Forks fly at crowded Taste of Honolulu
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Atkins diet suffered a major setback yesterday.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
Piles of pasta, mounds of mashed potatoes, and heaping helpings of hash cakes were only the beginning of the diet-busting dishes devoured at the 13th annual Taste of Honolulu benefit for Easter Seals Hawai'i at the Civic Center grounds.
Elilyn Bautista, left, and Kathrina Baloran were among the famished folks who made their way yesterday to Taste of Honolulu.
Of course, so much grub had to be washed down with lots of beer, wine or any number of the other cocktails on hand.
"Low-carb malassadas?" wondered an incredulous Donna Sylverter as she whipped up dough balls by the dozens at the malassada booth. "Ha-ha-ha! Noooo — these are full of everything!"
Throngs of famished folks had lined up to get in well before the starting bell sounded at 11 a.m. and, once the food gates opened and the feeding frenzy began in earnest, the crowd quickly expanded.
"Last night was one of the biggest Friday evenings we've ever had," said John Howell, president and CEO of Easter Seals Hawai'i.
"My guess is that we had around seven to eight thousand people. And Saturday is always our biggest night."
Even before the sun had set, the eaters were elbow to elbow.
After some four hours of dining at a half dozen different restaurant locations, Guy Suzuki of Moanalua decided it was time to drop by the dessert bar for a big, fat slice of chocolate thunder cake — which booth volunteer worker Brent Kawakami described as dark chocolate pastry "smothered in chocolate-covered chocolate."
"Actually, I'm getting this for my friends sitting down over there," said a guilt-free Suzuki, who 'fessed up to weighing 335 pounds — and that was before he arrived at the celebration.
"We do have low-carb cheesecake," Kay Nakamura uttered meekly at the other end of the dessert bar counter, but it was obvious such an edible didn't stand a chance against thunder cake — chocolate or otherwise.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
"No one wants low carb at the dessert bar," explained Susan Carey, who, according to Howell, was one of 2,000 volunteers who helped put the extravaganza together.
Timmy Kwan, 20, prepares sweets at the Swirl Candy Apple Co. booth. Taste of Honolulu also has entertainment and games.
Naturally, there were plenty of other diversions: Nonstop entertainment on two stages, information booths galore, inflatable attractions and Xtreme Fun rides, not to mention the ever-popular Paradise Lua — "Portable Sanitation at Its Finest."
One of the biggest crowd pleasers was Sprint Hawai'i's Viva Las Vegas tent featuring actual slot machines.
"Hey, it's free to play, and everybody wins something," shouted emcee David Oyadomari over the public address system. "We're giving away coolers, backpacks, and free round-trip tickets to the Neighbor Islands. If you get three of anything you can win.
"And we're even giving away $20 of free scrip — so you can go eat even more!"
Taste of Honolulu continues today from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
