June 2022: Our Top 3 Most Viewed Posts About O‘ahu’s Food Scene
Seriously, how DO you feel about these cookies? Plus groundbreaking news and a charming food truck story.
No. 3: How Come Two Korean Food Trucks Stay Side by Side in Waikele?
Photo: Lee A. Tonouchi
Published June 13, 2022
Leave it to Lee Tonouchi to come up with a different way of looking at things. When Frolic’s Pidgin writer saw two Korean food trucks next to each other at Waikele Premium Outlets, he determined immediately that whoever came second was “unz,” or unreal, especially since the small lot doesn’t hold all that many trucks. Over several years both trucks became regular stops for Lee and his family—time enough to watch a simple but unique story evolve, and to draw a completely different conclusion.
No. 2: Fête’s Robynne Maii Wins Hawai‘i’s First James Beard Award in 19 Years
Photo: Maria Burke
Published June 13, 2022
When Robynne Maii was named the winner of the 2022 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific last month, digital dining editor Maria Burke and HONOLULU Magazine’s Martha Cheng were in the audience. Hawai‘i had an especially strong showing at the most prestigious culinary awards in the country, with Tin Roof’s Sheldon Simeon of Maui also nominated for the finals—this after a record 13 Hawai‘i chefs and restaurants drew semifinalist nods. On that Monday night in Chicago, Maria’s emotional text from the awards ceremony (“ROBYNNE WON!!!!!!!!”), Martha’s videotaped clip of Maii’s acceptance speech, and Maria’s group selfies immediately afterward alerted us of a milestone moment for the local dining scene. In Honolulu, where it was already late afternoon, we quickly published a post announcing the win, with Assistant Editor Thomas Obungen posting the news on Frolic’s social media channels. We scooped other local media with this story, always a rush for our tiny team.
No. 1: Are Kapolei’s New Crumbl Cookies Worth a 35-Minute Wait in Line?
Photo: Emily Smith
Published June 2, 2022
“I have an extremely high tolerance for sugar. I am interested in any story involving sweets.” I could practically hear the heavy breathing when I called HONOLULU intern Emily Smith to ask if she was interested in trying out Hawai‘i’s first location of America’s wildly popular Crumbl Cookies (5.4 million TikTok followers, 2.4 million on Instagram). Emily had already been tracking Crumbl’s impending opening at Kapolei and had plans to go even before I called. Not only was she the only one in the Frolic sphere willing to stand in line for cookies, she was willing to try all six of the massive sweets and offer a full review. Turns out, many of our readers mirrored the situation, either unwilling to stand in line or totally excited to try: Emily’s website post went viral, and our Facebook post drew 282 comments. Read Emily’s conclusion in her first full post for Frolic.
