*This story was originally published on Feb. 13, 2018. The steel gate kicks open and a calf darts from the roping chute into the open arena. It barely gains a 10-foot lead before 30-year-old Kalai Nobriga is after it on his champagne-colored horse, his lasso whirling over his head. In what looks like a […]
“Ichi…ni…san…sake bomb!” The chant from a young man a table over is followed by a thundering response from his eight friends, who pound on the table and yell back, “Sake bomb!” Shots of sake suspended by chopsticks over half-full glasses of beer shake, then drop into the suds as the 18 sticks that held them
Ever heard of the phrase, “Leave No Trace”? It’s an accepted set of seven principles—a mantra in national parks and other protected outdoor spaces—that remind visitors to minimize their impact on the environment. One of those principles can directly be applied to national parks in Hawai‘i: Leave what you find. For decades, people have taken
Before sunrise one morning, on Hawai‘i Island, a man named ‘Ulu prayed to the gods for help and guidance. His son was dying and his village was starving. Later that day, ‘Ulu told his wife he would not live to see morning. “Bury my body outside near the stream,” he said. “In the morning go
When I visit O‘ahu’s North Shore, I take Kamehameha Highway along the Windward Coast so I can marvel at the rugged ridges of the Ko‘olau Mountains, from Kāne‘ohe to Lā‘ie. During these short road trips, I look forward to catching glimpses of the quaint neighborhoods and small oceanfront establishments along the way, many of them
Tiana Sudaria grew up going to Kaua‘i Bakery. Her favorite was always the bakery’s oversize cinnamon rolls. And every family birthday featured its guava chiffon cake. When she and her husband, Dante, heard it might be shutting down, they weren’t having it. An institution like Kaua‘i Bakery can’t close, they said. So they bought it.
Passing by a series of subterranean geological features named cave chocolate, cave bacon and cave popcorn, I start to wonder if Oompa-Loompas might also be found in Kula Kai Caverns, part of a vast underworld beneath the southwestern slopes of Mauna Loa. While I don’t end up nibbling the scenery like the kids in “Charlie
The server at Alaia places a bowl in front of me full of tender baby arugula topped with red and golden beets, slices of watermelon radishes and thinly sliced hearts of palm. Everything except the hearts of palm was grown at a nearby farm. That may not sound too unusual, especially in Hawai‘i where restaurants
It’s not every day you walk through a forest of Honduras mahogany trees in Hawai‘i—or anywhere, really. And yet, here we are, standing among more than 85,000 of these trees, planted in perfect rows on the Wai Koa Plantation, a 500-acre working farm on the north shore of Kaua‘i. Wai Koa is the largest mahogany
If the mai tai is Hawai‘i’s official cocktail, then POG is its official juice. Unlike Green River or Melona—flavors revered in Hawai‘i but not from Hawai‘i—POG was created on Maui at Haleākala Dairy (now Meadow Gold) in 1971. If you grew up here in the ’70s and ’80s you probably lived on the stuff. In
For months I’d tolerated a pain in my neck that, in recent weeks, had radiated down to my lower back. Nothing—not massage or yoga or stretches I learned through hours of YouTube videos—offered much relief. I was at the point where I would try anything, including spending an hour in a hyperbaric chamber. On my
In 2021 Carissa Moore clinched her fifth World Surf League championship and a few months later became the first female to win an Olympic gold medal in surfing. And now the world can read all about it—and much more—in her new book, “Hawai‘i Gold: A Celebration of Surfing.” It’s a remarkable tribute to the sport’s
