Lopaka

Nice burgers there.

I just came here after a long absence. Does anybody use allspice in their burgers?

The Chuckwagon was my favorite restaurant in my teen years. Could go through 3 or 4 big plateloads without trying. The mac salad was quite good, not sweet like they make it these days. In the late 50s the tab was about $5 (36.00 in 2008 dollars). Top's was another fav. For years my signature lunch was a grilled burger and a chocolate shake.

Whatever happened to the Evergreen? My parents used to take me there back in the 50's. I think that it was on Kapiolani, but am not sure.

A glass of fresh fruit juice washing down a NoDoz tablet should work just as well.

Another Cocoa Krispies fan, except that I usually put it at the bottom of the basket so people won't see it. Sugar Jets. My all-time favorite was Kellogg's Krumbles. When they stopped distributing it in Hawaii, I had my mainland relatives ship it to me until '73, when it was made no more.

Poor Tony...he should've taken the clue when cooks Tim, Rory and Diana ditched the place last season. A guy who won't pay his people is capable of most any perfidy.

Doesn't seem to be scheduled in the San Francisco Bay area at all. It's dead, Jim.

Had lunch at the Crouching Lion last Wednesday after a five year hiatus. They must be cutting corners for some reason, even with all the tourist traffic they get. The teriyaki steak was gristly and fatty and the place needs a coat of paint. The mac nut cream pie was OK though.

Does the name John Wayne Gacy mean anything to you?

Ah, but things are different now. Google on over to "San Francisco Bay Area Hawaiian Food" and you will see what we have.

Tonight I had the loco moco platelunch at "Da Kitchen", a four-month-old establishment in Mountain View, California. The very large portion of loco was sufficient unto itself, the two scoops rice and one scoop salad were culinary overload. The hamburger had a decided bacon flavor and the thick gravy was loaded with onions. The salad was just macaroni and some kind of tasteless white dressing holding it together. Wouldn't have hurt to have some tuna or green pepper in it. All in all worth $8.95. Still have that full feeling 5 hours later.

The kitchen seems to be rather quiet compared to last season... maybe the food is being catered? Liked the bit about salting the pasta water, salt has gotten such a bad rap lately.

What did Chef Tony do to Rocco to deserve such humiliating treatment? Petulant, egotistic, juvenile, abusive. That's our Rocco.

Did anyone see Marian Burros' review of Union Pacific in the 2/11 Times? She gave it 2 stars. Methinks Rocco's attention is elsewhere these days.

In John and Karen Hess' book "The Taste of America", a restauranteur is quoted as saying, "There are cooks who will never be chefs and chefs who will never be cooks. A chef is an executive."

When I was a keiki (50's) there were two kinds of coconut chips sold. One was fried and lightly salted and the other heavily coated with powdered sugar.

Eureka! I found the book and it's "Hawaii Cookbook & Backyard Luau" by Elizabeth Ahn Toupin with an intro by James Michener. I got it from a friend but seems to be abundantly available online at B&N. It was published in hardcover in 1967 by Silvermine and in pb by Bantam. Along with the usual "Polynesian" fare like "Volcano Salad" and "Chicken Lobster Supreme in Pineapple Shells", there is a chapter "The Hawaian Luau" with recipes for kalua pig, lomi salmon, chicken long rice, chicken luau, haupia, laulau and others that us kama'aina are familiar with. There is even something called a "poi cocktail" made by blending poi, milk and sugar, and meant for introducing the malihini to the Hawaiian staff-of-life. Kinda makes my hair stand on end but I guess kids might go for it.

The old Tops restaurant on the corner of Ena Road and Ala Moana was a Spencecliff property, I believe. Their grilled burgers and milk shakes were worth coming miles for. M's Ranch was my introduction to grissini (breadsticks to you non-Italians). There was a basket of them on every table. Once I ate so many I didn't have room for anything else. The place was also famous for its 72 ounce steak, a plaster example of which was placed at the entrance. Eat it with the potato and veg within an hour and it was free. Am still looking for that "Hawaii" cookbook. Have hit 2 used bookstores and B&N online and no luck yet. Auwe!

Mahalo for the warm welcome. Encountered this site when I was following "The Restaurant" reality show on the net, and have finally decided to become a member. Am a cousin of one of the three line cooks slandered by Rocco. I was born in and lived in Honolulu from 1947 to 1968 (the good old days) and remember restaurants like M's Ranch House, Elliott's Chuckwagon, The Evergreen, Canlis' Broiler, The Wagon Wheel, The Hob Nob at the Alexander Young Hotel and Michel's at the Colony Surf, which I believe was the closest thing to haute cuisine in town at that time. I can't recall any recipes from the "Hawaii" cookbook, but am looking for a copy and will let you know what it's got when one falls into my hands. A hui hou, Lopaka

You might want to check out "The Pacifica House Hawaii Cook Book" by Don FitzGerald, published in 1965. I have the 10th edition (1973). It's a mix of local and haole recipes, even has a recipe for laulau, but "chicken long rice" is missing, probably hadn't been invented yet. Another book is "Pupus to the Max - The All-Purpose Illustrated Guide to the Food of Hawaii", published by Bess Press in 1986. I remember that there was a cookbook that came out shortly after the publication of Michener's "Hawaii" in 1959 and used a similar cover to the novels', but I haven't seen a copy in ages.