Long overdue but here it is. HawaiiDiner tells us why Honolulu Magazine readers (the folks who vote on the Hale Aina Restaurant Awards) are boring, clueless or both. I tend to agree with her assessment that they mostly missed the mark and often by a shockingly wide margin, considering the magazine has a top-notch restaurant critic in John Heckathorn. Oh, and Alan Wong's won Restaurant of the Year award. Again. For the fourth time in a row. And the ninth time in the last 15 years. No knocking AW -- its world class. But....yawn!

In more inane Hawaii food news, the Star-Bulletin pushes readers towards a new guidebook that purports to be like Zagat's and polls locals as to where they eat. The book is called "Where the Locals Eat: The 100 Best Restaurants in the Top 50 Cities. " Which in Hawai, in some cases can be a huge mistake. The list that this article considers is about 50% right. Leonard's for malasadas. Alan Wong's for fusion. Check. Check. Auntie Pasto's for Italian. Gack!
Ba-Le for Vietnamese. ?????. I mean, nice sammies and summer rolls but it's not really true Vietnamese. And how about Anna Miller's as a choice for fine cuisine. Yep, it's perfect for the Bob's Big Boy crowd -- huge portions, non-descript food, passable pies. Sorry if I sound grumpy but lets face it, even Zagat's Hawaii ratings are pretty off kilter. Don't trust the crowd. Trust a foodie, my friends. What else to scribe on? Cassis offering a killer sparkling wine dinner this coming Saturday. For anyone that wants to buy heaps of hard-to-find local bakend goodies and sweets, gotta give props to Costco Hawaii Kai. They've majorly stocked up on stuff like Anahola granola multi-packs, Hawaiian Host organic chocolate mac nuts and the like. Just bring a list and stick to it. Maui Time Weekly waxes on about the simple yet tasty fare at the Iao Valley Cafe in Wailuku (near the Nature Center). And that's the quick and dirty for now

—Alex, 11/25/07