WHAT'S COOKIN': Island flavors again will be part of "Taste of the NFL," when chef D.K. Kodama of the Sansei Seafood and Sushi/d.k. Steak House/Vino/Hiroshi 'ohana of restaurants participates in the Super Bowl Party with a Purpose, a food-and-wine event to benefit hunger-relief organizations Feb. 2 at the Phoenix Convention Center. Cheap Trick will perform during the fundraiser, which gathers renowned chefs who'll use their culinary skills to help tackle hunger in America. It's an NFL tradition assembling a top chef from each of the 31 NFL cities and pairs him or her with a current or alumni team member. We don't boast a team here, but we do have a squad of kitchen quarterbacks like Kodama to whet the appetites of sports fans. Tickets aren't cheap; $500 minimum, with corporate tables of 10 going for $6,000. ...

GREAT SCOT: Don McDiarmid Jr., patriarch of the Hula Records family, will be dubbed Scot of the Year when the Caledonian Society of Hawai'i honors the veteran record producer and "Hawai'i Calls" license holder at the Robert Burns Dinner this Saturday at the Manoa Grand Ballroom of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i.

"I don't know of anyone else in the entertainment business that has been given this award, so I am happy and proud to have been nominated and then chosen," he says. The McDiarmid clan will gather, of course, and that includes Flip McDiarmid, Don's son, who has carried on the Hawaiian music tradition at Hula Records. While there will be bagpipers and all, don't expect the honoree to don native dress. "No kilts for me," he says. "Too breezy." And with winds of late, he's wise. ...

WHEE, THE PEOPLE: Kamasami Kong, of Kansai's FM-802, has been home from Japan for doctor's visits, but it's been a working holiday. He taped a "NightTime With Andy Bumatai," but has lined up chats with numerous local acts popular in Japan, like Brother Noland, Na Leo, Raiatea Helm and Kalapana, and made the rounds, too, spotting actor Jon Lovitz enjoying Henry Kapono at his Sunday Duke's Waikiki gig. ...

With folks exiting Manoa Valley Theatre's "Doubt" with doubts a-plenty, the theater has arranged a post-show Q&A tomorrow night with Father Gary Secor, pastor of Holy Trinity Church (and former chair of the Honolulu Diocese's review board for sexual misconduct) and Sister Joan Chatfield. ...

And Jeri Gertz, who played Sister Aloysius in a Hilo production last year, took in a performance. She is the spouse of Jim Kauahikaua, a Big Island geologist, and sister-in-law of Anette Kauahikaua, who portrays Mrs. Muller, the mother, in the MVT show. Also in the audience: Colin Miyamoto (who played the title role in MVT's "M. Butterfly" and who now lives in New York), Braddock DeCaires ("Last Night at Ballyhoo" actor now in Boston) and Jenny Wilson (Honey in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" now living in Pensacola, Fla.). ...

JIM DANDY: Jim Brickman's two concerts Saturday and Sunday at Blaisdell Concert Hall were sweet and lovely, with an easy-going pace he maintains off stage. With Anne Cochran singing such signatures as "Valentine" and "The Gift," and with David Klinkenberg's acoustic and Celtic fiddling on the violin, the shows had a romantic sweep. Local boy Jordan Segundo's "Destiny," a fave the "American Idol" admitted he sang at a Farrington prom, got folks hurrahing with their hands. Last year's Island guest star, Shawna Masuda, also took the stage Saturday night — but not as a singer. She presented fabric lei made by her mom, Lynn. ...

By the way, Shawna turned 21 on Monday and will celebrate her birthday this weekend with sister April Nakamoto and niece Madison (who lives in Oregon) because they all share the same birthday. Shawna, completing her studies this semester at Honolulu Community College, will graduate in May and will be New York-bound to pursue her Broadway dreams. ...

Brickman dined Friday night at Nick's Fishmarket, as guests of Ben Dowling, with his aforementioned fellow troupers in attendance, along with tour manager Wendy Leonard, singers John Trones and Al Waterson, and Segundo's manager Nancy Bernal. ...

And between the matinee performance and a nighttime flight Sunday, Brickman, Cochran, Klinkenberg and others associated with the booking, like Bruce Granath of Salt Lake City-based New Space Entertainment, dined at nearby Auntie Pasto's. ...

REMINDER: "Don Ho Remembered, " the 90-minute KGMB-9 special, repeats at 8 p.m. Monday, in case you missed Tuesday's premiere. The busy year for Ho — when he did radio, a musical and his shows — was 1966. The review carried a wrong year. ...

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.