HAWAII Magazine reader Dewayne Gill of Mesquite, Texas, wrote asking if we could publish a page of Hawaii recipes.

He works in a travel agency and notes, "We all love to cook, and we think it would be cool to send this to our existing Hawaii clients every month."

Although we haven't had a recipe page in the print edition of HAWAII Magazine, we have been including Hawaii recipes regularly here on HawaiiMagazine.com, usually in response to reader requests.

When they leave, people seem to miss the food in Hawaii almost as much as the weather.

Perhaps you haven't seen any of what's turned out to be our large HawaiiMagazine.com recipe collection. In addition to our own favorite Hawaii recipes (huli-huli chicken, ahi shoyu poke, misoyaki butterfish, saimin broth), we've procured the recipes for everything from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel Mai Tai Bar's classic Royal Mai Tai to the Punahou School Carnival's famous Portuguese Bean Soup.

Here's a handy list of all of our HawaiiMagazine.com recipes (so far, anyway) with links to the original recipes so you can start cooking right away.

Entrees and pupu are on this page. Desserts and tropical cocktails are on the next page.

Bon appetit!


Entrees, pupu, etc.:

• Huli-Huli Chicken

• Portuguese Bean Soup (Punahou Carnival recipe)

• Hawaii-style Ahi Poke

• Hawaii-style Pulehu Steak

• Hawaii-Style Saimin Broth

• Hawaii-Style Misoyaki Butterfish

• Hawaii Plate-Lunch-Style Macaroni Salad (two recipes)

• Hawaii-style Barbecue (Teriyaki) Sauce

• Hamakua Mushroom Stew

• Choy Sum and Sausage Stir Fry

• Lavender-Lilikoi Chicken (Alii Kula Lavender farm)

• Chicken Adobo Wilted Salad

 

Yesterday, in the posh Orchid Suite of Waikiki's Halekulani hotel, a select group of Hawaii media were treated to French press coffee, popovers and a sneak preview of the pilot episode of the newly reborn Hawaii Five-0, debuting on CBS this fall.

Our verdict: Oh Yeah!

The contemporary cinematography brought a whole new dimension to the re-imagined series. The classic series had McGarrett and Co. racing around Oahu streets and highways (often starting in Waikiki and ending up a few seconds later halfway across the island).

The new CBS series uses aerial photography to establish place. We have to admit, Hawaii never looked better on TV. Some of the scenics brought gasps of "Oooh!" from the audience, and it was all people who live here.

There's far sharper and faster-paced action than the classic series (terrorists, car crashes, gunshots, semiautomatic weapons, explosions, stuff we actually seldom see in Hawaii).  

What really surprised us: There's more and deeper characterization. In the original, the James MacArthur character, Det. Danny "Danno" Williams, was absurdly subservient to Det. Steve McGarrett. In the new series, Scott Caan as Danno looks likely to steal the show.

As the series progresses, we're looking forward to even bigger roles from Hawaii's own Daniel Dae Kim as Chin Ho Kelly and Grace Park as Kono (yes, through the magic of TV writing, Kono gets a sex change and becomes the attractive young former Battlestar Galactica star).

The new series' fifth actor, Taryn Manning playing McGarrett's sister, will debut in a later episode.

The pilot was all shot in Hawaii, even the prologue, supposedly taking place in Korea, with Kaaawa Valley standing in. The Five-0 headquarters exterior is still downtown Honolulu's Iolani Palace, but the headquarters interior? The recently vacated Honolulu Advertiser newspaper newsroom.

CBS will debut the Hawaii Five-0 pilot episode in Waikiki at a "red carpet" Sunset on the Beach screening, with the cast in attendance, on September 13. (We'll give you a screening time as soon as we get one.)

It debuts on the CBS network, September 20, 10 p.m. (Eastern time) and 9 p.m. (Hawaii time).

That's the 42nd anniversary of the show's original air date, Sept. 20, 1968. Very sentimental. But is CBS nuts? Why slot the show against the opening week of ESPN's Monday Night Football?

Stay tuned.

**Click here for a extended preview of the Hawaii Five-O pilot, and here for a listen to the newly-recorded opening theme.

 

The new Disney Aulani Resort & Spa Hawaii is up. Not finished, it's still a busy construction site. But the cement has been poured, the main buildings are up, and Disney just hosted its first "hard hat" tour of the Ko Olina, Oahu, property.

HAWAII Magazine was there to bring you this first look.

