Longtime Honolulu-based Hawaiian fashion, gift and souvenir retailer Hilo Hattie was sold today to a California company.

Hilo Hattie’s seven stores on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island—as well as its online retail store—will continue business as usual.

The 45-year-old company—and self-prolaimed “Store of Hawaii”—was purchased for an undisclosed sum by TOC Inc., which also owns the Hawaii franchise of Fantastic Sams hair salons.

"I have the utmost confidence in TOC Inc's ability to successfully grow the company," said Jim Romig, Hilo Hattie’s longtime chairman, in a statement. Romig founded the company as Kaluna Hawaii Sportswear on Kauai in 1963, moving to Oahu two years later to manufacture Hawaiian fashions.

The company changed its name to Hilo Hattie in 1979—in honor of Hawaii musician Clarissa Haili, who took her name from the 1932 hapa-haole song, “When Hilo Hattie Does the Hilo Hop.”  The company has grown into one of the largest and most world-recognized retail brands of Hawaiian-themed apparel.

TOC Inc. principal Ted Nelson said in the statement that he would continue building and expanding the Hilo Hattie brand. Hilo Hattie has two stores in Southern California, and will open a new 20,000 square-foot flagship store at Waikiki’s Royal Hawaiian Center in 2009.
  

Hawaii’s largest producer of macadamia and kukui nut oil products turns 20 years old this year. As part of Oils of Aloha’s birthday celebrations, HAWAII Magazine was invited to take a tour of its production facility in Whitmore Village on Oahu.

Their expeller-pressed process is a complex multi-step procedure that extracts and purifies the macadamia and kukui nut oils. It also turns the nuts into a “press cake” that can be ground into a natural exfoliant, which is used in scrubs and facial cleansers. Every part of the nut is used, including its shell.

Oils of Aloha owners Barbara and Dana Gray (pictured right) started the company in 1988 in the historic Koga Theater in Waialua on Oahu. You may be familiar with Oils of Aloha’s skin, hair and sun care products. Perhaps you were one of our “Postcards to Hawaii” or “2007 Best of Hawaii” ballot winners who received Oils of Aloha’s products. (And you can win a gift from Oils of Aloha simply by filling out our 2008 Best of Hawaii ballot.)

What most people don’t know is that Oils of Aloha also makes macadamia cooking and salad oils.

To our surprise, our entire lunch (except for the kalua pig and poi) was made with macadamia oils, including the macadamia smoked salmon, Pele’s Firehouse chicken, Kauai Herb Bruschetta and—our favorite—Haleiwa Heat Deep-Fried Turkey. Even the salads and desserts were made with the macadamia nut oil.

Here’s the recipe for the Haleiwa Heat Deep Fried Turkeys. It calls for a lot of turkeys and whole lot of macadamia nut oil.  It's  designed for parties, but we couldn’t figure out how to reduce it and still get the same effect.

Haleiwa Heat Deep Fried Turkeys

What you’ll need:

4 turkeys (10 to 12 lbs. each)
Injection Mixture (see below)
Flavor injector needle
Dry Rub (see below)
4 to 5 gallons Oils of Aloha Hawaii’s Gold Macadamia Oil for deep frying
10-gallon pot, propane tank and large strainer

Haleiwa Heat Injection Mixture

1 gal. Oils of Aloha Haleiwa Heat Macadamia Oil
12 oz. soy sauce
1 jar (1.62 oz.) paprika
3/4 cup salt
1/4 cup pepper
Combine all ingredients and stir occasionally while injecting to keep the ingredients blended.

Dry Rub

1 jar (1.62 oz.) paprika
3/4 cup salt
1/4 cup pepper
Combine all ingredients and blend well.

Directions:

Remove parts from inside the turkeys. Rinse and pat dry. Stir Injection Mixture to keep ingredients blended. Fill needle and inject four times on top of each leg from front to back. Inject half a needle into each wing joint. Inject a needle into each drumstick and thigh. Sprinkle part of the Dry Rub into cavity of each turkey, then rub remainder on outside. Heat macadamia oil to 375ºF, preferably outdoors.
Very carefully and slowly lower turkey into hot oil and cook until golden brown (allow 3-4 minutes per pound). When cooked, the turkey will float to the surface with a perfect crispy, brown skin. Carefully remove from hot oil and allow any excess oil to drain back into the pot, then place the turkey on an oven rack. Allow turkeys to rest for 20 minutes before carving. Makes 20 servings.

