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Did the Cooking Channel pick the right spots?

By Catherine Toth Fox • October 13, 2011 • Food

On Tuesday the Cooking Channel’s popular Food(ography) show turn its spotlight on Hawaii.

The show — which re-broadcasts at 11 p.m. Oct. 16 and 8 a.m. Oct. 23 — explores how people and societies are shaped by food, to tell the story and passion behind each dish. The network visited just Oahu and Big Island eateries.

So here’s the lineup:

• An award-winning Mai Tai prepared by star mixologist Christian Self at the Modern Honolulu (formerly the Waikiki EDITION hotel
• A visit to the award-winning Alan Wong’s Restaurant
• A kitchen visit with chef Ed Kenney of town (pictured above)
• Plate lunch from Helena’s Hawaiian Food
• A visit to Paradise Cove Luau
• Farm-raised Wagyu beef from Merriman’s Restaurant in Waimea
• A “seafood odyssey” at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel’s Manta & Pavilion Wine Bar

Other eateries that were pitched to the network:

• KCC Farmer’s Market
• Two Ladies Kitchen
• Hilo Bay Sugar Shack
• The Coffee Shack
• Big Island Grill
• Pine Tree Cafe

Now, looking at what was aired, I have a few suggestions.

If the show is focused on the culture of food, I don’t see how a commercialized luau show or a Mai Tai would fit into that.

So if you had to pick 10 restaurants on Oahu and the Big Island that should have been featured on the Cooking Channel, which would you pick?

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Catherine Toth Fox

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21 Comments

  • Reply David Jackson October 13, 2011 at 2:48 am

    Here is my 10:

    1) Chef Mavro
    2) 3660 on the Rise
    3) Haleiwa Joe’s Kaneohe
    4) Indigos
    5) Buzz’s Steak House
    6) Roy’s Hawaii Kai
    7) Chai Island Bistro
    8) Hoku’s
    9) Le Bistro
    10) Azure

    Honorable Mention

    1) Pho toChau
    2) Rainbow Drive-In
    3) Agnes Kailua
    4) Duc’s Bistro
    5) Hale Vietnam
    6) Duke’s
    7) Leonard’s
    8) Morimoto
    9) W&M
    10) Nicos

    And frankly there are at least 10 more I could go in a heartbeat. In Hawaii it is often about the food.

    • Reply Catherine Toth October 13, 2011 at 4:57 pm

      Nice list! I noticed you slid in Hale Vietnam 🙂

      • Reply David Jackson October 14, 2011 at 7:47 am

        LOL… I love that place… best broth I ever had. Good enough desserts. GUILTY AS CHARGED.

  • Reply M October 13, 2011 at 6:30 am

    Hello Cat, I missed it. I better make sua I watch da re-broadcast.

    Here’s a few

    Helena’s
    Ono Hawaiian food
    Rainbows
    Side Street

    • Reply Catherine Toth October 13, 2011 at 4:58 pm

      Those are definitely musts on a show that features stories about the people and passions behind the food!

  • Reply matt October 13, 2011 at 6:54 am

    I missed it. gotta remember to set the tivo when I get home.

    if they’re looking to see how fuud shaped the culture of Hawaii, they should probably hit:
    an Okazuya
    a bakery
    a Hawaiian fuud place
    a plate lunch place
    Zippys
    7-11 (seriously)
    a couple of farmer’s markets (KCC and Hilo, maybe?)
    a backyard grad party/after little league potluck at the park
    an upscale PacRim place
    a middle market new style place
    Makai Market (just for the sheer lack of chain places that you usually find in a mall foodcourt)
    a bar.

    off the top of my head:

    1) Sugoi
    2) Liliha Bakery
    3) Haili’s (or Yama’s…Helena’s seems to get on every Hawaii travelogue)
    4) Rainbows
    5) Kahala Zippy’s
    6) any 7-11
    7) KCC/Hilo Farmer’s Markets
    8) find a grad party or baby luau or wander the parks on a saturday afternoon during baseball season
    9) Alan Wong’s/Mavro/insert your favorite
    10) Dean’s Drive In
    11) Makai Market
    12) Anyplace Lounge

    more than 10, but I had even more to put on the list. some of my favorites didn’t make the cut because they are too crowded already.

    • Reply matt October 13, 2011 at 6:55 am

      every time I make a list with more than 8 items, I get the cool emoticon for #8

    • Reply Catherine Toth October 13, 2011 at 4:58 pm

      7-11? Seriously?

