The
Kauai Issue
A place apart
Hermina Morita, Joan Conrow, Ken Stokes, Henry Curtis, Joanne Fujita
March
19, 2003
Kaua‘i is the oldest Hawaiian island and the wettest and greenest.
After ‘Iniki flattened the place a decade ago, islanders largely
abandoned corporate tourism in favor of a still-evolving ruralism, more
Moloka‘i than Maui. It was a separate kingdom; perhaps it still is.
The Weekly looks at what’s up.
Hanalei roads
A community resists bureaucratic solutions and protects its soul.
Hermina Morita
My sister, Alberta, her husband Tony and I slowly
made our way along the narrow two-lane road hugging Kaua‘i’s
east and northern coastline. It was the summer of 1968 and I was 13 years
old. This was my first trip to Kaua‘i. The whole car ride seemed
like a dream, with each vista more striking than the next. Even though
I was from Hawai‘i, from Läna‘i, when I saw Hanalei bay
I could not believe that such a beautiful place existed.
I never imagined that I would be calling Hanalei
my home; and never did I imagine that I would someday be in a position
to help protect such a special place.
I was fortunate on that trip to experience Kaua‘i’s
North Shore before any major development had occurred. In 1977, when I
moved into the growing Princeville community of condos, golf courses,
shops and hotels adjacent to Hanalei’s big bay, I was naive about
the negative impacts of development. After the closure of Kïlauea
Sugar Plantation down the road, it was Princeville that provided the jobs
for many local residents in construction, condominium sales and visitor-related
businesses.
But now, knowing a little more about what it
takes to nurture a sustainable community, I struggle to help recover and
restore the special qualities that existed on Kaua‘i — among
its people and in its valleys and towns, and along its beaches —
back in 1968.
All along Kaua‘i’s North Shore and
at Hanalei in particular, the real-estate boom has proven to be a double-edged
sword, especially with the increased traffic. The very qualities that
make Hanalei special — the postcard-perfect scenic landscapes and
seascapes — are also responsible for its slow and agonizing demise,
as outsiders (many who flocked to sightsee and then wanted to own a piece
of paradise) make this area one hot real-estate and vacation-rental market.
The choice is either to pull up the draw-bridge, or pave paradise and
put up parking lots, as visitors bring their own expectations of the carrying
capacity of paradise.
For the past 30 years, many “Hanalei-o-philes,”
residents and visitors alike, have drawn the line between overdevelopment
and saving remnants of Hawai‘i at the venerable Hanalei Bridge, the
gateway to the last 10 miles of old Highway Route 560, the same strip
of pavement I traveled in 1968.
In the mid-1970s, Hanalei residents rose up in
response to a Department of Transportation proposal to replace the aging,
funky, single-lane Hanalei Bridge, built across the Hanalei river in 1912.
Hanging on the wall of the DOT Highway Office on Kaua‘i is a rendering
of a massive, concrete replacement bridge spanning Hanalei valley. But
I believe that, sensing community opposition, DOT finally proposed a scaled
back, two-lane, replacement truss bridge.
The Hanalei Roads Committee got organized and
opposed DOT’s two-lane bridge, opting instead for the preservation
and restoration of the single-lane, 1912 bridge, which had come to symbolize
the community’s future and its desire to constrain rampant development.
After a decade of mediated meetings, DOT finally acquiesced to the community’s
desires. And, finally, as I write this, the Hanalei Bridge is being accurately
replicated.
A Hanalei resident put the desire to save the
bridge into context: “As you wait your turn to cross the Hanalei
Bridge,” she said, “it’s a reminder not only to slow down
but also to change your attitude as you travel the next 10 miles.”
Nationwide, progressive communities and enlightened
transportation officials recognize the value of maintaining roads and
ancillary structures that are in harmony with their surrounding community
as an important sustainable-living concept. Today, the Hanalei Roads Committee
is ready with facts, figures, planning studies and successful Mainland
models for designing safe roads and bridges that preserve the pace and
scale of rural communities throughout Hawai‘i. With the committee’s
help, DOT is currently developing the 25-Year Comprehensive Road Plan
for Highway Route 560.
While the Federal Highway Administration encourages
highway designers to fully consider roadways’ aesthetic, historic
and scenic values along with safety and mobility, the real challenge is
to educate and convince DOT that these examples can be applied here in
Hawai‘i without compromising safety and mobility.
