• Making the short list in the Health and Special Diet category was Kathleen Daelemans' "Getting Thin and Loving Food" (Houghton Mifflin, 2004). Daelemans, who worked on Maui for some years and developed a spa menu for the Grand Wailea Resort, had a best seller in "Cooking Thin With Chef Kathleen" and hosted a nationally broadcast TV cooking show by that name. She lost more than 75 pounds while eating well and often.

• Another book with more tenuous Island connections was nominated in the American category. It is "Foods of the Americas: Native Recipes and Traditions" by Fernando and Marlene Divina (Ten Speed Press, 2004), developed as part of the celebration by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. It includes a few Isle recipes.

Information: www.iacp.com.

Chow down, watch waiters' obstacle race

Hiroyuki Sakai