"She loves a crowd," Chaowasaree said. "Most of our entertainers will play from 7 to 8: 30 p.m. with a break in between. But not her. She'll go straight through and even stay on the stage way past the 8:30 mark."

Leed, who will play at Chai's this Thursday, has long been known as "Da Tita," performing Country — she once sang at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville — and jazz tunes.

"She sings, she jokes, she talks story with the audience," said Chaowasaree of Leed. "She does a one-person variety show when she's on stage. She's a lot of fun to see and hear."

So, too, is the talented and Na Hoku Hanohano award winner for Female Vocalist of the Year, Amy Hanaialii Gilliom, who will be the guest star at Chai's Island Bistro Thursdays, Aug. 11, 18 and 25.

"It's is an intimate and inviting venue for me," Gilliom smiled. "It's much easier for me to interact with my guests in this smaller environment than it would be at a concert hall."

Since opening more than six years ago, Chai's Island Bistro has drawn steady crowds who flock to the restaurant for the food as much as they do for the award-winning entertainment.

"It has always been a balancing act between the two," said Chaowasaree, whose "Two Skinny Chefs" with fellow chef Beth-An Nishijima now airs at 5 p.m. Sundays on KHON TV2. "With so many restaurants out there these days, you've go to give people more reason than just great food."

As a member of the elite Hawaiian Island Chefs — the second wave of chefs who've championed the use of local ingredients — Chaowasaree's cuisine is distinctly Pacific Rim. His dishes are prepared with such Hawaii-farmed products as Kahuku corn, Nalo greens, Hamakua mushrooms, hearts of palm from the Big Island, moi and fresh mahi mahi.

One of his newest entrees is a pot pie entree ($39), which is stuffed with Hamakua porcini mushrooms, pearl onions, spinach and poached Kona lobster.

Popular among regular guests is the grilled Mongolian lamb chops that are enhanced with a rich brandy demiglace and accompanied by smashed potato and Asian stir-fried vegetables ($37.95).

But perhaps what Chaowasaree is best known for is his towering, signature kataifi-and-macadamia-nut-encrusted prawn appetizer ($9.95) that turns heads whenever it comes out of the kitchen.