Along with the Hanalei Roads Committee, organizations
including the Alliance for the Heritage of East Maui (concerned with the
preservation and restoration of the Häna Highway) and the Big Island’s
Hämäkua-Honoka‘a Heritage Corridor are exploring and supporting
concepts like “scenic byways” and “heritage corridors.”
Work is also in progress to recognize and protect the scenic and historical
values of the upper Kona road on the Big Island and the Ka Iwi portion
of Kalaniana‘ole Highway on O‘ahu.
I have come to understand the significance of
the Hanalei Bridge as the portal for all the enduring images and experiences
of rural Hawai‘i we want to protect. The bridge need not be the only
portal to Hawai‘i’s enduring natural, cultural, historic and
scenic resources, but, more clearly than most examples, the bridge shows
what thoughtful, sensitive planning and design can do for the many special
areas throughout Hawai‘i.
Each Friday night I return to my home in Hanalei
after a busy week at the Legislature. It’s usually so dark by the
time I get there that I can barely make out the outline of the unlit old
bridge. As I cross and hear the familiar clacks of the wooden planks,
I know I am home, and I adjust my attitude. My Kaua‘i community is
sensitive to the importance of natural and cultural resources for our
identity and our quality of life. Our big challenge is how to share this
wealth, which we cannot replicate without its compromise and destruction,
so that its magical allure will continue to captivate 13-year-olds long
after we are gone.
State Representative Hermina Morita is chair of the House Energy and
Environmental Protection Committee. She has represented East and North
Kaua‘i since 1997.
Q&A: JoAnn Yukimura
Joan
Conrow
“Anybody But Yukimura,” the bumper
sticker said. It was 1994, two years after Hurricane ‘Iniki crippled
the island, and business interests were tired of their progressive, green
mayor, JoAnn Yukimura. She lost her reelection bid, moved to Honolulu
so her daughter could attend Punahou and helped her husband in his engineering
business. Last November, Yukimura emerged as top vote-getter in the island’s
Council elections. Surprised friends and former foes are both watching
the new, more conciliatory and inclusive councilmember and wondering what
it all means for Kaua‘i’s future.
Briefly describe Kaua‘i roughly 10 years ago, when you were ending
your term as mayor, Kaua‘i now and Kaua‘i as you would like
it to be in 10 years.
10 years ago … it was tired, conflicted, barely surviving economically,
still recovering, not so pressured in terms of growth. Rising prices,
scarce rentals. Beautiful, country.
Now … it’s still beautiful. Special,
a highly desirable place to live, still manageable in terms of size, numbers
and having options. It’s still rural. At the crossroads, at risk.
Ten years from now … these words come from
the County Council’s visioning process, and they’re still in
draft form, but they do describe my desires for the future: prosperous,
healthy, well-educated, ‘ohana- and aloha-centered, beautiful, green
and open, respectful of the host culture, free of traffic congestion and
moving towards sustainability.
What’s the likelihood of your 10-year dream becoming reality?
Not too likely in completed form, but we can be making significant progress,
based on the decisions we make today.
What’s different about the JoAnn Yukimura who served as Kaua‘i’s
mayor, and the JoAnn Yukimura who is now serving on the County Council?
I think I’m wiser — I hope I am. I’m calmer. I’m more
trusting of the process, so I’m not trying to run around and manipulate
and fix things like I used to. I’m more conscious of working as a
group. I’m less confrontive. And I’m definitely more
aware of the importance of keeping a balance in my work and personal life.
You were top vote-getter in the election, but Kaipo Asing wanted —
and got — the Council chairmanship. How are you negotiating the political
waters of this Council?
Kaipo wanted — and I’d say deserved — the chairmanship,
and I supported him in that. He’s served for over 20 years and truly
is the most experienced. I’m learning to work with all my fellow
councilmembers, and they with me. Basically, I’m liking what I’m
learning. The council is really trying to focus on what’s good for
the community, so it’s not as political as it used to be.
What keeps you going in this business?
My love for this community, this island. And doing this work really gets
me out there in the community. I also just love public policy, and I really
enjoy this work. On the personal side, yoga, meditation and my extended
‘ohana help a lot.
Do you have any regrets about stepping out of the political limelight
and moving to O‘ahu?
No.
What did you gain from that experience?
