I’m probably going to be spotty for the rest of the week, unless something monumental happens. We’re running around getting ready for our annual Cinco de Mayo celebration here at Aloha Tower Marketplace on Monday! 

So we’ve got the usual fiesta-worthy things, celebrating all things Hispanic: Free salsa dance lessons so you can imitate your favorite team on “Dancing With The Stars.” Strolling mariachis. Beautiful flamenco dancers. Our restaurants, like Don Ho’s Island Grill and Gordon Biersch, are having food and drink specials in keeping with the theme—tacos, burritos, cervezas (beer), mojitos, etc. (And God help me, I haven’t had a shot of tequila since October 1985.) 

The thing that really sets us apart, though, is the Chihuahua fashion show. If anyone still wants to enter, it’s free—your dog can be full- or at least part-chihuahua. All participants get a certificate from Pet Gear in Aloha Tower Marketplace and samples of Royal Canin dog food, but please know that it’s not a competition! 

You have no idea what goes into a Chihuahua show. When I first thought of it, I wanted to do Chihuahua races.  I envisioned all these dogs sprinting down the Boat Days Promenade in front of the tower, which would be fantastic for the TV cameras. However, I called the Humane Society to get their blessing (to ensure no one protested the exploitation of our furry Mexican friends), and they wouldn’t do it. 

“You need to take special precautions, like the pig races at the farm fair,” they told me.

“What kind of precautions?” I naively asked.

“You need to be sure the ground has sufficient covering to cushion the impact while they run. Pig’s bones are very brittle, so you need to do what you can to avoid injuring them,” they replied.

“But these are not pigs, they’re Chihuahuas. Are dog bones as brittle as pig bones?” I wondered.

“I don’t know,” said the gal at the Humane Society, “But you need to take the same precautions. Also, you need to keep in mind that a physical competition will probably agitate the dogs and they might bite someone.” 

Whoo! Now, I have never heard a news report about agitated racing Chihuahuas biting anyone. I’m sure it could happen, but since I couldn’t make the same precautionary ground cushion for the dogs that one would make for pigs, a race was out of the question. 

As it turns out, a Chihuahua fashion show is a pretty good thing. The dogs love getting dressed up. They can somehow sense that they are special when they are in costume, stopping to pose for the paparazzi on cue. After the show, in fact, several dogs try to resist when their owners try to undress them. I’m not sure why they even need to be undressed; doesn’t their festive attire make them more diva-licious than their naked counterparts in the audience?  

This year, we have about 20 chihuahuas ready to take to the catwalk on Cinco de Mayo. I’m waiting to see if any of them show up in a Mexican wrestling (a la Nacho Libre) mask. We’re already hoping there are no wardrobe malfunctions on stage—Chico Mariachi, a.k.a. the Latin Lothario, apparently is having some problems keeping his pants on.  No, really—the seamstresses are trying to figure out the best way to sew his pants so they don’t fall off. 

Think I’m kidding? See for yourself! Come by on Monday! 

Cinco de Mayo at Aloha Tower Marketplace

Monday, May 5 from 5 p.m.

Call 566-2337 or info@alohatower.com for more information

JR Buenconsejo says that Grand Café is his favorite weekend brunch spot, so yesterday (Sunday) we went there after our running buddies finished their workouts. My friends have gone there for dinner on First Fridays (how do they get a reservation?!) so I’ve been dying to get a meal there.

You can click here to see the menu for the week, but we all gravitated to the same things.  Val, Burt and I had the benedict special, trying the Reuben Benedict and the Sicilian Benedict. JR and Muriel had the Smoked Salmon Omelet.

Each plate comes with a side salad, and we ate that ALL.  The dressing is a mere whisper on the spring greens, yet there’s enough taste to keep you plowing through the whole salad till it’s gone.

The Reuben Benedict has corned beef, saurkraut, an egg and hollandaise, which sounds weird…but was extremely yummy. The saurkraut is not too sour, and the corned beef not too salty, so all the flavors work together really well. The Sicilian Benedict has tomato, mortadella ham, egg and hollandaise. This one is pretty spicy, but the hollandaise helps to stave off the burn. I was way too full to try a bite of the salmon omelet, but JR and Muriel cleaned their plates and proclaimed it excellent.

After all that, you’d think we’d be too full for anything else, no? Noooo. Then we had the audacity to order dessert: Bread pudding with vanilla sauce, and lemon cake. The bread pudding has craisins in it, which gives it a different (but good) taste. Our hands-down favorite, though, was the lemon cake. It was not too tart, not too sweet, not too rich, yet full of flavor. I tried to wrestle it away from Val, but she shoved it in a bag and ate it in the car on the way home!

