By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

The mom-and-pop store, that bastion of neighborhood identity, is alive and well near the University of Hawai'iiManoa. But mom and pop wouldn't recognize their offspring.

A surfboard from Ecuador hangs over the serving counter, with New Guinea masks nearby. On a wall next to pots and pans, by a toaster oven, is a bicycle. Customers may browse through The Nation, Science News, Nature, the Economist or back issues of the New Yorker. Background music varies from blues to bluegrass, jazz, Islamic, Irish and Creole.

The pop in this mom-and-pop store didn't graduate from a sugar plantation but from journalism school. He's single so there is no mom. He's tried selling business equipment, working in a stock brokerage and promoting concerts.

"I've been doing this longer than I've done anything else," said Dennis Suyeoka as he washed the dishes. "I love it. I make a comfortable living that suits my lifestyle."

His Coffeeline restaurant is within the Atherton YMCA complex on University Avenue. The building used to house the YWCA. When the YM took it over about five years ago, Suyeoka's customers mounted a letter writing campaign to make sure he wasn't evicted.

It's because Coffeeline fills multiple and unpredictable needs. Student Lara Iverson asked while waiting for a sandwich: "Do you know a good person to repair a screen door? My dog ran through it."

"Go to City Mill," said Suyeoka. "They'll tell you how to fix it."

At one table, two students were studying for midterms. A band comes around to practice. Suyeoka said some of the university departments hold their meetings at his place.

"When they call, I tell them to check the menu on my Web site so there won't be a logjam when they order," Suyeoka explained. "Serving a dozen people by myself is a handful."

His menu includes salami and bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches as well as bagels and lox. He uses a different knife when cutting meat to keep vegetarians happy.

Coffeeline is definitely not fast food. A teacher from the lab school waited patiently while the reluctant microwave heated her soup. "Lukewarm," she observed, sticking her finger in it. Suyeoka gave it another blast.

"My place is described as an oasis from campus life," Suyeoka said. "My clientele is very select. Most of my customers are faculty Ph.D.s. About half are European; one-third of those are Brits. The remaining 10 percent are grad students, musicians and artists and people from the youth hostel because I've been listed in the 'Lonely Planet Guide to O'ahu'. ... I know all of my customers either by what they order or by name."