I was restored to my family, but that started before I moved to Honolulu
by just getting out of office. I got to know and love Honolulu, which
was really unexpected. It’s a nice city. I also worked in private
business and that was very revealing and really good training for me,
too. And the joy of having a private life, the time to breathe and reflect.
How is Linda Lingle doing as governor?
She and I are quite different in philosophy and style, but I really empathized
with her, because I know what it’s like to passionately pursue an
election, lose and come back; to start with a vision for change. I like
the new energy she brings, and her leadership is very evident. She’s
also made some good appointments like [former Yukimura administrators]
Kathleen Watanabe and Ernie Lau.
I wish her well, and I think we all need to be
open-minded and take the issues on their merits. But I think we should
also say “no” when the ideas are not good ones.
Do you ever daydream about having that job?
Sometimes, but only for about two seconds.
What’s the chance we’ll see your name on a statewide ballot
in the next 10 years?
I have no idea. I don’t know what I’ll be doing in 10 years,
but I feel very strongly I can best serve the community on the island
I love. So I’m happy where I am.
The Coconut Wireless
Kaua‘i, where the news goes to take a break
Ken Stokes
The void created by lack of competition in Kaua‘i’s
news market has led to chaotic, fragmented, disorderly and unprofessional
efforts to fill the gap in the island’s news reporting.
Ever since Kaua‘i lost its second newspaper
five years ago in a bizarre case of win-lose, local hopes for a decent
press have gradually faded. Kaua‘i’s daily newspaper, The
Garden Island, which dates back to 1902, has been owned by
the Pulitzer newspaper chain since 1996. While the island’s “newspaper
of record” should be the lead source of news, it clearly seeks to
avoid upsetting its advertisers by ignoring or soft-peddling controversial
subjects. For instance, in 1998, editor Sue Dixon was placed on probation
and prohibited from writing editorials on the hugely divisive North Shore
boating issue.
Local radio stations offer mostly news as sound
bites, which generate curiosity, if little solid information.
On the other hand, the public access channels
of Hö‘ike broadcast endless, unedited versions of public meetings
that get high ratings because at least they offer citizens one way to
discover what is actually going on.
Lastly, frustrated citizens create Web sites
and e-mail networks hoping to fill the gap, but they are often biased,
un-sourced and unreliable. The upshot is that the “Coconut Wireless,”
Kaua‘i’s legendary hearsay system that propels rumors around
the island at the speed of sound, may be reemerging as the best source
for local news. This outcome may seem natural for an island that thrives
on controversy and loves to wala‘au about the latest juicy tidbits.
Many islanders fondly recall the heyday of local
journalism in the mid-’90s, when the Kaua‘i Times (KT)
weekly featured superb reporting and rousing letters. Yet, after appearing
to win its restraint-of-trade court case against The Garden Island,
KT’s owners sold the newspaper to The Garden Island
in an acquisition deal they could not refuse.
Shortly thereafter, the Pulitzer chain acquired
the combined papers with promises to serve Kaua‘i better. Savvy if
not cynical observers properly translated Pulitzer’s promise to mean
a focus on increasing profits. Local business leaders then bullied the
new publisher into submission, so that the editorial page was regularly
censored, according to Dixon, and popular letter writers and columnists,
such as current state Sen. Gary Hooser (who gained his political cred
while writing in The Garden Island’s pages), disappeared from
the once widely read editorial page.
The daily now specializes in misleading stories
with a pro-business bias, such as a headline trumpeting the “worst
case” cost of preserving critical habitat for the cave spider, and
the odd smear campaign against local leaders, e.g., Gregg Gardiner, board
chair of the new Kaua‘i Island Utility Coop.
Perhaps the lack of competition and the popularity
of grocery store ads explain why The Garden Island is able to sell any
newspapers at all. Off-island papers often do a better job of covering
Kaua‘i news. Leave it to the Wall Street Journal to report
Steve Case’s intentions for his newly acquired, 21,000-acre Grove
Farm property.
Weekday talk shows on Kaua‘i community radio
(KKCR, 91.9 FM) have gained popularity, almost as if the expression of
divergent viewpoints is like getting away with something. Still, KKCR’s
local news program consists primarily of recirculated stories produced
by others, and this largely volunteer-run station has little facility
for fact-checking or for squelching false rumors.
Kauaians are finding new ways to stay informed,
yet one consequence of having most local news produced by nonprofessionals
is that not all the info is accurate.
