Say faafetai (mahalo) to the Samoan customs of close family ties and lavish gift giving.

It is these customs that, in a roundabout way, gave birth to one of O'ahu's newest best places you've never been. It's called Sonny's Grill, and it's just a few blocks from town at the edge of Kalihi on North King Street. It's cheap (nothing over $6.95), it's clean, the people are friendly, the food is several cuts above average and servings are more than adequate.

In this economy, what more could you want? Well, parking, of which there is none except a couple of on-street spaces out front. And more tables. There are but three, plus a couple of perching stools; the restaurant plans to add some sidewalk tables.

Sonny's doesn't serve Samoan food, though they'll introduce Polynesian specialties next month in addition to the current moco-katsu-teri standards. But owner Sonny Ugaitafa is both proudly Samoan and deeply committed to aiding his parents and extended family back in American Samoa.

Although he has a full-time job in The Advertiser's transportation department (and I SWEAR I knew nothing about his Advertiser connection when I noticed the new restaurant on the way to work and decided to drop by), Ugaitafa decided he needed an additional income stream in order to stay ahead of the financial demands placed on his family by the customs of gift giving and feasting that accompany special occasions in Samoa. "Whenever they call for help, we have to get together whatever they want and that's mostly money," Ugaitafa said with a laugh.

Trained for more than a decade in kitchens as diverse as Jack in the Box and Wailana Coffee House, the Floating Restaurant and Bob's BBQ, Ugaitafa had always wanted to open a restaurant and, when a friend who owns the building at 717 N. King offered him the vacated space, he decided it was time.

Despite the fact that the economy hit the deep fryer just about the time Sonny's opened in October, Ugaitafa and his family — bookkeeper wife Elizabeth Noda, chef son James "Moki" Omura-Ugaitafa, cashier sister Eva Foki — have been happy with the slow, steady rise in business as workers in the surrounding community discover Sonny's.

The senior Ugaitafa opens up at dawn each morning, makes sure the kitchen is well-supplied, then heads off to his day job. In the late afternoon, he returns to help with setup for the next day. And he works the kitchen two days a week.

Sonny's may be the only plate lunch place in Honolulu with an espresso machine. Well, actually, it's not their espresso machine. The Grill leases space from 3-year-old Island Brew, a tiny counter operation that offers espresso, teas, bubble drinks, frappes and the best darned madeleine cookies since Proust put pen to paper (50 cents each), plus pastries and a cold case of sandwiches, salads and such. Since good coffee is about as rare as foie gras on Styrofoam, it's a rare luxury to be able to have your Portuguese sausage, eggs and rice ($3.85) and your latte, too. (The Portuguese sausage was thickly sliced, of good quality and not incinerated, the over-easy eggs were just that, and there were two scoops of rice, as there should be.)

After that first successful breakfast, I checked out Sonny's for lunch several times and was never disappointed. The menu includes, besides the standards (hamburger steak, $5.75; beef cutlet, $6; short ribs, $6 and a barbecue trio, $6.95), three specials a day. My favorite of these, and my husband's, was a Saturday lunch saute of steak tips, mushrooms and asparagus ($6.95) — smoky, beefy, interesting and satisfying. But two other specials, furikake mahi ($6.50) and salt and pepper pork chop with brown gravy ($6.95), were also delicious. And the teri chicken was just right: moist inside, darkly caramelized outside.

The furikake mahi was a bit different, coated with a mixture of the Japanese seaweed seasoning and panko breadcrumbs rather than being merely dredged in furikake. The fish was tender and moist beneath the crisp but not overbearing coating, and the wasabi mayonnaise was rich and spicy without blowing the back of your head off or destroying the delicate flavor of the seafood.

Though the thin pork chop was somewhat dry (more the fault of today's fatless pork than of the chef), the gravy was delicious, a true sauce rather than the usual thick glop. It had none of the overly salty taste or nasty guar gum texture of gravies from a can or flavor packet. (The fact that I want to be buried in a bedful of rice and brown gravy when I die should indicate how strongly I feel about good gravy.)