The first thing we asked the property's general manager, Disney Resorts Hawaii vice president Djuan Rivers (pictured, right), was when it would be finished. "We're going to finish it a third at a time," he said.

Here's the schedule:

• August 29, 2011: 200 hotel rooms and 73 Disney Vacation Club 2-bedroom units will open.  Disney is already taking reservations.

• End of year, 2011: Another 130 rooms and 134 Vacation Club units will open.

• Some time in 2013: The remaining 274 Vacation Club units open.

Disney took this hard hat tour seriously. A number of major Disney executives flew in to address the group, including Tom Staggs, chairman of of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and Jim Lewis, president of Disney Vacation Club.

(Disney Vacation Club is Disney's version of time-share, which sells memberships instead of individual units.)

The most compelling speaker—and the man who lead the tour of the property—was Joe Rohde, a senior member of Disney's "Imaginarium." It was Rohde who helped create, and was there to explain, the vision behind the resort.

Just how is Disney going to fit into Hawaii? Read on.

 

A slow moving lava flow from Kilauea volcano claimed a Kalapana home and finally reached the ocean yesterday, a week after entering the Big Island of Hawaii town for the first time since 1992.

After threatening the home—located near remnants of Highway 137, once Kalapana's main thoroughfare—for more than a week, a lobe of lava made a final move up the home's driveway before sunrise Sunday morning. By daybreak, all that was left of the two-story wood home was its roof and water tank.

Dramatic photos of the home's destruction were published today by London’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, which initially reported the story. Click here to see a slideshow of the photos.


At 2 p.m. Sunday, the flow, as expected by Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists, finally advanced into the ocean off Kalapana with bursts of searing hot steam as molten lava met seawater.

Last week, lava flows from Kilauea volcano’s east rift zone Puu Oo vent entered the boundaries of the Puna district town of Kalapana for the first time in years. Between April 1990 and February 1991, the small town and its Kalapana Gardens residential subdivision had been largely destroyed by lava flows from Kupaianaha, a now inactive vent two miles northeast of Puu Oo. In the years since, a handful of residents had moved back into the Kalapana Gardens area, rebuilding homes and makeshift roads over hardened Kupaianaha flows.

The property and home engulfed by lava on Sunday had been bypassed by every Kilauea volcano lava flow since the vent first erupted to life in January 1983.


The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported on its website this morning that no other homes in the area were in immediate threat of the flow. However, if you are on the Big Island this week and wish to visit the Kalapana site where lava is entering the ocean, be advised that access to the area is being limited by Hawaii County Police and Civil Defense officials.

HawaiiMagazine.com will continue to monitor news from HVO on the Kalapana lava flow. Keep checking back in for updates.

 

The brand new redux of Hawaii Five-0 has a premiere date—Sept. 20 at 10 p.m., Eastern time (9 p.m., Hawaii time), in a prime primetime spot after the CBS network’s high-rated block of Monday night comedies.

McGarrett and Danno after How I Met Your Mother and Two And A Half Men? Sure, we’ll take it.

But until today, a final updated version of the classic Morton Stevens-composed opening theme song had been kept under wraps. This after Five-0 fans went all Wo-Fat over an early mix, released in May, that relied too heavily on synths and modern accoutrements.

The final version that will open the new Five-0? Revealed at a Five-0 panel with series stars Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park at Comic-Con in San Diego this morning, the new theme sounds the same as the old theme—orchestrated, with (Praise Ben Kokua!) no audible hint of synths.

After discussions about bringing in an unnamed “rock star” to take a whack at the theme on electric guitar, series co-executive producer Alex Kurtzman said a decision was made to instead keep the opening theme as close to the original as possible. Right down to hiring a trio of musicians that played on the original: Bob Zimmitti (percussion), Chuck Findley (1st trumpet) and David Duke (1st horn).

New series composer Brian Tyler surrounded the trio with 35 other musicians for the final recording.

Our verdict? We like it.

Take a listen to the new final version, the maligned synth version from May, and the classic version of the theme below.

Then tell us what you think, on our HAWAII Magazine Facebook page.
 


 





 

HAWAII Magazine reader Larry Clark wrote to us with a question about interisland passenger airlines in Hawaii:

I am planning a cruise to Hawaii in January and then a stay on one of the islands for the week after. Please tell me about the local airlines that fly from Honolulu, where my cruise ends, to the other islands and back.

You ask, we answer.

