Continuing our quest to turn the Honolulu Academy of Arts into the hippest monthly nightspot east of Bishop Street, E+O Trading Co. in Ward Center is ARTafterDARK's new food-and-drink partner for 2008. The first event of the year is coming up: Dragon Thunder on Feb. 29. Highlighting the groundbreaking exhibition The Dragon's Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan, opening Feb. 26, Dragon Thunder will feature Bhutanese curry, whose main ingredients are cheese (normally yak cheese, but can't get that here) and chilies. Visiting Bhutanese monks Sonam Tshering (left) and Norbu Tshering (no relation) were at the Academy to train in the Conservation Studio and to also do daily puja for the safekeeping of the exhibition's artwork. Before they returned to Bhutan on Feb. 25 (we miss them already!), they went down to E+O Trading to show chef Nick Salvi (center) how to make ema datsi—with the chili quotient turned down a notch for our tepid palates. Don't miss the dish—as well as a special signature cocktail just for the event—at Dragon Thunder. For the full ARTafterDARK menu and schedule, go to www.artafterdark.org.

Honolulu Academy of Arts
900 S Beretania St
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 532-8710

—LesaG, 02/25/08