Posted on: Tuesday, February 22, 2005

SHOW BIZ
Sam Choy to reopen in new Big Island spot

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM: OK, here it is, straight from the source: Chef Sam Choy says his shuttered warehouse restaurant in the industrial area near the Keahole Airport in Kailua-Kona didn't bite the dust. It's closed, yes; but it will rebound, in a new location, perhaps in eight months.

"We're moving to Waikoloa, in a prime location," said Choy. "The warehouse fad wore out; we needed a new location. We're even looking at Hilo."

He said the warehouse site is being taken over by a construction company, and his new partners have been scoping out and negotiating for a new location. "It's all premature." Thus, he can't divulge details. "But I want to get fully involved," he said.

Another reason, he said, for shutting down his original restaurant was to let his sister, Claire Wai Sun Choy (who had been overseeing that operation), devote more time to assisting their mother, who is battling cancer. "We need to take care of Mom, who took care of us when we were growing up," said Choy.

He has just returned from Sydney, Australia, where he prepared a special port dinner for the cruise ship Crystal Serenity. While Down Under, he visited sites where "The Lord of the Rings" was filmed.

And he remains constantly busy, with upcoming Mainland tapings with Emeril Lagasse and "The Tony Danza Show" coming up in March. ...

TUBE TOPICS: A one-hour TV documentary, "Eddie Aikau — Hawaiian Hero," is in the works at KGMB television, set to air sometime in April. The special zooms in on the legacy of the big-wave surfer and lifeguard who was lost during an ill-fated Hokule'a voyage in 1978. This is the iconic Aikau, of "Eddie Would Go" fame, a mantra that lives on today. Phil Arnone will produce for KGMB, with Robert Pennybacker writing the show; Lawrence Pacheco will edit and Billy V. will narrate. The project, featuring interviews with Aikau's family, friends, lifeguard peers and daredevil surfers, will attempt to shed light on what made this hero tick, focusing on well-known facts and revealing and comprehensive morsels as well. The creative team is the same that brought "Iz: The Man Behind the Music," "Kapi'olani Park" and "Honolulu Magazine's 50 Greatest Hawai'i Albums of All Time" to the tube. ...

Emerald Yeh, a San Francisco-based TV journalist (formerly of Hawai'i), hosts "Lost Childhood: Growing Up in an Alcoholic Family," at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 on PBS Hawai'i and other PBS affiliates. It's a special she hosts and does reporting in; she also produced and is distributing the show, which is an expansion of an earlier piece she did on the impact of parental drinking on children over a 17-year span. A tape sent to the White House prompted the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to encourage her to further probe and expose the alarming results. So a year later, the show will be shown on 150 PBS stations. ,,,

HITHER 'N' YON: Stand-up comedian (and radio deejay) Paul Ogata, who did three sell-out shows with Edwin San Juan recently at the Blaisdell Center, will team up again with San Juan on Friday in Los Angeles, with the taping of an "Asia Street Comedy" episode that airs on the International Channel. Ogata also will appear at the Commerce Casino in L.A. and the Laugh Factory in Hollywood. And from March 3 through 20, he won't be at the mike at Da Bomb (FM 102.7) — he'll be touring Asia, stopping in Hong Kong and Singapore, among other spots. ...

There was a double dose of the Society of Seven — the original group, in town for Hawai'i Theatre shows over the weekend, and the spinoff resident combo (Society of Seven Las Vegas) — sharing the stage last Wednesday at the Outrigger Waikiki's Main Showroom. Duets, jamming, songs by Lani Misalucha — talk about a powerhouse show. And the excitement didn't stop there: because it was Karen Ruivivar's birthday, SOS founder Tony Ruivivar took his wife and everyone to party at Fook Yuen, occupying three tables. ...

Proving that Morton's The Steakhouse is more than a special-occasion restaurant, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann and his wife, Gail Mukaihata Hannemann, were recently spotted enjoying dinner there with a group of friends and colleagues. Wonder what our newest mayor enjoys at Morton's? The prime choices of beef, of course. ...

And that's Show Biz. ...

Show Biz is published Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067, wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, or fax 525-8055.