You can ask for tossed greens or the excellent macaroni salad and, for 50 cents more, brown rice or fried rice substitutes for white. Sonny's has been running a special on french fries (75 cents, normally $1.50) and breakfasters can fill up on fried rice with eggs ($5). There are sandwiches (even a $1 plain hamburger!), topping out at $3.25 for fancier buns (teri chicken, teri beef, mushroom burger) or a plain old grilled cheese for just $2.

Altogether, Sonny's, which occupies a corner location with a curving panel of windows looking out on the street, has something of a '50s feel, with bright pottery on the walls, abandoned newspapers considerately left for patrons to read, a smiling face at the counter and, of course, good smells from the kitchen.

RESTAURANT NEWS

The Kahala Food and Wine Classic Dec. 12-13 will focus on "tradition, precision and innovation," hallmarks of contemporary Japanese cuisine, with guest chef Masahito Ueki of Miscele d' Oro and his latest restaurant, Masaa's in Karuizawa, a mountain resort. Robert Sweeney of Napa's Vine Cliff Winery will pair wines with Ueki's cuisine for receptions and dinners at Hoku's Dec. 12-13.

In addition, the event will feature a "Precision" cooking class with Ueki on Dec. 13, cigar lessons and conversations and a wine and sake tasting with sake sommelier Chris Pearce of Honolulu. Kahala chef Wayne Hirabayashi and staff will partner with Ueki in dinners and classes.

Dinners are $185 per person, classes range from $30 to $75. Information: 739-8888, www.kahalaresort.com.

Restaurant Week in Hawai'i is Nov. 16-22 with restaurants around the Islands, many of them suffering in this tight economy, attempting to entice customers with specials and events. Dozens of restaurants are participating. Go to www.restaurantweekhawaii.com for a complete list.

Restaurant Week is a benefit for the now-on-the-drawing boards Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head on the former Cannon Club site, a state-of-the-art training center for the hospitality industry.

Royal Hawaiian Center's restaurants will celebrate their own Restaurant Week Nov. 16-22 with special pricing on set menus and specific menu items.

Among the participants: Beijing Chinese Seafood Restaurant (free appetizer with any meal), Doraku Sushi (appetizer, soup, entree, dessert lineup for $19.95), Maui Tacos (fajita meal combo for $6.95); Okonomiyaki Chico (three-course meal plus beverage for $28); P.F. Chang's Waikiki (six-course menu plus wine for $35), Paradiso Seafood & Grille (three-course menu including baby back ribs or prime rib for $31.95), Restaurant Suntory (multicourse dinner, $35), Senor Frog's (multicourse dinner with dessert nacho, $22), Tacone Flavor Grill (Malibu Melt plus chips and drink, $7.95) and Villa Paradiso (three-course menu with appetizer or salad, pasta course, seafood or steak with side, $29.95).

With Compadres saying aloha, Señor Frog's at Royal Hawaiian Center is reviving a good idea, Taco 2sdays with $2 tacos, $2 Bud Light tap and $2 house margaritas each Tuesday, plus music and validated parking.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

On Maui, another restaurant has opened with Compadres ties. It's Los Pelones Mexican Bar and Grill at Lahaina Cannery Mall Pineapple Food Court, owned by longtime Compadres manager Steve Austin and his wife, Ashlan. Los Pelones is open 8 a.m. to midnight serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, and there's a taqueria open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Austin promises to continue his work with the West Maui Car Show, an annual fundraiser he helped establish in 2005 with Compadres as sponsor, benefiting Lahainaluna High School's athletics equipment and travel needs.

Another Compadres' tie-in: Taco Tuesdays and Thursdays, with tacos for a buck and Coronas and house margaritas for $3, plus live music.

And swinging in through the chef's revolving door at Merriman's Kapalua is executive chef Philip Wang, replacing George Gomes. Wang is best known for the critical acclaim his work drew at Truc, a French bistro in Boston's South End, and for serving as opening chef at Carneros Inn in Napa and Mason's in Sacramento.

"Food should be authentic and approachable, not too foofy," Wang said in a press release. Merriman's Kapalua, on the site of the old Bay Club, is the second fine-dining restaurant in Peter Merriman's restaurant group.

— Wanda A. Adams, Advertiser Food Editor