If you know me, you know how much I love burgers. (Oh, and fries!)
So when Burgers on the Edge, a new venture by Formaggio owners Wes Zane and Almar Arcano, opened in July on Kapahulu Avenue, I made sure the new burger joint was on my must-try list.
Outside the gourmet burger spot on Kapahulu Avenue in the new Safeway complex. It’s smack on Kapahulu Avenue, with ample parking.
First off, this isn’t your ordinary eatery.
It’s super small — compact is probably a better word — with huge flat-screen TV displays touting the restaurant’s varied menu. Which, you’d think just selling burgers, wouldn’t be that varied. But oh, you’d be surprised!
Inside Burgers on the Edge, with flat-screen TVs hawking its meaty specialities.
Not only can you order ready-made specialties such as the Kona ($8.49) — with a Kona coffee rub — or the Milano, made with 100 percent ground chuck topped with basil pesto and Gruyere cheese ($8.49), but BOTE is all about personal choice.
You take one of these sheets (see below) and custom-design your own burger.
You grab one of these sheets at the counter and start filling out what you want.
There are several different types of meats — 100 percent premium ground chuck, wagyu beef, charbroiled chicken breast, turkey and portabella mushroom — and 10 different cheeses including such gourmet options as bleu cheese, sharp provolone, gruyere and Danish havarti.
Next, you pick one of 12 sauces, from jalapeno ketchup to roasted garlic aioli, from country ranch to a Cabernet wine sauce.
Then, you top it off with four choices from a list of 18. Aside from the usual lettuce and tomato, you can get alfalfa sprouts, dill pickle chips, thin crispy onions, fried egg, cranberry relish or grilled ham.
And if that wasn’t enough, you can order sides such as shoestring fries ($2.89), sweet potato fries ($4.89), Kick Ass chili ($5.89) or Truffle’d Fries ($4.89).
Am I in heaven or what?
So my guyfriend — who’s from the Big Island — ordered the Kona ($8.49), which came on a chiabata-style bun, courtesy of the Mauna Kea Baking Co.
Here’s the Kona, which came with a serious coffee rub.
The burger up close. It was a little too salty for my taste. But the coffee rub was interesting. I’ll admit, I wasn’t convinced at first. But the flavor is subtle and works well with the ground chuck.
I went custom!
I ordered the 1/2-pound ground chuck ($8.49) with teriyaki sauce and swiss cheese. And, of course, a side of shoestring fries!
The meat, itself, was nicely cooked. Not overdone or undercooked. But it was salty!
Including drinks, we spent around $25 total, which is a lot for burgers, even of the gourmet variety. So I wouldn’t say this is a place I would frequent often. But if you’re in the neighborhood — and you’re tired of fast-food burgers — BOTE is worth checking out.
Burgers on the Edge, 870 Kapahulu Ave. Hours: 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 10:30 a.m.-midnight Fridays and Saturdays, 10:30 a.m.- 10 p.m. Sundays. Phone: 737-8866.
***
Friend update!
Some of you still e-mail me about my girlfriend who had a stroke last summer. She had just given birth to twin boys.
Well, she’s getting better every day. And believe it or not, her sons just turned 1 this August! Can’t believe how quickly time flies!
Here’s Rustyn. He was a little sick at his own baby luau. But still cute!
And here’s his brother Rycen. Can’t believe they’re already 1!
Thanks to everyone who asks about her recovery and about her boys. I’m happy to report that she — and her entire family — are doing well. They appreciate all the love and support that pours their way!
Tina Fey, middle, on the cover of Rolling Stone. Associated Press.
But, it seems, funny females don’t get the kind of respect their male counterparts get. They don’t get the high-paying lead movies roles like Will Ferrell or Jim Carey. They tend to play sidekicks in sitcoms and star in stand-up specials on lesser networks. (Sorry, Bravo!)
And veteran comedian and stereotype-destroyer Margaret Cho has her own show on VH1, “The Cho Show.”
So why has it been so hard for people — maybe society in general — to accept funny women? And what’s accounting for this shift?
Here’s what Vanity Fair writer Alessandra Stanley had to say:
How this evolution happened is not entirely clear. The backlash school of feminism would argue that it’s the tyranny of a looks-obsessed culture that promotes sex appeal over talent, be it in comedy, pop music, or even sports. Joan Rivers blames the entertainment industry and the men who still control it. “Oh, please,” she says. “Nowadays, you can’t even get on open mike with less than a C cup.”
On the other hand, the comedy business offers more opportunity and cachet for women than ever before. It could be that after decades of insecurity—and self-derision—women finally feel they can look good and still be taken seriously as comics.
“Maybe pretty women were always funny but only now decided to go into comedy,” argues Patricia Marx, a humorist who in the 1970s became one of the first woman writers on The Harvard Lampoon. “Maybe pretty women weren’t funny before because they had no reason to be funny,” she says. “There was no point to it—people already liked you.”
