Melissa Chang

Frolic Contributor

Melissa Chang graduated from the University of Hawai‘i with a degree in journalism and has been blogging since 2007, mostly on food and travel. She works primarily in social media, so you can find her on Twitter and Instagram.

 

 

Articles

Something new: Angelo Pietro opens in Kaimuki

It’s been about a year and a half since Angelo Pietro closed its Kapiolani Boulevard location and disappeared for a while as the owners looked for a new place. Well, as you may have heard, they finally reopened, and are…

Preview: MODERN Chef Takeover

If you’re going to have a chef take over your hotel kitchen, you might as well make it Will Chen. The MODERN Honolulu’s chef Keith Pajinag brought Will in to develop two items for the hotel’s poolside menu all weekend,…

Tips on traveling to Singapore

We wouldn’t send you to a foreign country without tips! Here are some quick and useful tips to help you prep for your trip to Singapore. GETTING THERE Currently, there are no direct flights to Singapore. You have to transfer through a…

Chai’s Waikiki revamps

Almost a year ago, Chef Chai Chaowasaree opened his Waikiki restaurant in the former Singha Thai space as a take-out plate lunch venue. At the time, I was surprised to see such a casual approach to Chai’s food, and apparently…

Dinner with a Singapore blogger

Oh, the power of social media. I follow a blogger named SingaporeanEats on Instagram and am always drooling over her food finds in The Lion City. So of course, as I was planning this trip, I pinged her to see…

Aloha Singapore! From hawker stalls to high cuisine

I’ve finally arrived in Singapore! It’s a great time to be visiting the island nation, as 2015 marks its 50th year of independence from Malaysia. If you are planning to visit, keep in mind that there is no direct flight from…

A little North Shore adventure

The new Courtyard by Marriott North Shore Oahu in Laie. Life is full of unexpected twists … which is probably the theme of this blog post. I recently headed out to Laie with media maven Pam Davis for the grand opening…

Packing light like a pro

Happy 50th, Singapore! This year marks the 50th anniversary of Singapore’s independence, when it was ejected from the Federation of Malaysia amidst social unrest. I’d say it’s done quite well for itself; in these five decades, the former British colony…

Preview: “Paradise Come Dawn” at Stage

October 15 is the last special performance dinner for the year at Stage Restaurant as they gear up for the holidays, so they’re ending with a big throwback to the cruise ship era, when the Lurline sailed through Honolulu with…

New at Chez Kenzo: veg-friendly menu items

There must be about 100 items on the menu at Chez Kenzo, which makes it hard for people to choose whenever they go. It made me wonder if new items would make things harder for people trying to decide on…

Do good: Fight hunger with CANstruction

Yesterday was the 10th annual CANstruction® competition, put on by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honolulu, where teams of architects, designers and engineers used their talents to create gigantic structures made of canned goods to benefit the Hawaii Foodbank. If…

Farewell, David Nagaishi

I don’t usually post bad news in my blog, but this one is a little different. I had just uploaded photos for an upcoming post, where my friend Pam Davis and I went out to Laie to visit various people — among…

Party pics: Honolulu Coffee Experience Center grand opening

Honolulu Coffee Company officially added its twelfth Hawaii location to its roster last night with the grand opening of its Coffee Experience Center in the former Hard Rock space across the Hawaii Convention Center. The new venue serves coffee, of…

Something new: Fortune Noodle

What comes to mind when you think of Chinese food? Orange chicken? Egg rolls? Peking duck? Well, one of those three actually hail from the Middle Kingdom. Recently Honolulu got an injection of some authentic regional Chinese cuisine, and we went to…

Party pics: The Hawai’i Waterman Hall of Fame

Four legends in Hawai’i’s water sports were honored last night by the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation for their accomplishments, as well as contributions to the sport and community: surfer Duane DeSoto, paddler Walter Guild, surfer Joey Cabell, and swimmer (the…

Chinee like me: Moon Festival 2015

Well, I finally got it right. After years of doing the last-minute moon cake rush, I am telling you ahead of time about the annual harvest moon celebration so you can get your treats to enjoy this weekend. That’s right,…

A toast to Tuscany with Frances Mayes

From left: Jim Hansen, Alvin Savella, Matt Skaletsky and Frances Mayes. As if you needed an excuse to hop over to Maui … On September 23, Pūlehu, an Italian Grill at The Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort (KOR) Villas is having…

Something new: Maui Pie

On the way home from my recent adventure at the Grand Wailea, PR maven Yvonne Biegel mentioned that there is a new pie shop in Kihei, and some people are even surmising that it could be better than Leoda’s in…

Preview: Tiki’s wine dinner

Okay, this isn’t exactly a preview of the wine dinner at Tiki’s Grill & Bar tomorrow night. It’s more of a recap of their last wine dinner, but this will give you an idea of what kind of creativity you’ll get to…

Party pics: Signature Chefs Food Festival

The rain didn’t deter any of the 520 attendees at the sixth annual Signature Chefs Food Festival, benefitting the Honolulu Firefighters Foundation. It was originally going to be held on the Monarch Lawn of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, but the…

#HFWF15: Caviar and champagne

There is no better way to taste fine caviar than with equally fine champagne. As an encore to last year’s “Caviar and Krug” event, the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival upped their game with French Sturia caviar paired with Cristal, Dom Pérignon, Krug, and…

A skating lesson with Kristi Yamaguchi

Olympic medalists Kristi Yamaguchi and Brian Boitano announced that they are bringing Hawaii’s first ice skating show in 20 years to the Blaisdell Arena on November 20 and 21 yesterday, and wowed us with a little performance of their own.…

Golden Moment: Q&A with Kristi Yamaguchi

Olympic Gold Medalists Brian Boitano and Kristi Yamaguchi. Tickets go on sale today for the first ice show in Hawaii in nearly 20 years, featuring a star-studded cast of figure skating champions. The Blaisdell Arena will be frozen over on November 20…

Ka Malama at the Grand Wailea

Chef Michael Lofaro getting ready to dive into dinner. Photo provided by Grand Wailea. Lucky we live Hawaii. There is no place in the world like it, no culture like it, no food or language that embodies the paradise we…

Preview: “Acoustic Soul Fusion” at Stage

Honolulu has seen a huge surge in promoting appreciation of the arts in recent years, from music to photography and painting, and yes, to food. Stage Restaurant was an early pioneer in merging those art forms, but lately they’ve been…

#HFWF15: Maui on My Mind

For the past few years, the Ka’anapali Beach Resort Association presented a weeklong event called Ka’anapali Fresh, showcasing Maui products and creativity of their chefs. Since it took place at the end of August and led into Labor Day weekend and the…

New menu at Hoku’s

Chefs Hiroshi Inoue, left, and Wayne Hirabayashi at Hoku’s. Photo provided by the Kahala Resort. Like many restaurants in town, Hoku’s at the Kahala Resort often offers special events and menus to infuse a bit of freshness to their repertoire. For…