinimaka would've had enough to do.
But it wasn't quite a full plate, so to speak, and Kinimaka ended up opening a lunchwagon, which lead to a catering business, which lead to the ownership of a drive-in.
His culinary endeavors began about 25 years ago and he shows no sign of tapering off. Opening soon: a Hawaiian restaurant, to feature Kinimaka as the singing cook.
He's preparing for this new project with what he describes as "like a come-back" performance with Melveen Leed and Emma Veary tomorrow night at the Hawaii Theatre.
Kinimaka was 10 when he discovered he enjoyed cooking, an interest his mother encouraged. It was while he was headlining at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Long House in the mid '70s that he opened a lunchwagon at Sandy Beach, and other people came to appreciate his culinary style.
Kinimaka founded Iva's Komplete Katering more than 15 years ago, providing the food as well as the entertainment during his years as resident headliner aboard Paradise Cruises. He bought and renovated Diner's Drive-In in Kalihi several years ago and is about to open a Hawaiian restaurant adjacent to the Kalihi landmark. He promises a unique dining experience.
"It's going to be like you walked into my kitchen. The stove is over there. Here's the counter. I'll have a CD player and a cordless mike, and I'll sing and cook and socialize with people at the same time. You want to sing, you can sing, too, but I'll do the cooking."
Two white-clad employees were moving things around Monday as he pointed out where pictures and other items will be. The menu will combine traditional Hawaiian staples and some of his favorite recipes. The capacity will exceed that of other popular Hawaiian restaurants, and there will be more parking. Kinimaka hopes to have everything ready by the end of the month.
"I've always wanted to have a small place, something to keep me busy. When Don Ho opened his place (at Aloha Tower) I thought, 'That's great ... For me, I like Kalihi. I've been in Kalihi for a number of years; there's a bunch of good people here."
Tomorrow night's concert will be one of his first public performances since he appeared with Leed, Dick Jensen, Nephi Hannemann and Loyal Garner in a quintuple-bill engagement at the Tropics Surf Club in 1993. In the years since, he's entertained at Christmas parties and similar private events. He also enjoys karaoke.
"I've pretty much changed my style of singing. I still do ballads and uptempo songs, but I've changed my style quite a bit."
A song he's certain to sing -- tomorrow night and at the restaurant -- is "He Aloha Mele." It is one of two he wrote and recorded for his daughter, Chamonix, on his "Just Singing It All" album in the early '80s. Chamonix is now a 21-year-old senior at San Diego State planning to go the medical school.
Kinimaka's "come into my kitchen" engagement is the latest chapter in a career that goes back more than 30 years. He broke into the Waikiki entertainment scene in the '60s when he worked with Kimo Garner (Loyal's brother) at Tropics on the corner of Seaside and Kalakaua Avenue; Garner played piano and Kinimaka played guitar. He worked opposite Don Ho at Duke Kahanamoku's in the International Market Place and then at the Cock's Roost (now Coconut Willy's Bar & Grill). Even then, he was known as a guy who knew his way around the kitchen.
"Ask Don Ho. I'd go to his place, look in the ice box, find something in the cupboard, and come out with a big meal. It's all the knowledge of knowing how to cook and how to make something out of nothing. Now that I've got my own little place here, I can't wait to start it up.
"I know people say they hate their jobs, but I love being here. Even when I'm playing golf I'm thinking about cooking."
Hawaiian Music Series
Featuring: Melveen Leed with Iva Kinimaka and Emma Veary
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