Many Hawaii vacationers schedule daylong visits or multi-night stays on multiple Islands while here. And who can blame them? With relatively short flight times between all Island airports and often competitive pricing, the only hassle in getting from, say, Honolulu on Oahu to Hilo on the Big Island, is your time at the airport.

There are three main air carriers accommodating much of the travel between the Islands: Hawaiian Airlines, Go! Mokulele Airlines, and Island Air. Pacific Wings, a smaller commuter airline, is also an option.

Here’s a breakdown of each Hawaii interisland airline, where each flies and links to route maps and websites:

Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines is Hawaii’s largest interisland air carrier, with the most extensive schedule of flights. In business since 1929, Hawaiian offers direct jet service between Oahu and Maui, Kauai and Kailua-Kona and Hilo on the Big Island. Hawaiian Air also offers direct flights between the Big Island and Maui, and Maui and Kauai. Flights to Molokai and Lanai can be booked through Hawaiian, but are actually flown by partner carrier Island Air (see below).

Check out Hawaiian Airlines’ route map here. Reservations may be made at www.hawaiianair.com



Go! Mokulele Airlines

Founded as two individual interisland carriers, Mokulele Airlines and Go! Airlines joined forces in October 2009. Now Hawaii’s second-largest interisland carrier after Hawaiian Airlines, Go! Mokulele Air offers multiple daily jet and turboprop service between Honolulu and the Big Island (Kailua-Kona, Hilo), Maui (Kahului, Kapalua), Lanai, Kauai and Molokai. The carrier also offers direct flights between Maui and Lanai, the Big Island and Maui (including Hana), and Maui and Molokai.

Check out Go! Mokulele Airlines’ route map here. Reservations may be made at www.mokuleleairlines.com or www.iflygo.com.



Island Air

Island Air offers multiple daily flights between Honolulu and Kahului and Kapalua on Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai and Kailua-Kona on the Big Island. Island Air also offers direct flights between Kahului and Kailua-Kona and Molokai, Kapalua and Molokai, and Molokai and Lanai. The carrier’s fleet is composed entirely of turboprop aircraft, which fly at lower altitudes, offering passengers more close-up views of the Islands. Island Air also offers private charter services.

Check out Island Air’s route map here. Reservations may be made at www.islandair.com.



Pacific Wings

Pacific Wings is a commuter airline offering turboprop service between Honolulu and Maui (Kahului, Hana), Lanai, Molokai (Kaunakakai, Kalaupapa) and the Big Island (Kamuela). It currently does not fly to Kauai. Flight availability can be spotty because Pacific Wings is a small carrier with a limited schedule and limited seating. But the carrier flies to the bulk of the Islands’ more remote airports (Kalaupapa, Molokai; Hana, Maui; Kamuela, Big Island). Pacific Wings also offers private charter flights to Hawaii airports not served by its commercial flight schedule.

Reservations may be made at www.pacificwings.com.
  

HAWAII Magazine reader Beth Kowalski e-mailed us with a question about our lack of coverage of Kilauea Volcano activity in recent months:

Has activity at Kilauea volcano not been newsworthy lately? Your website used to write often in 2008 and 2009 about lava activity at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. But the last story I found about it at HawaiiMagazine.com was last October. I can read about Kilauea’s eruptions at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s website. But I liked how your website broke down the scientific news about the eruption into easy-to-understand articles and language. I know the volcano is still active, so what’s up?

Funny you should write us this week, Beth.

After several months of quiet, business-as-usual activity at the Big Island volcano, lava flows from Kilauea’s east rift zone Puu Oo vent this week came within a 100 or so yards of several homes in the Kalapana area for the first time since 1992. Parts of the flow also covered sections of Highway 130 and 137, which once led to coastal viewing sites for Puu Oo lava entering the ocean.

Kalapana, you may remember, was the small Puna district town virtually destroyed by lava flows from Kilauea volcano between April 1990 and February 1991. Over 10 months, the devastating flows slowly moved through the heart of the town, taking with it homes, longtime businesses and invaluable archaeological sites. Gone forever when the flow finally came to a stop were the natural fresh water spring and swimming hole Queen’s Bath, Kaimu Bay and Black Sand Beach and much of the area's picturesque coastline.

According to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s website this morning, the current lava flow affecting Kalapana was still advancing, albeit very slowly, over Highway 137, but had not yet destroyed any homes.


Eruptive activity at Kilauea volcano is always newsworthy to us, Beth. And, like you, we check in with HVO’s website regularly to keep up with news about Kilauea volcano’s lava activity. The HVO staff is diligent about updating their website daily, often with video and great photos (like the ones published here). We always enjoy checking in.