This stunted ability to communicate with each
other hampers Kaua‘i residents’ capacity to work together and
generate more effective community decisions and governance.
Until Kaua‘i’s publishers agree to
pay journalists to inspect and assess local issues in more depth, Kauaians
are stuck trying to filter one-sided and incomplete reports on their own.
Ken Stokes is a former Garden Island columnist and KKCR
talk-show host whose new book, Tending the Garden Island, has just
been published by Kauaian Press.
Wooten’s conundrum
Farming on land designated “agri-cultural” should be a no-brainer.
But talk to farmer John Wooten.
Joan Conrow
As John Wooten saw it, his right to grow fruits
and vegetables on his 8-acre plot in the ‘Aliomanu Estates agricultural
subdivision north of Kapa‘a seemed a no-brainer. After all, such
communities had been carved out of agriculturally zoned, defunct sugar
lands supposedly for the purpose of encouraging small farms. The County
of Kaua‘i even required him and others who build homes on land in
agricultural zones to sign an agreement that the residence would be occupied
by a family making a living from farming on that lot — with the threat
of a $5,000 fine and destruction of the dwelling if he did not comply.
As I said, it was a no-brainer.
But that hasn’t stopped Wooten’s community
association from threatening to sue him and place a lien on his house
if he continues to farm.
The resulting furor has raised new questions
about whether agricultural subdivisions are simply a ruse for circumventing
the state’s rigorous land rezoning and reclassification process in
order to develop country estates popular primarily with wealthy Mainlanders.
In the past 15 years, 11 large ag subdivisions have been developed between
Kapa‘a and Princeville, with another three on the southside, comprising
the bulk of buildable land available for sale on the island today.
“It’s ludicrous to try and evict a
legitimate farmer from agricultural land,” said Wooten, who likens
his fight to the civil rights battles waged decades ago in the old South.
“It’s an issue where [state] constitutional mandates are being
ignored.”
Eight years ago, Wooten began planting a windbreak
of eucalyptus, ironwood, banana, kamane and coconut trees around his parcel
on the windward Kaua‘i coast, about 10 miles north of Kapa‘a.
Wooten, who has been farming for 43 of his 52 years, said the trees were
essential to protect his orchard and truck crops from the nearly constant,
punishing, salt-bearing trade winds.
Wooten leased another four acres from his neighbor
and expanded his tidy farm, and he also built a mango-orange-colored,
plantation-style cinder-block house where he and his wife Nandanie live.
Soon his neat fields were producing lettuce, Oriental greens, broccoli,
cabbage, tomatoes and just about every type of tropical fruit imaginable.
His produce, grown according to organic principles (he is not formally
certified), is snapped up at the local farmers’ markets and by local
restaurants and wholesalers. Customers stop by his place each week to
pick up special orders.
Within a few years, the Wooten’s farm was
yielding a modest income. It’s his family’s sole livelihood.
But while Wooten was tending his fruits and veggies, his neighbors began
developing their lots, and it soon became apparent that their concept
of agriculture differed widely from his. As the oceanfront parcels were
sold and resold at increasingly higher prices, the homes became more lavish
and the farming more minimal.
A few people have planted fruit trees, which
struggle to survive behind makeshift black plastic windbreaks, while others
have horses grazing in pastures. Most of the ‘Aliomanu Estates residents,
however, grow the sort of manicured landscaping typically found at island
resorts, replete with extensive outdoor lighting that at night bathes
the coutryside in brilliant yellow-white light.
Still, Wooten said he didn’t expect any
trouble. After all, he had the law on his side: the state Constitution
holds agricultural lands apart, and state statutes clearly specify that
agriculture shall be the primary use of agriculturally designated lands.
In July 2001, Wooten received a letter from the
‘Aliomanu Estates Community Association Board of Directors, notifying
him that his critical windbreaks were blocking views and violated the
6-foot maximum height allowed for trees in the subdivision’s covenants,
conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs).
Wooten cut down the hedges to 15 feet and promised
to trim them again every June. At first, he said, the association was
satisfied. But then a new board of directors took over and demanded he
submit a revised landscaping plan for their approval. Worried that his
fruit trees and farm were in jeopardy, and “desperate to survive,”
Wooten hired an attorney and also appealed to the Kaua‘i County Council
for help.
Over the ensuing 18 months, the Council crafted
an ordinance that essentially restates the obvious, that CC&Rs can’t
supersede land uses allowed by government. Wooten, meanwhile, said the
tumult caused him physical illness and mental anguish.
