Although I have been keeping up with my reviews over at Yelp, I realize I haven’t done a food post here in a while. Sorry about that.

Greek isn’t the type of cuisine one usually grows up with in a Japanese household, so I was kind of sheltered from it until college, when my co-workers dragged me to Olive Tree Cafe, near Kahala Mall. Since then, I have been hooked on the stuff.

Babaghanoush, Olive Tree Cafe.

The babaghanoush (a traditional eggplant appetizer served with pita bread) at Olive Tree is the best you can get in Hawai‘i, if not the best you can get anywhere. I’m not kidding. Of course, “best” is subjective when it comes to babaghanoush because everyone’s preference is different with regard to what goes in it, let alone texture and oil content, but Olive Tree’s recipe is fabulous. You definitely get the garlic – but without getting “the garlic,” if you know what I mean. Get at least two orders if you’re going to be sharing with anyone!

The entrees here are fabulous, too, from salads to souvlakis, so it’s hard to decide what to order. I’ve tried all three souvlakis – chicken, fish and lamb – and I can’t say a single bad thing about any of them, but the chicken is particularly yummy because of the tzatziki sauce they drizzle onto the meat. The lamb is good if you’re in the mood for something slightly (but not excessively) more gamey.

Lamb souvlaki, Olive Tree Cafe.

I don’t have any photos of any of them right now, but I cannot say enough about how good the salads are. Even though they’re not as photogenic as the other foods, the salads at Olive Tree will knock your socks off with their complexity of flavors and textures. So delicious and, of course, guilt free. (Heheheh . . . )

Unfortunately, the awesomeness of Olive Tree is the island’s worst kept secret, so the small parking lot and seat-yourself dining area fill up pretty fast on a nightly basis. All I can say is, thank God for takeout – and for the fact that, somehow, the food here is so good, nothing gets lost in translation between their place and yours. (You know what I mean.)

Can’t wait ’til my next excuse to go back!

Once again, if you know me at all, you know I’m a huge fan of the TV show “LOST,” which is filmed in my home state, Hawai‘i. Because the show is filmed here, the producers have been really generous over the course of its run in allowing us to have sneak previews of some of the season premieres, at an event we call Sunset on the Beach (because it occurs at sunset on Waikiki Beach).

Yesterday was the last ever Sunset on the Beach season premiere of “LOST,” as the show enters its final season, so of course I joined my friends Ryan and Jen and, oh, THOUSANDS of others on the beach for the event.

Executive Producer Carlton Cuse introduces stars before the show.

I won’t post any spoilers, because, come on, the episode airs Tuesday night, but let’s just say it was well worth staking out a good spot on the beach starting at 10:00 in the morning. I will, however, post a few photos from the red carpet arrivals:

Ken Leung (Miles). Of course an Asian guy arrives first and on time.

Emmy Award-winner Michael Emerson (Ben). I love this photo because the fan on the right looks pretty desperate.

Zuleikha Robinson (Ilana). New-ish girl we haven’t gotten to know that well yet, though she did kick Sayid’s ass in one ep.

Daniel Dae Kim (Jin). Awesome.

Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert). As established on the Season 5 DVD, he does not wear eyeliner. But people still ask.

Naveen Andrews (Sayid). As Anonymous Julie has pointed out, he is kinda short.

Jorge Garcia (Hurley). Super nice. Spent a lot of time with the fans.

Producer Jean Higgins.

Jeff Fahey (Frank Lapidus).

Harold Perrineau (Michael). Hammed it up for fan photos. Awesome.

Director Jack Bender.

Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond). OK, slight spoiler: He’s in the season premiere. ;o)

Emmy Award-winner Terry O’Quinn (Locke — and the new badass dude). He had to think twice before stopping for this photo but was really nice about it!

Evangeline Lilly (Kate). Also super nice and posed for a ton of photos.

The famous Damon and Carlton (executive producers and lead writers Damon Lindeloff, right, and Carlton Cuse), celebrities in their own right through the official “LOST” podcast.

Yunjin Kim (Sun). Yay!

Matthew Fox (Jack) and Josh Holloway (Sawyer) also arrived eventually, but they came way after everybody else, and I had deserted the red carpet by then.

I have a few other photos up on my Flickr album here. Please don’t reuse any photos without asking first.

Enjoy Season 6, everyone! Looks like it’s going to be quite a ride . . .

Allis, me and Bob at Sam Choy’s, March 2009.

Just heard that my friend Bob Sega succumbed to cancer today. Bob had been living with cancer for quite some time now, but he was such a warrior. Bob rode his bike in countless races to raise funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and to raise awareness of and educate others about cancer. He never stopped, even though the disease and age were slowing him down little by little all the time.

The last time I saw Bob was less than a year ago, when he and his wife, Allis, came out to Hawai‘i for vacation. It was such a privilege to spend time with them, especially after all the trouble Bob went through finding the darned restaurant on a GPS device that somehow steered him in the opposite direction from the airport. Months later, we exchanged e-mails about the phase III clinical trial he had just enrolled in, as well as the upcoming Austin LIVESTRONG Challenge. Biking wasn’t so much on Bob’s mind as far as Austin was concerned, at least in terms of this e-mail. He wanted to know if our mutual friend Vicky and I were going to be at the Challenge, too, not only for our friendship, but because he wanted me to bring him some SPAM musubi!

“No kidding,” he insisted. “I really liked the stuff.”

:o)

Allis, the thoughts and prayers of many are with you tonight. We’ll miss you, Bob.