 

The restaurant scene on Kauai has recently come alive, with a number of new restaurants raising the bar on culinary excellence. We’ve been delighted on our last few hops over to Kauai to discover these five places to get an interesting and delicious meal.

Enjoy!


The Koa Kea Resort is the new boutique hotel built on the shell of the old Poipu Beach Hotel. Tucked in its lobby is a remarkably fine restaurant, named for Kaua‘i’s famous red salt.

The menu is not extensive, but everything is done with skill, precision and a nice sense of imagination. Wait until you see chef Ronnie Sanchez’s variations on Hawai‘i favorites. His kalua pork luau is unlike any luau food you’ve ever tasted, rich and flavorful, with pineapple-tinged demiglace. His poke is, quite literally, a work of art, a checkerboard of red and white fish.
 
Not everything’s fancy: His basic steak, 
14-ounces of Wagyu beef, is simple, direct and delicious, with a side of fries dusted with Pecorino cheese.

For dessert, you won’t believe how good the “reverse root-beer float” tastes, complete with a chocolate cookie warm from the oven. It will bring back your whole childhood.

 

CBS this week released an extended trailer for its fall season redux of the classic Island-filmed TV crime drama Hawaii Five-0.

Filming of the initial episodes of the new Five-0 has already begun on Oahu. Our take on the new 3 minute, 46 second clip?

After watching it a handful of times, we dug it … for the most part. And that includes the opening shots with verdant Kaaawa Valley on Oahu’s windward side subbing—a la Lost— for some verdant valley in Pohang, South Korea.

There's Drama! There's intrique! There's Lt. Commander/Det. Steve McGarrett, as played by Alex O’Loughlin, avenging his father’s murder!

Yeah, we’ll be checking out the new Five-0 on Monday nights this fall.

We’re even starting to like the new versions of classic Five-0 characters a bit more—especially Daniel Dae Kim, playing it local but not overly local, and intelligently badass, as Det. Chin Ho Kelly. A few classic Five-0 fans have groused on the web about Scott Caan’s take on Det. Danny “Danno” Williams—mostly for his whining, mouthing off and eventual decking of O’Loughlin’s McGarrett in the trailer. Clearly, stuff that James MacArthur’s Danno would never do to Jack Lord’s McGarrett (though likely wanted to).
 
But honestly, we found ourselves kind of enjoying Danno’s flagrant insubordination, as well. Especially when McGarrett gives back to the whiny beach hater as good as he gets.

As for Alex O’Loughlin’s McGarrett for the new millennium … he’s still growing on us. Sure, classic McGarrett was more often than not aloof and ice cold cool. But we kind of hope new McGarrett loosens up a little bit after the shock of his father’s murder at the hands of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s James Marsters wears off.

Judging from the trailer alone, O’Loughlin’s McGarrett could use a little more McPersonality.

Jean Smart as the governor of Hawaii? Not enough of her in the trailer. We wanted more! Ditto Grace Park as Det. Kono Kalakaua.

What do you think of the new Hawaii Five-0, based on this new trailer? Click on the frame below to watch it. Then sound off with a comment on our HAWAII Magazine Facebook page.

 

Summer lasts until November this year.

Today, Hawaiian Airlines announced its "Endless Summer" fare sale, offering discounted roundtrip airfares to Hawaii from 10 West Coast cities.

Current fares vary by day of the week, etc., but these look like discounts in the neighborhood of 20 percent.

The fares are good for travel between Aug. 3 and Nov. 18, 2010.

You have to book these fares by July 31, 2010, online at HawaiianAirlines.com.

There's some fine print, of course: You have to pay taxes and fees, and fares are subject to availability.

Here are the Hawaiian Airlines routes and fares:

Honolulu – San Diego    $428
Honolulu – Sacramento  $408
Honolulu – Las Vegas     $398
Honolulu – Los Angeles  $368
Honolulu – San Francisco $348
Honolulu – San Jose  $348
Honolulu – Oakland    $348
Honolulu – Phoenix    $338
Honolulu – Portland    $318
Honolulu – Seattle      $318
Maui – Las Vegas   $438 (Oct. 3-Nov. 18 only)
Maui – Seattle         $308
Maui – Portland      $308

If you don't think that summer can last till fall, remember this:  The average November daily high temperature in Honolulu is 82 degrees.  That ought to be endlessly summery enough for anyone.