I think we need to run eight more miles after that. 

Grand Café & Bakery

www.grandcafeandbakery.com

31 N. Pauahi Street

531-0001

Tue-Fri: 7am- 1:30pm

Sat, Sun: 8am-1pm

Wednesday - Saturday 5:15 PM - 8:00 PM

Mon. closed

I was going to do a version of a time-lapse progression of the vog throughout the day on Saturday to show you what it looked like.  But no matter what time of day I took this photo--noon, 2 p.m., 5 p.m., whatever--it looked the same, just like being in LA!  So much for that idea.

Not a good weekend for running.

p.s. This week's blood pressure: 124/60!

Mari Taketa and I followed a lead on getting a cheap meal at Queen’s Bar B Q on the corner of Queen and Cooke streets. Apparently half the town knows about this hole in the wall in a rundown building, since the line is snaking out the door and cars are illegally parked in front of the fire hydrant at the corner.  

There’s a couple of small tables, but most people are there for takeout—teriyaki or fried chicken plates with two scoop rice and mac salad, all for just $4.25 and $4.75 (including tax), something like that.  Everyone already knows what they want to order.  I don’t know if it’s because they are regulars, or because they need to keep moving for the lady at the counter. 

Mari likened her to the soup nazi, but since I am Chinese, I thought the lady was … well, normal. She moves the line along like cattle, barking, “Hep you! Next—hep you!” Place order, pay money, move to the side.  

The food is basic, but a good deal. I overheard a LOT of people saying they were going to order the chicken wing plate, but my lead told me to take the fried chicken so I obeyed. As you can see, the menu is pretty extensive, so I’ll probably try something else if I decide to go here again. Hey, what can you get for four bucks nowadays??

Queen’s BBQ
730 Queen Street
(808) 596-8274 (I can’t imagine these guys have time to answer the phone, though)

Our office had been talking about trying Stage for months now, knowing that the lunch prices would be more reasonable than dinner. Then I got an email last week from Stage, announcing two-for-one meals for lunch, dinner, AND Sunday brunch. This was enough incentive for us to make a real effort (the special is till the end of April).

The only difficulty is that they rarely seem to answer the phone! I had to call many times—once to get the answering machine, then the staff & I played a little phone tag till we finally were able to talk to each other. Don’t get discouraged; you’ll hook up eventually.

The email blast worked! Stage was packed to the gills. We asked the hostess if they were ever that busy, and she admitted they were not. Also, the menu is actually half price, not two-for-one, so you can eat three courses while your dining mates may eat just one or two, and the entire meal will be half off.

Mark and Floyd tried the clam and corn chowder ($5), which they said was excellent. The special was their hormone-free salmon prepared various ways, so Mark and Aileen opted for the "bubu arare crusted salmon" on salad ($16). Floyd took the salmon on soba with shiitake mushrooms and a lovely looking demiglace ($18). I wanted to eat salmon also, but for the sake of the blog, I ordered the certified Angus "club burger," a thick patty layered with lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon, and guacamole ($15).

Take the salmon salad!!! That dainty kakimochi crust is fantastic! When at a place like Stage, you might as well go healthy and experience some different textures while you’re at it. As you can see, Aileen’s order was the Mysterious Disappearing Salmon. Floyd said his dish was outstanding as well. Now, my burger was delicious, no doubt about it. But it’s not something you eat with a client—it’s extremely messy.

Since we had no starter, Aileen and I each had a scoop of sorbet to finish the meal.

We agreed that the service was excellent and attentive, which was the right thing to do. If you run such a promotion, you better be sure everyone is on their toes! The bill came out to less than $100 for the four of us…then cut that in half. What a deal, eh? Now that we’ve had a pleasant experience there, we will most likely return, even at full price. Well, I did call to see if I could make reservations for brunch this Sunday, but Stage is completely sold out. I guess everyone else had the same idea! That was a well-executed promotion.

By the way, the men felt the décor was a little strange, while Aileen and I rather enjoyed it. Also they didn’t quite "get" the various ads for Moooi, a furniture line carried in the Honolulu Design Center. I thought this might be a good idea for my upcoming First Fashion Friday!

Stage (in the Honolulu Design Center)
www.honoluludesigncenter.com
1250 Kapiolani Boulevard
Lunch – 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (last seating at 1:30 p.m.)
Dinner – 5 to 9:30 p.m.
Sunday Brunch – 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (last seating)
(808) 237-5429