Waikiki Scene
City invites you to brunch on the beach

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer

Illustration by Jon Orque • The Honolulu Advertiser Brunch on the Beach 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Sunday On Kalakaua Avenue, between Ka'iulani and Uluniu avenues Free admission 523-4834

Probably never, since if any of Honolulu's Finest caught sight of you and your Egg McMuffin Value Meal on the double yellow lines fronting Duke and his surfboard, chances are high that you're currently reading this in a padded lockup.

After this Sunday, however, expect to have some "eats on the streets" bragging rights.

Sponsored by the City and County of Honolulu and the Waikiki Improvement Association, this weekend's Brunch on the Beach is the first of what each hopes will be a monthly Kalakaua Avenue event.

Their goal? To lure local folks back into Waikiki with the one thing we resident sun-and-beach-jaded still have an instant Pavlovian response to: food, and lots of it.

"It was kind of a romantic idea that (the late Hawaiian scholar) George Kanahele and I had back in the early 1990s," says Ben Lee, Honolulu managing director. "Brunch on the Beach is a combination of being able to eat outside, enjoy the recently completed Kuhio Beach improvements and provide a venue where local residents and tourists could sit side by side and have coffee and breakfast."

For Brunch on the Beach, the city will shut down two blocks of Kalakaua Avenue fronting Kuhio Beach, from Ka'iulani to Uluniu avenues, opening it up to a collection of food booths run by a handful of Waikiki hotels and restaurants. Artificial grass will be laid curb-to-curb and chairs and tables with large blue umbrellas set up for folks to sit, chow down and listen to some live local music.

"We didn't want to set up our tables and chairs in the middle of the hot asphalt so (the AstroTurf) was a fairly inexpensive way to try to extend the park experience from the beach a little bit," Lee says. "We're looking at bringing in about 150 tables and 600 chairs."

Participating hotels and restaurants include Sheraton Hotels, the Hyatt Regency Waikiki's Seafood Village, the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the Pacific Beach Hotel, Outrigger Hotels' Duke's Canoe Club Waikiki and Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center's Antonio's Steak Ribs & Pasta. Lee promises "reasonable" prices from all involved.

Set to take the Brunch on the Beach concert stage is Hoku award-winning 'Ale'a, the 60-member Halau Hula Olana and the Royal Hawaiian Band Glee Club. Puamana will be strolling among the tables entertaining diners.

Parking will be available at the Honolulu Zoo and Kapi'olani Park (bring some change for the meter), and free open-air JTB shuttles will be made available to transport folks from their cars to the brunch area.

Lee says that after this weekend's fete, the city and the Waikiki Improvement Association will schedule Brunch on the Beach on the second Sunday of each month, save for September (because of Aloha Week stuff) and December (all that Christmas stuff).

"I'd like Brunch on the Beach to become something local residents and visitors look forward to," Lee says.

The grinds

Duke's Canoe Club Waikiki/Outrigger Hotels booth:

• Caesar salad
• Big Island Pork Ribs with macaroni salad and rice

Seafood Village/Hyatt Regency Waikiki booth:

• Manapua
• Nori spring rolls
• Stir-fried noodles with char siu
• Fried noodles with dim sum
• Deluxe dim sum platter

Antonio's Steak Ribs & Pasta/Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center booth:

• Grilled Italian hot dogs
• Shave ice

Hilton Hawaiian Village booth:

• Liliko'i cheesecake with mango coulis
• Summer fruit bread pudding with strawberry coulis
• Chocolate dobash cake with raspberry coulis
• Fresh apple tart with vanilla sauce

Sheraton Hotels booth:

• Made-to-order omelettes

Pacific Beach Hotel booth:

• Banana, blueberry and chocolate muffins
• Chocolate croissants
• Cinnamon rolls
• Cream- or pineapple-filled danish