It has become a supply-and-demand issue: the supply of good-looking female comedians is growing, and the industry demands that they keep growing prettier. Chelsea Handler, the host of Chelsea Lately, a talk show on E!, has long legs, short skirts, low-cut shirts, and puffy blond hair—her look is Beverly Hills bimbo, with a Borscht Belt mouth.
Personally — and probably because I have a ton of hilarious women in my family and social circles — I think humor is sexy. If anyone — man or woman — can make me hold my gut and laugh out loud, that’s cool. You earn mega-points in my book.
To me, you have to be pretty smart to be funny. I’m talking seriously, riotously funny. (As opposed to idiotic, bathroom-humor funny, which is funny but in a different way.) And smart isn’t something women for generations weren’t taught to be. You stay at home, pop out kids and keep your opinions (and your votes) to yourself.
Now — and I’m surprised it’s only now — women are flaunting their smarts and their humors. And I think the world is a better (if not more bearable) place for it.
(You could also write a best-selling novel — even fabricate facts about your experience in drug rehad — and get on the show that way. But this way sounds easier.)
I thought the question posed was a good one. We’ve all experienced rudeness in some way, from the salesgirl who refused to help you to the neighbor who decides to hone his bongo skills at 1 a.m.
But first, let’s define rude.
Rude, according to Dictionary.com, is an adjective that means:
• discourteous or impolite, esp. in a deliberate way: a rude reply.
• without culture, learning, or refinement: rude, illiterate peasants.
• rough in manners or behavior; unmannerly; uncouth.
We all know rude people, those who are insensitive to other people’s feelings, those who don’t care how their actions impact others. I once had a student who thought it was OK to answer his cell phone during class. Rude, dude!
So what’s the rudest thing you’ve experienced? And how did you handle the situation?
It’s hard to believe it’s been 18 years since the debut of the TV drama series “Beverly Hills, 90210.”
Eighteen years! That means the target audience of the remake series — aptly shortened to just “90210″ — that premieres tonight on the CW network weren’t even born when twins Brandon and Brenda Walsh left Wayzata, Minn. to attend the snotty (and fictitious) West Beverly Hills High.
The original cast of ‘Beverly Hills, 90210,’ which debuted 18 years ago. (Fox)
The new cast of ‘90210′ premiering on the CW tonight. Note the fashion differences. (CW)
I can see the attraction: good-looking rich kids living a lifestyle most American teens can only imagine. But wait — they have the same problems as me! They suffer heartbreaks, they hate their parents, they succumb to peer pressure! Sure, maybe I can’t afford to cry on the custom upholstery in a BMW as I drive — boyfriend-less — to Cancun, Mexico on Spring Break. (No, wait, maybe that was a private jet.) But still, I can at least almost relate.
I’ll admit: I tuned in back in 1990 to the original series, rooting for the bright-eyed Minnesota twins, hoping Kelly would steal Dylan away from Brenda and wondering how long Donna would remain a virgin.
But that’s not the TV show of my childhood I’d like to see come back.
Here’s my list of TV shows that I’d much rather see a return to prime time — with a new cast or even just in reruns:
There’s something about ramen (or saimin) that makes me feel so warm — literally! — inside.
And it’s one of the few dishes I can eat any day, any time. On a humid August afternoon. On a chilly winter morning. In the middle of the night, when I’m too tired to even drive to McDonald’s.
But despite my affinity for the hot noodle dish, I don’t consider myself an aficionado, at least not in the strict sense. I love ramen, but I don’t have very high standards. It’s gotta be hot, the noodles gotta be slurpy, the dashi has to have flavor. If it’s priced right, I’m good to go!
The other day, though, I had some of the best ramen — OK, saimin — I’ve had in a long time.
One of the Old Guys I surf with brought back frozen noodles from the renowned Hamura Saimin Stand in Lihue, Kaua’i.
I’m embarrassed to say this, but I’ve never eaten there. The line was always too long, and I wound up dining somewhere else. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard we were meeting for lunch over Hamura saimin.
Steve Mai’i brought over the noodles from Kaua’i.
Everyone contributed to the fixings, which included veggies, crispy won ton, imitation crab, hard-boiled eggs, char siu and Spam.
I brought the crispy won ton from Chinese Kitchen in the Nuuanu Shopping Plaza. Really, it’s the best.
Here’s a closeup of the famed noodles.
The iconic stand on Kress Street has withstood the test of time — and two hurricanes. People line up for Hamura’s version of the island specialty, waiting patiently at the handful of U-shaped counters in the too-small eatery.
People rave about the noodles — but it’s the dashi, to me, that really makes the difference.
So even though we had Hamura’s noodles, we had to get the dashi right. And thankfully, we had an authentic source — our friend and resident dashi expert Midori — to pull that off.
Midori testing her special dashi, which is so good, it could make spaghetti noodles taste great in a saimin bowl!
One version of the saimin.
Another version.
That’s when I thought about it: So what restaurant serves the best ramen (or saimin)?
Is it Taishoken?
The shoyu ramen at Taishoken on Keeaumoku Street is terrific.
Try it tsukemen-style and it takes the dish to a whole ‘nother level.
