nico's at the pier

loco moco nico's style

on this last trip home, we finally made it to nico's pier 38 not just once but twice because the food was so onolicious. i heard about nico's sometime last year and became intrigued by the description of the menu being local style plate lunches with a french twist. ooh la la! 

located on the harbor, you know the fish is as fresh as it gets since every morning chef nico (who cooked at michel's and, at the opposite end of the dining spectrum, the kaka'ako kitchen) goes next door to the honolulu fish auction to stock the restaurant for the day's menu. our first visit was to meet my s-i-l for lunch and by 11:30am the place was packed with worker bees getting some midday sustenance.

alas, i had waited so long to dine at nico's that when our lunch was ready i dove right in and forgot to snap photos of our picks, however our party of three ordered up nico's furikake pan seared ahi, beer battered fish and chips and, from the dessert case, a chocolate mousse cake. i am happy to report that all our food was tasty and delicious.

in fact, everything was so ono that we decided to hit nico's for breakfast with the family that weekend. this time around the loco moco and fried rice were our favorites. the quality of the food for the price can't be beat and the somewhat industrial harbor front is a surprisingly pleasant nosh spot . . . especially on a quiet weekend morning.

the next day the star-bulletin had a nice feature on nico's in the sunday paper with a good tip to sign up for nico's mailing list to receive the day's specials via email.

nico's has invested in a handy dandy banner to point newbies in the right direction so be on the lookout for it (across from the eagle café) when you are on nimitz or just map it!

escape to muumuu heaven

big congratulations to deb & eric of mu'umu'u heaven who opened the doors to their new showroom in kailua last week! from the slideshow posted online, it looks like the charming boutique was created with a lot of love combined with a crafty reuse of recycled goodies found in the streets.

the collection is expanding beyond muumuu heaven's lovely skirts created from vintage muumuus to pretty island style halter & wrap dresses (the latter made of bamboo! it is so nice to see more local designers embracing sustainable fibers in their work). and if you want to accessorize, the shop also stocks handbags from denise tjarks, a fellow muumuu deconstructionist from kauai.

the only downside is that the hangers are currently bare in the online shop so, for the time being, you will have to make your way to kailua (or email) to add a little muumuu heaven to your closet.

click here for store hours & directions.

marqet: bringing the green to waikiki

 

one of my new favorite shops is smack dab in the heart of waikiki stocked with some of the coolest organic style around. if you are trying to go green, you must stop by marqet which is filled with hard to find eco-chic labels like loomstate, stewart+brown, livity and the islands' own oaks hawaii.

they even have a house brand green collection with tees benefiting the hawaii audubon society, hawaii organic farmers association & jack johnson's kokua foundation. for travelers searching for a different kind of memento to take home, marqet's green tees are a refreshing reinvention of the souvenir that not only does a little good in the islands but also makes a little less impact on the earth with its use of organic cotton fabric and vegetable & plant dyes.

audubon society * organic farmers * kokua foundation

there is limited shopping on their website or just stop by the shop (across the street from the duty free galleria. click here for a map) the next time you are in waikiki for the full marqet experience.   

carbon neutral holiday

ke'e beach, kaua'i

overall, our little household does our best to be good little humans . . . we go organic when possible at the market, recycle everything our town will take, clean our home & laundry with eco-friendly products, and when we finally moved into an apartment with washer dryer hookups (yay!) we became the proud owners of an energy efficient w/d combo.

now we have our eye on becoming carbon neutral with the first step being to offset our need to fly home to visit our ohana. you know this idea is getting more mainstream when more and more corporations, fancy ski resorts, and even the nfl pro bowl are going green[er].

if you are intrigued and want to do a little carbon offsetting yourself, check out the carbon calculators at sustainable travel international or terrapass to determine how much impact your lifestyle and travels have on the earth. it's a small step everyone who can afford it should consider since carbon offset purchases go to fund sustainable projects from tree planting to clean energy around the world.

perhaps one day an enterprising soul will start a program in the islands but until then this will have to do.

lost on stage

 

a few members from the cast of lost are hitting the stage next weekend to benefit the honolulu theatre for youth. barring any scheduling conflicts, matthew fox, jorge garcia, daniel dae kim, terry o'quinn, henry ian cusick, michael emerson, elizabeth mitchell & chris soldvilla will perform selected readings from the theatre's upcoming 2007-2008 season.

the ticket prices may sound a tad pricey however just keep the following in mind when you phone in your order:

one - your dollars are helping to fund hty programs (a very good thing)

two - the benefit will include a reception so you just may get a chance to rub shoulders with some of the cast members

details:

• when: sun, mar 4th @ 4:30p
• where: tenney theatre @ saint andrew's cathedral
• tix: $100, $200 & $300
• tel: 808.457.4263