It’s not only the potential loss of his
farm that bothers him, although “at my age I really don’t have
much chance to start over. I’m just now getting good crops of citrus
and avocados. It’s also the threat of a lawsuit, and they [the community
association] can put a lien on my house if I don’t meet their demands.
They have more power than they should.”
Wooten, a big, curly-haired man, is clearly bewildered
by the turn of events, and baffled that folks who want to build expensive
homes should have more sway in agricultural zones than farmers.
He’s not alone: On both Maui and the Big
Island, residents find themselves fighting attempts to develop high-priced
gentleman estates on land that the state has designated as agricultural.
On the Big Island, Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra upheld a contested-case
ruling by the state Land Use Commission that the proposed 125-lot Keopuka
Lands luxury home and golf course project on Kealakekua bay is an urban
use, and not an “agricultural subdivision.”
On Maui, the county government claims the state
Land Use Commission has no jurisdiction over a proposal to develop an
“agricultural subdivision” on 4,500 acres in the Kaua‘ula
valley near Lahaina. Residents fighting the subdivision have some key
support from State Planning Director David Blane, who formerly served
as Maui’s planning head under then-Mayor Linda Lingle. Blane has
argued that “subdivisions with lots resembling urban-type development,
marketed for second-home and upscale residential markets, are not agricultural
in nature and are inappropriate in the Agricultural District.” He
stated that agricultural land must be protected from such uses so that
land will remain accessible to farmers, key players in ensuring that agriculture
remains a viable source of economic activity in the state.
Wooten is heartened by such support but remains
nervous about whether the Kaua‘i County Council will actually adopt
its proposed ordinance, which recently came under fire by some real-estate
attorneys and developers, who claimed during a public hearing that it
would essentially amount to a “taking” of private property rights
by preventing landowners from dictating uses within their neighborhoods.
In the meantime, he’s still trying to negotiate with his community
association.
“I think there’s a learning curve going
on with the association board here, and I’m hopeful my ag activities
will be allowed,” Wooten said. “I just want to be left alone
and tend my farm, be happy and live aloha.”
A
co-op’s murky start
Ideally, cooperatives are democratic organizations.
Volunteer members actively participate in setting policies, making decisions
and overseeing operations. They also encourage public participation and
transparency of operation.
Unfortunately, the Kauai Island Utility Co-op
(KIUC) falls far short of these ideals, say critics.
Kaua‘i, which is thought to have the highest
electrical rates in the country, is the only one of the four Hawai‘i
counties to have a cooperative run its electrical utility. But it has
been troubled from the start.
In April 2000, Citizens Communications Corporation
offered to sell Kauai Electric for $270 million to a Kaua‘i businessmen
hui, KIUC, headed by Gregg Gardiner, publisher of 101 Things to Do,
a tourist publication. In an unusual move, Honolulu attorney Alan Oshima
represented both the buyer and the seller. KIUC exempted itself from Sunshine
Law and refused to allow the public to attend its meetings.
Many people opposed the idea. It was resisted
by Kaua‘i Mayor Maryanne Kusaka. A community group that favored co-ops
in general but opposed the KIUC, was formed, named the Nit-Pickers. The
Nit-Pickers supported acquisition of Kauai Electric by the county, through
either a purchase or a condemnation and the establishment of an elected
board answerable only to the voters.
KIUC is overseen by an elected board of directors
and regulated by the state’s Public Utilities Commission. It has
a yearly budget nearly double that of the county itself. True to the co-op
principle, everyone receiving an electric bill from the utility, whether
it’s your Auntie Malia or the U.S. Pacific Missile Range Facility
at Barking Sands, gets to vote in board elections. Individuals who run
for the utility’s board of directors do not have to disclose conflicts
of interest, sources of their campaign funds or outstanding debts. Furthermore,
candidates running for re-election to the board do not have to recuse
themselves when deciding if the person seeking to unseat them has a legitimate
argument regarding voting fraud. The lack of sunshine means that it is
difficult to determine if fraud occurs.
The co-op board makes policy decisions for the
utility, but all management decisions are made by a committee that currently
consists of individuals who were formerly executives of Kauai Electric.
Islanders have been disappointed by the perception/hope
that the nonprofit co-op was supposed to lower electrical rates —
and the fact that it has not. On the other hand, the management team wanted
to see to it that nothing changed, as far as the public was concerned.