For more Oils of Aloha macadamia nut oil recipes, click here.


 

The cover feature of the new issue of HAWAII Magazine is all about the “15 Things We Love About Hawaii” right now.

Among them, you’ll find the Big Island-made chocolate we’d fly from our Oahu offices to savor. The Hilo designer whose Hawaii-inspired fashions and prints we’d pick up while we’re there. And the hula dancer whose graceful movements we’d most want to accompany an oceanside mai tai and Waikiki sunset when we return home.

We've already clued you in about our love for Lost actor Michael Emerson in a previous “15 Things We Love About Hawaii” post. The love currently quenching our thirst for a carbonated beverage like no other, though? Artisanal sodas from Waialua Soda Works.

Trust us. You haven’t had a great vanilla cream soda until you’ve had a Waialua Soda Works vanilla cream soda. HAWAII editor John Heckathorn and I emptied a small office supply of the stuff in an afternoon binge session. (Our original plan was to share a single bottle.) And I’m still unsure whether associate editor Sherie Char got to enjoy any at all. (Burp.)

Here’s an excerpt:

Waialua Soda Works is all about homegrown Hawaii ingredients. There’s Big Island vanilla and Kauai honey in its vanilla cream soda. Island-grown fruits, when available, infuse its pineapple and mango sodas. Maui sugar cane sweetens its root beer. … The contents are handmade and hand-bottled by Jason and Karen Campbell (who) make old-fashioned artisanal soda in the former plantation village of Waialua on Oahu’s North Shore.

Read the full text of our Waialua Soda Works write-up and the 14 other things we love about Hawaii in the May/June 2008 issue of HAWAII Magazine, on newsstands now.

  

The new issue of HAWAII Magazine features a story on Maui Brewing Co., a Lahaina-based artisanal brewery crafting Hawaii-inspired beers.

Its brews have won international beer awards. Owner Garrett Marrero and brewmaster Tom Kerns use Hawaii-grown ingredients, when possible—fresh island-grown pineapple, Maui-made rum, Kauai lehua blossom honey.

But since opening in 2005, Marrero has also worked to make his company one of Maui’s most Earth-friendly. He’s one seriously resourceful brewer.

All of his delivery trucks—including his and wife Melanie’s cars—run on biodiesel he makes with his Kaanapali brewpub’s used vegetable oil. The brewpub’s lighting is entirely energy-saving compact fluorescent. Marrero is installing photovoltaic solar cells that will soon generate all of the brewery’s electricity.

Beer brewed by the Maui sun? What a concept.

Leftover grain, yeast and hops from the brewing process are given free to Maui farmers for use as pig and cattle feed, or to create compost fertilizer for produce. Marrero then purchases meat and produce from the farmers for his brewpub.

Maui Brewing Co.’s retro Hawaii-inspired packaging is made of recycled cardboard. Cans for restaurants and bars are delivered sans packaging in reusable trays.

About those cans. Why does Maui Brewing Co. sell its retail beer exclusively in cans instead of bottles? First off, they’re recyclable, use less energy to chill, transport and recycle again, and are made locally. It's also a taste issue.

“If a bottle took better care of the beer, I would be bottling,” says Marrero. “The cans have a water-based liner so the beer does not contact the aluminum. Cans don’t allow light exposure and oxygen pick-up, which affects taste. It’s beer as the brewer intends.”

Keeping things “green” is as important to Marrero (that's him in the photo) as the quality and taste of his beers.

“We’re not going to have a ‘zero (carbon) footprint’ at the brewery, but we’ll be damn close,” said Marrero. “That’s just something we believe is the right way to go. At the end of the day, it’s good to know that there’s one less smog cloud we’re contributing to.”

Maui Brewing Co.’s brewpub is located at the Kahana Gateway Center near Kaanapali Resort, 4405 Honoapiilani Highway, Maui. Call 808-669-0191. Check out the Maui Brewing Co. Web site for retail locations and online store.
   