      • Reply matt October 13, 2011 at 8:52 pm

        standard 7-11 fare is hot dogs and microwave burritos. everywhere you go, on the continent, 7-11 has the same hot food available. at home, though, you have manapua, pork hash, sushi, spam musubi…and decent, too. if you want to do a show about fuud’s place in the culture of Hawaii, I think the offerings at 7-11 would speak volumes to the viewers in other states.

        • Reply David Jackson October 14, 2011 at 7:48 am

          Best deal in town the 7-11 spam musubi! Used to be less than a dollar at the one near Chaminade. Add a Coke and good to go.

  • Reply Cody Zamboni October 13, 2011 at 6:56 am

    should’ve focused on Hawaii’s obsession with SPAM

    • Reply Catherine Toth October 13, 2011 at 4:58 pm

      That would be a whole documentary in itself! LOL!

  • Reply eddyo October 13, 2011 at 7:39 am

    Cat,

    Being on the Big Island on Kona side–Manago, Teshima
    Waimea–Hawaiian Style Cafe
    Naalehu–Hana Hou
    Hilo–Ocean Sushi, Miyo’s
    This list shouldn’t be shared too widely, because these places will be become gourmet, expensive & impossible to get a seating unless you’re one of the “beautiful people”! (lol)

    btw, how’s Derek adjusting to midwest food?

    • Reply Catherine Toth October 13, 2011 at 4:59 pm

      Hawaiian Style Cafe in Waimea is MY FAVORITE. Have you had the kalua pig hash??? It’s ridiculously outstanding!

      Derek is adjusting. He misses rice with every meal. And he definitely misses plate lunches. Poor guy. He’s been eating sandwiches and salads. :/

  • Reply bumper October 13, 2011 at 8:31 am

    Nice to see Helena’s Hawaiian food on that list. I would’ve also voted for Chef Mavro — fresh, local, high-quality, and one-of-a-kind. A visit to Giovanni’s shrimp truck and Matsumoto’s shave ice would’ve been great, too.

    I don’t know how I feel about town. I’ve eaten there a number of times and although I like the menu, the food always fails to deliver. That would not have been my choice.

    • Reply Catherine Toth October 13, 2011 at 5:00 pm

      Yeah, it’s such a subjective thing. Plus, I know from helping with food tours, sometimes it all depends on which restaurants are available. The thing I like about Ed Kenney is his approach to food. He’s really in the trenches and wants to serve the best organic and/or locally grown food — and I can respect that!

  • Reply Nathan Kam October 13, 2011 at 9:18 am

    Hi Cat…having worked with the show on behalf of my client HVCB who helped get it here, I can tell you fitting everything in to 42 minutes of TV is never an easy task. We had provided them with a fair amount of suggestions, many which your readers have suggested above, which they combined with their own research. Timing of their visit, availability, and resources played apart in what go included and what didn’t…but overall I think the show presented a different side of Hawaii’s culinary offerings – past, present, and future – away from the super traditional things most folks know about. Looking forward to reading more feedback from your readers.

    Aloha,
    Nate

    • Reply Catherine Toth October 13, 2011 at 5:01 pm

      Thanks for your feedback! I don’t think we know all the work that goes into a show like this. And I know everyone understands there are only so many minutes in an episode. You did a great job with your suggestions, but at the end of the day, it’s up to the production crew what they want to portray.

      Hopefully people tune into the rebroadcast! Thanks for sharing!

      • Reply David Jackson October 14, 2011 at 7:50 am

        I for one thought Haleiwa Joe’s would make it… I’ve sen a few Hollywood types in there. They have filmed a few movie scenes there as well. Must be because it is buried in a neighborhood beside an apartment complex.

  • Reply Steve October 13, 2011 at 5:46 pm

    Hi Cat:

    I just thought that I would mention that Zippy’s will be celebrating its “45th Anniversary” this Sunday, October 16. They opened for business at their South King Street location near Washington Intermediate School on October 16, 1966. I found that information at the following link https://archives.starbulletin.com/2002/09/29/special/story24.html

    Maybe you could do a story about them in one of your upcoming “FUUD” articles.

  • Reply Randy Miyamoto October 13, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    Big Island-Hilo side:

    One Plus One: Special Chow Fun and Roast Duck
    Kaleo’s: Everything, surf and turf, kalua won tuns
    Miyo’s: Teri Steak, with the ponzu sauce from the green salad running on the steak
    Two Ladies Kitchen: Strawberry mochi

    Kona side: Agree with eddyo

    Manago: pork chops, fried akule
    Teshima’s: everything

    Honolulu:

    Sunrise:
    Hide Chan:
    Tokkuri Tei

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About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

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