Although the utility is owned by the people,
some of its records can be kept secret. Hazardous waste dumping, which
occurred prior to the sale but was discovered after it, does not have
to be disclosed to the current members, even though they are liable for
cleanup costs.
KIUC is a member of the National Rural Electric
Cooperative Association (NRECA), whose works promote the interests of
the nearly 1,000 electric co-ops in the U.S. The “interests”
are not healthy: NRECA opposes clean-air legislation, the Kyoto Protocol
and the regulation of gases that contribute to global warming; and the
organization promotes the use of coal.
KIUC actively resists challenges to its autocratic
structure. Last year, when Kaua‘i’s representatives in the state
Legislature proposed legislation that would have fleshed out the details
concerning the structure and regulation of electric co-ops, KIUC opposed
it and the bills died.
The success of KIUC could help to determine whether
all of Hawai‘i’s utilities should be turned into co-ops. So
far, the paradigm doesn’t have a very good record.
—Henry Curtis
A Hindu temple in Wailua
A temple is rising on Kaua‘i’s eastside
— the first all-stone, hand-carved, granite Hindu temple ever built
in the West. It’s been 13 years in the making so far, requiring the
efforts of an entire village of 75 stone carvers and their families in
Bangalore, India, where stones are quarried, carved and trial-fitted before
they’re shipped to Kaua‘i’s lush windward side. At the
Kaua‘i Aadheenam’s 458-acre monastery/temple complex, master
stone carvers receive and assemble them.
When the pay-as-you-go, $16-millon Iraivan Temple
project is completed, perhaps in 2012, a 700-pound, single-pointed quartz
crystal, one of the largest in the world, will be enshrined in the temple
to represent God Siva in His transcendent state.
“It’s amazing to find something like
this on this island,” said Tim Agana, who lives near the ashram.
“But Kaua‘i seems to attract a lot of what’s unusual.”
The semi-rural, bedroom community of Wailua Homesteads
has quietly become a hotspot for American Hinduism, where monks of the
Saiva Siddhanta Yoga Order quietly conduct major works. Besides digitally
producing Hinduism Today, a full-color quarterly magazine reaching
millions worldwide, the monks supervise the temple’s construction
and host meditation retreats. They also host tours of their smaller, Kadavul
Nataraja Temple weekday mornings between 9 and 11:30 a.m., and two-hour
tours of the ashram and its gardens are offered weekly. Visitors are required
to dress modestly, however, which means no shorts and tank tops. Call
808-822-3012 for recorded information or go to gurudeva.org.
—Joan Conrow
Snails
threaten taro crops
Poi-lovers beware. Your favorite starch is in
jeopardy.
A small snail is devouring taro all around Hawai‘i,
and that means tough times for the state’s taro industry, which is
centered on Kaua‘i. At least a third of the island’s farms are
afflicted with the voracious alien pests that were illegally imported
from Southeast Asia more than a decade ago. Some farmers are reporting
crop losses of 30 to 40 percent.
“In all the years I’ve been farming,
I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Rodney Haraguchi,
president of the Kaua‘i Taro Growers Association and a longtime taro
grower in Hanalei valley. “And it just keeps getting worse.”
The tedious process of hand-picking snails off
the plants is about the only way to control them in the lo‘i, jacking
up labor costs for what is already a labor-intensive crop. Besides harvesting
the corms early to reduce snail damage, farmers are drying their fields
more often to discourage the pests, which affects both the quality and
quantity of taro production.
There is one hope. Several varieties of flightless,
domesticated ducks have proven to be extremely effective in controlling
the snail, all the while producing fertilizer for the fields. The birds
and their eggs also can be eaten, although they’re considered too
valuable as snailers to eat.
However, there is currently a ban on importing
ducks to Hawai‘i because of disease concerns, and farmers using the
birds are reluctant to talk about it because they fear the practice is
technically illegal. Hawai‘i’s native duck, the koloa-maoli,
also eats snails, but its small bill limits the size it can consume. And
koloa-maoli have their own drawback: They upend the huli when they flap
their way out of newly planted lo‘i.
—Joan Conrow
Restaurant
Review: Kaua‘i casual
Kapa‘a’s Caffè Coco is a health-conscious outdoor
dining at its best.