We ran into Michael Emerson, who plays Benjamin Linus on ABC’s hit TV series “Lost,” listening to jazz in Honolulu’s Chinatown district the other night.

Nice guy—which makes you realize what an incredible actor he is. When he plays Linus—the series’ complicated is-he-or-isn’t-he-a-villain—he somehow manages to be both seriously sinister and as equable as a Jack Johnson CD. Often at the same time. Always brilliantly.

In the cover feature of our current issue, we give you the low down on the “15 Things We Love About Hawaii” right now. One of these, just happens to be Emerson—the only actor to make the list.

Among the other objects of our affection? The only ukulele we’d pay four figures to strum. The Hawaii-published book that’s on our nightstand right now. The Big Island clothing designer with the fashion sense we’re digging most. The classic surfboard we’d hit the waves with right now if we weren’t at work (and knew how to surf). And more.

Emerson’s work on “Lost”—which is filmed entirely on Oahu—is one of our favorite things about every episode. It’s our good fortune that he feels similarly about our Islands, and talked to us about it.

Here’s an excerpt:

There is no “Lost” without Oahu, says Emerson. … He admits that Oahu’s beauty captivates him. No matter where he is after a long day of work shooting in the jungle, he stops every evening to watch the sun drop beneath the horizon.

Well, we did say it was just an excerpt.

You’ll find the full text of our Emerson write-up and the 14 other things we love about Hawaii in the May/June 2008 issue of HAWAII Magazine, on newsstands now.

  

Vents at Kilauea Volcano’s summit aren’t the only things coming to a head today. Primo is back!!!

That is, bottles of Primo beer will again be on store shelves across Hawaii on Monday.

Primo was one of Hawaii’s first beers, brewed here starting in 1898 by long gone Honolulu Brewing & Malting Company. It stayed Hawaii’s beer, with a break for Prohibition, until 1979.

Detroit-based Stroh Brewery Co. acquired the Primo brand in 1982.  Although Stroh’s version was never particularly palatable, the beer remained a local favorite until Stroh’s shut down production in 1998.  Everybody in the Islands drank Primo, at least when they couldn’t afford anything better.

The new Primo on draft will be brewed in the Islands by Keoki Brewing of Kauai. But Primo in bottles is still an import, made by Pabst in Irwindale, Calif.

The folks at Primo say their new formula had “a distinct rich taste of craft-brewed beer with the smoothness and drinkability of lighter lager” and “a touch of Hawaiian cane sugar grown on Maui.”

We got a six-pack for the office.

Our  verdict: It was like welcoming back a long-lost uncle. He may have his faults, but he’s always welcome.

For more Primo details (including its Hawaii retailers), click here.
  

You ask. We answer.

Reader Joyce Beers wrote to us with a question about her beverage of choice when she’s in Hawaii: POG.

POG is a blend of passionfruit, orange and guava juices. Joyce read in HAWAII Magazine’s current issue that Guava Kai Plantation on Kauai had shut down, and wanted to know if POG  would be gone from Hawaii supermarket shelves the next time she visited.

Joyce, we’re happy to report that you’ll be able to drink all the ice-cold POG you want on your next Hawaii trip.

A spokesperson for Meadow Gold Dairies told us that the bottled-in-Honolulu beverage is the company’s top-selling nectar flavor. Hawaii residents snap up more than 1.3 million gallons of the stuff EACH MONTH.

On the Mainland, POG is limited to select stores in California, Oregon, Washington and, occasionally, Montana and Alaska. (Drop me an e-mail at derekp@pacificbasin.net if you want to know specific locations.)

Don’t live anywhere near those states? Send a request to Meadow Gold Dairies at info@lanimoo.com and they’ll be happy to give you the lowdown on shipping a non-refrigerated concentrate of POG to your door by mail. (Lani Moo, by the way, is Meadow Gold Dairies’ bovine mascot.)

Joyce’s query reminded us that although we live in Hawaii, we hadn’t consumed the bright orange beverage (originally bottled on Maui by now defunct Haleakala Dairy) in a long time. So we sampled a bottle.

Our reactions:

John Heckathorn: "This is exactly what the Islands taste like."

Derek Paiva: "I’m sad I don’t have an oceanside breakfast—Portuguese sausage, rice, eggs, fresh papaya—to go along with this."

