Soul food maven brings tastes to Zippy's

By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer

Debra Hopkins shows off her signature ribs and a plate of her Mississippi fried catfish. Zippy's will offer the dishes as part of its weekend specials, beginning today. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser Deb's Southern Comfort Old School Soul Food will be Zippy's weekend special today through Martin Luther King Day (Monday), from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. at dine-in locations. It features a big slab of barbecue ribs ($16.95) or barbecue chicken ($9.95), both served with collard greens, red beans and rice, macaroni and cheese, and choice of cornbread or other starch. Next weekend's special (Jan. 25-27) is Deb's Mississippi fried catfish ($7.95) or barbecue pulled-pork sandwich ($5.75), both served with cole slaw and french fries.

She fell in love with soul food the same way she fell in love with music, on those summer nights when the smell of barbecue and sounds of the radio filled the air of her Cleveland neighborhood around her daddy's grill.

She gained a following in Kailua with her signature barbecue ribs at Deb's Southern Comforts, a restaurant she ran out of a bowling alley. Soldiers would make weekly trips from Schofield Barracks for her fried catfish, cornbread and collard greens.

Now that comfort food has made a comeback in post-Sept. 11 America, Hopkins feels more than the patriotism of her military following. She closed shop in Kailua in September to embark on a new venture: bringing her cooking to the masses.

Her rotisserie ribs already are on sale at Sam's Club. And Hopkins has long since abandoned her job as an operating-room scrub technician for more time in the kitchen as a caterer and entrepreneur.

This weekend, the world of Hawai'i's self-proclaimed queen of soul food is getting bigger. Deb's Old School Soul Food is coming to Zippy's 15 dine-in locations as a weekend special, marketed to coincide with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

It will be available on alternating weekends for three months, and longer if the public embraces her.

Hopkins is a woman ready to be embraced. She's the kind of cook who comes to the table to join conversations and taste-test the red beans and rice. She wants to appeal to the inner child who needs a hug. She wants her cooking on the table in every city in America.

She's working on a deal to open a restaurant at 'Aikahi shopping center in Kailua, and she dreams of starting a chain of dinner theater-style restaurants with the secretive atmosphere of old-style speak-easies and the drama of Agatha Christie murder mysteries.

But she'll settle for spreading the comforts of comfort food first.

"My passion is food where my customers come in and say, 'Oh, this reminds me of my mama's,' " she said. "I cook for people as if you're my family — people that I love. And that's how I like the food to be."

She jokes that she doesn't want to become known as the "Anti-Dr. Shintani," referring to Terry Shintani, who created the Hawaii Diet and partnered with Zippy's to offer a line of healthy products under the "Shintani Cuisine" label.

"This is just adding variety to our menu," said Jeanine Mamiya-Kalahiki, a Zippy's marketing manager. "It's totally different from Dr. Shintani, but not everybody eats Dr. Shintani."

When Nani Christian, the Vineyard Zippy's store manager, asked Hopkins the other day how many calories are in the specials, Hopkins replied: "Girl, don't even ask. It's just like prices, if you gotta ask — don't even ask. Just go exercise after."

Reach Tanya Bricking at 525-8026 or tbricking@honoluluadver tiser.com.