According to the Chicago Tribune, some of Da 1985 Bears have shot an ad for Boost Mobile that will air during the first quarter of this year’s Super Bowl. Among the (really old) Super Bowl champions in the ad are Jim McMahon, Richard Dent, Willie Gault, Maury Bufort, Otis Wilson, Mike Singletary, Steve Fuller (my favorite from the original) and – surprise – Coach Ditka.

The idea of a bunch of old, retired jocks doing a spoof of what most would hardly consider a masterpiece in the first place probably makes you want to throw up a little – and I can hardly blame you there. But I, for one, am super excited. And if you know me at all, you know I’m not kidding. I bought the commemorative DVD of the original Super Bowl Shuffle, complete with outtakes. I, who have had the gall to insult Sir Elton John (yeah, I’m never letting that one go), have the Super Bowl Shuffle on my iPhone. I teach it to children when left alone with them. I know where this puts me on The Great Social Scale of Life, but I don’t care: I readily admit, I love the Super Bowl Shuffle.

Sure, I’ll miss Sweetness being in the remake, but for obvious technical reasons, Walter Payton couldn’t be there. Too bad they couldn’t get Gary Fencik in there, too:

Buddy’s guys cover it down to the bone,
That’s why they call us the 46 Zone.
Come on, everybody, let’s scream and yell,
We’re gonna do the Shuffle,
Then ring your bell.

This is gonna be awesome. Mark my words: Steve Fuller will steal the show. This will particularly be the case if it’s Vikings-Jets. ;o)

The CIS Pacific Partnership Program team . . . when we were still a team.

Now former employees of the CIS Pacific Partnership Program, after the last contract work day.

January 14, 2010 has finally rolled around – the last day of the contract period nationwide for the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service Partnership Program. It’s a sad day for the 70+ federal contract employees who have been a part of the program (I left the program four months ago for another job in cancer research because the program was ending, after having a year-and-a-half as a partnership program coordinator), but really, it’s more of a loss for the cancer community as a whole. The CIS Partnership Program was the link between NCI and its community partners. It’s hard to explain what we did on a daily basis, but the partners know, and many of them wrote letters, made calls and otherwise tried hard to save the program. Unfortunately, the decision to end it was an executive one, and the executive who made that decision – well, let’s just say he still gets to report to his same job in the D.C. area tomorrow.

Rest in peace, CIS Partnership Program.

• The American Red Cross has made it easy for people to donate by SMS: Text the word “HAITI” to 90999, and a $10 donation will automatically be made to the Red Cross, the charge for which will appear later on your cell phone bill. You can also donate online at www.redcross.org – just flag your donation for the International Response Fund.
• Doctors Without Borders is an amazing organization that is constantly providing aid in regions like Haiti where people may not otherwise have access to any health care. In the wake of the earthquake, they are, of course, focusing efforts on treating those who have been injured. To support them, click here.

Do the right thing.

Does anyone happen to watch the Japanese TV series “Kinpachi Sensei”? We’re currently on Series 8 on KIKU-TV in Hawai‘i, and unfortunately, KIKU dropped Episode 8.11 last week. We didn’t even realize it until we were watching 8.12 tonight and heard that Satoken’s father had died and that Boss was ripping off old men. Apparently, KIKU knows the episode exists, as it provides a (very brief) synopsis on the station website, but they dropped the programming last week in favor of special New Years programming.

How did Satoken’s father die? And what else did we miss? Help!

Dear Mark McGwire,

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Smooches,
Baseball

Local reviewers seem to have conflicting reviews about the assorted “side” dishes at Go Shi Go (903 Ke‘eaumoku St.), but ask anyone about the cold udon here, and you’d best have something on hand to clean up after the Pavlovian drool.

Cold soba topped with tanuki chips, green onion and wakame, Go Shi Go.

“Cold udon?” you ask. “Really? Udon?!”

Yes, udon. Not soba. Udon. (Soba? Udon! Sorry . . . Little inside joke from the Tai-Sei days.) I had my doubts, too. Who eats udon cold? You will, after you try it at Go Shi Go.

The noodles, made at the restaurant every day by owner Hidetaka Ushiki, are cooked to what’s best known by Americans as al dente, which is definitely not a texture one typically associates with udon. The result is a chewy texture that, because it influences to how you consume each noodle, contributes to the taste of the noodle itself, leading you to appreciate the flavor of the local deap-sea water that’s been worked into the dough. So delicious.

But that’s not all.

EVERYTHING about the udon is fabulous. The tanuki chips are delicate, yet able to hold their own in the sea of noodles, broth and vegetables. The broth is savory without being salty and is served at just the right temperature to complement the noodles. And the green onions and wakame . . . yum.

I can’t wait to go back . . . so it’s a good thing a bunch of us are going from the office on Friday!

From the Chicago Tribune’s Breaking News:

by Paul Sullivan

Former Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux has rejoined the organization as an assistant to general manager Jim Hendry.

The Cubs said he will assist the coaching staffs in spring training, help develop minor leaguers during the season and assist Hendry in evaluating talent.

“We are thrilled to have Greg back with the Chicago Cubs,” Hendry said in a statement. “He has such a vast knowledge of all phases of the game and the ultimate respect of everyone from the players to the front office. The addition of Greg Maddux makes us a better organization.”

Maddux retired after the 2008 season and never gave a hint that he wanted to return to baseball in a management capacity. He had spoken in the past of possibly coaching players, not helping run a team.

“I’m looking forward to working my way back into the game and am happy that the Cubs have given me the opportunity to do that,” Maddux said in a statement. “I started my career with the Cubs and Chicago has always been the best place in the league to play.  I’m eager to do whatever I can to help the organization and am looking forward to getting started at spring training.”

Best news ever for a Monday!!!