Sherie Char was out of office and missed our POG tasting. She’ll be plunged in deepest gloom when she reads here that she missed it.

Anybody else out there love the POG?
  

You ask. We answer.

HAWAII Magazine reader Lori Dziadon of Ohio, sent us an e-mail asking if we knew where to get some pineapple-frame glasses.

When it comes to pineapple, we couldn’t think of anyone else except for Tracy Johnson, Maui Pineapple Co.’s public relations manager.

She recommended a pair of cute pineapple-frame glasses, but says, “Personally, I like these!”

Yaemi Yogi (pictured above) sported a pair of pineapple-frame glasses at a breakfast on Maui honoring the last generation of pineapple cannery workers. Next to her is fellow retiree, Ann Igarashi, who worked for Maui Pineapple Co. for 43 years. This picture and story appeared in our Jan./Feb. 2008 issue.

Do you have an idea for the sequel to the pineapple-frame glasses?

  

HAWAII Magazine reader Beth Ann Larsen of Abilene, TX, called today and asked if we’d be interested in starting an online petition to change the name of the Hawaii Chair.

For the unenlightened—and this group included me before this afternoon—the Hawaii Chair is the latest bizarre piece of exercise equipment created for people too lazy to get any real exercise.

Picture a common office chair, only with a 2,800 rpm under-seat motor that swivels your hips in a hula-like motion as you work at your iMac, take phone calls, or eat lunch at your desk. That’s the Hawaii Chair in a coconut shell.

If you believe manufacturer T&L Perfect USA—and I’d be very wary here—the Hawaii Chair is “a fitness breakthrough” that “combines the ancient art of hula with patented health science technology.”

Uh-huh. Right.

Take a look at this informercial for Hawaii Chair. Some poor soul was even tasked with writing a jingle for this thing.

The only thing I truly believed from T&L Perfect USA's informercial spiel? Hawaii Chair has to be seen to be believed.

Someone out there start a name-change petition and I’ll sign it.

Check out this seriously funny clip of Ellen DeGeneres trying Hawaii Chair out on her talk show last week.
 
 

We celebrated HAWAII Magazine’s 25th birthday with a special giveaway from Ornaments2Remember.

We asked you to tell us how you brought Hawaii home for the holidays. You didn’t hold back. Some of you even wrote poems!

Our ballot box filled up quickly with entries like these two:

“Each year we have the ceremonial hanging of the Hawaiian Christmas tree ornaments including an ukulele, Santa in a canoe, and Santa enjoying a mai tai.”
                       —Patricia Armacost of Beaverton, OR

Hawaii your goal—money is slow
Get our magazine—it puts on a show
There’s hula girls—hunky men
Great food—it deserves a ten
                      —Brian Hahn of State College, PA


Congratulations to the 25 lucky winners who received a limited edition HAWAII Magazine 25th anniversary ornament, specially designed by Ornaments2Remember.

• Jessica Takach of Westbrook, ME
• Carol Hawk of Orangevale, CA
• Lisa LaBerge of Tijeras, NM
• Patricia Armacost of Beaverton, OR
• Donna Schneider of Upper Marlboro, MD
• Kathy  Powers of San Antonio, TX
• Susan Santoro of Maumee, OH
• Elaine Powell of Palm Coast, FL
• Gail Roser of Grants Pass, OR
• Sherri Patrick of Orange, CA
• Kris Keikai Kegerize of Sioux City, IA
• Lee Bacon of Vista, CA
• Kimberle Byrd of Kalamazoo, MI
• Tracy Reigle of Cardiff by the Sea, CA
• Clara Meeks of Eugene, OR
• Harry Inouye of Torrance, CA
• Adeline Andres of Harvard, MA
• Karyn Gaulin of Fanwood, NJ
• Robert & Carol Kreager of Sioux Falls, SD
• Lisa Zaret of Cincinnati, OH
• Kika DePonte of San Jose, CA
• Lisa Lewis of Streetsboro, OH
• Brian Hahn of State College, PA
• Joyce Rodrigues of Swansea, MA
• Janus Danis of Simi, CA

Check out ornaments2remember.com for special keepsakes for all occasions!