Joanne Fujita
Caffè Coco has all the best qualities
of Kaua‘i — lush with greenery, laid-back and friendly. This
playful, charming restaurant features an outdoor dining room that is sheltered
by the kind of tents that are used at lü‘au — simple structures
open at the sides with dark plastic sheeting stretched above. Colorful
plants surround the tents and hang from above, interspersed with rope
lights. A gaggle of mismatched tables complete the scene, surrounding
a stage for live entertainers. Tucked away next to an abandoned cane field
off busy Kühiö Highway, it’s an oasis of refreshing Kaua‘i
insouciance.
This is the sort of place you may have looked
for on O‘ahu and never found, as it is way too casual, much too arty
and just too cool to have survived the vicious corporate culture on our
frantic island. Chef/Owner Ginger Carlson has fought hard to keep her
restaurant this way, battling the many sanitation/safety challenges that
come with having an outdoor restaurant. Her menu is just as independent-minded,
emphasizing vegetable and fish dishes and eschewing beef and chicken.
The Pacific Rim Platter ($18) has a foundation
of crisp shreds of Chinese cabbage, bean sprouts and carrots tossed with
a little rice vermicelli with peanut dressing on the side. Tofu Potstickers
($8.50 a la carte) and seared ‘ahi with a sweet and tangy pineapple
glaze top the mound of salad, and a scoop of white rice completes this
brightly flavored dinner. Vegetarians will be happy to know there is a
Tofu Pacific Rim Platter for $16.
Chef Carlson prepares ‘ahi five different
ways — and fortunately doesn’t overcook it. Among these, the
polyglot Charmoula Platter ($19) has ‘ahi burnished red with paprika
and spiked with a bit more heat than the typical Moroccan recipe. On the
fish she drizzles Indian cucumber and yogurt raita, and serves it with
the Thai-influenced vermicelli salad and an Indian curried potato and
pea samosa (a phyllo pastry) dabbed with a little banana chutney. Though
all of this gleeful mixing of cuisines may upset purists, the flavors
work well together as they share cumin and coriander as a base.
The one red meat that Carlson includes in her
menu is pork, because locally produced pork is excellent — and because
she is committed to using fresh and Hawai‘i-grown products. Though
I didn’t sample it, her Arista Pork ($16), slow-roasted with garlic,
sounds wonderful. There isn’t anything fancy or polished about the
food or presentation, but there’s plenty of soul, which is far more
important anyway.
Carlson has also decided against getting a liquor
license, a bold move since selling liquor can be such a good source of
income. Instead, she sells wholesome house-made beverages like her sprightly
Ginger Lemonade ($2) and refreshing Hibiscus Green Tea Cooler ($2). This
said, she nonetheless allows her guests to bring their own wine and beer
for a corkage fee of $5. As the name indicates, Caffè Coco also
has a full espresso bar.
Meals are ordered at the counter — a good
strategy, as the counter displays an array of freshly baked desserts in
the glass case. Service is wonderfully relaxed. When you finish ordering,
you’re given a choice of eating indoors or outdoors. Then you’re
told, “Sit anywhere, we’ll find you.” And they do.
The desserts in the case are fetching, like the
moist Mocha Cake $3.95), but they simply can’t compare to the Hawaiian
Sweet Bread Pudding ($5.95). Unlike the heavy and stodgy puddings so commonly
found, this concoction is lightly textured and not too sweet, scattered
with dried cranberries and soaked with a delightful homemade chai (spiced
tea) syrup. Our waitress, Kerry, was so confident we would love it she
announced, “We’ll make you a wonderful Hawaiian Sweet
Bread Pudding, but it will take 15 minutes.”
We said, “Stop talking already — put
our order in!”
Waiting for dessert is no hardship in the evening
when Caffè Coco has live entertainment. The couple playing guitar
and singing Spanish songs the evening I had dinner there were so relaxed,
they conversed with each other as though no one was watching. “Shall
we play longer?” asked the young man to his wife.
“All right, let’s play until 9,”
she replied.
They spoke with each other and members of the
audience with equal ease — as though they were at a friend’s
house rather than a restaurant. The cool evening, the mellow music and
the bread pudding put us into a state of dreamy comfort that would have
been complete except that ... damn these mosquitoes!
Caffè Coco, 4-369 Kühiö Hwy, Wailua, Kaua‘i:
Lunch, Tue - Fri, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Dinner, Tue - Sun, 5 - 9 p.m. (808)
822-7990.
