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Kady Pascual

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"type":"text","text":"From the ground:"}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"From the sky:"}]

Circular rainbow

<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social meets Hawai‘i Skies</title>

Did you know that rainbows are circular? A rare sighting of a full circular rainbow was spotted in Hawaiʻi — the rainbow state. #ThrowbackThursday

Hawai‘i Scene on Social meets Hawai‘i Skies

From the ground:  Make sure you follow @nikkivibesxx on Instagram!  From the sky:  Make sure you follow @fox5ny on Instagram!

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Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Food & Dining

[{"type":"text","text":"Hawaiian Airlines is taking a taste of Hawai‘i to the skies."}]

The airline is doing away with complimentary meals in the main cabin of most domestic flights. Instead, starting July 1, those passengers will be able to pre-order food from a Hawai‘i-inspired menu curated by Maui-based chef Sheldon Simeon.

According to a Thursday announcement from Hawaiian, his menu offers "elevated takes on local favorites and comfort foods," with many items highlighting signature flavors from his restaurants.

Simeon, who's known for his Valley Isle eateries Tin Roof and Tiffany's Restaurant & Bar, has received several James Beard Award nominations and was a 

 for Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific this year.

"Already offered in first class, the pre-order model puts guests in control of their onboard dining experience throughout the cabin, with first class guests now benefiting from an expanded selection of menu options," the announcement notes.

"We're excited because this is really about a transformation across our entire in-flight experience from a food and beverage perspective," Alisa Onishi, managing director of Hawai‘i marketing for Hawaiian Airlines, told Aloha State Daily. 

It's the first time Hawaiian has offered a chef-curated menu in the main cabin, she says. The curated pre-order menu will be available on all domestic flights between Hawai‘i and the Mainland, except for those to JFK International Airport in New York City, which will continue to receive a complimentary meal.

Other buy-on-board products will remain the same, Onishi says, and the airline will continue to offer free snacks from local partners on board.

"Our most frequent flyers have given us feedback over the years that they've been wanting more choice and higher-quality meal options, so we are exited to provide more selection," Onishi says, noting that gluten-free and vegan options have been requested by guests throughout the years, "and we are now able to provide for them. We're really excited about giving our guests more choice and better quality option for food in-flight."

Onishi says that the airline began to work toward this before its integration with Alaska Airlines, and always had Simeon, one of Hawaiian's featured chefs in 2015, "in our hearts and minds."

"He had done one of our first class menus back then and [was] just such a great chef to work with," she told ASD. " ... He understood how to make food on an airplane taste really good. He understands the restrictions ... we have in the aircraft, so he was really able to create this menu that was island-inspired, using local resources, making sure that there's a story behind each of the menu items. So, we knew from the beginning that Chef Sheldon was one of our first choices. We knew he was the right [person] to partner with for this program because it is the first time for doing this in our main cabin and we wanted to make sure that we had a chef who understood the assignment and knew how to make something beautiful and successful and taste really great from kitchen into the airplane."

During a tasting of the menu Wednesday, Simeon said it's been nearly a year since discussions first began.

"There have been so many ideas, even prior to our first meeting and our first tasting, that we did internally with my chefs at the restaurant," he says. "It was just such a cool opportunity. ... Hawai‘i has some of the best cuisines, some [of the] best restaurants and best flavors that there is, and we have to continue to celebrate that. This is a huge, huge win for Hawai‘i culinary that Hawaiian has given us the opportunity to share these flavors."

Here's what you'll be able to grab from the 

The morning menu, available for flights that depart between 6 and 9:59 a.m., includes corned beef hash and poached eggs; french toast or banana pancakes with scrambled eggs and Portuguese sausage (don't skip the the spicy-K mayo or banana bread syrup); coconut overnight oats, a vegan and gluten-free option; and a cheesy omelet with chicken sausage and roasted potatoes, which is coming this fall.

Meanwhile, the afternoon and evening menu, available for flights departing between 10 a.m. and 8:29 p.m., includes crispy mochiko chicken and garlic noodles, which comes with mac salad and bag of crispy toppings; a bento that includes grilled teriyaki chicken, tamagoyaki, kamaboko and a shoyu hotdog; teriyaki cheeseburger; grilled chicken bahn mi sandwich; a salad with li hing mango, baby kale, almonds, edamame, grape tomato and quinoa, along with a li hing balsamic vinaigrette; Italian sub; and cheeseburger mac and cheese, which is coming this fall.

Prices for each meal range from about $11 to $17. According to the announcement, the meals will be prepared with fresh ingredients no more than 12 hours before each flight.

You can order through the Alaska Hawaiian mobile app or website two weeks in advance and as close as 20 hours before departure.

Hawaiian and Simeon will introduce new dishes and rotate items throughout the year, the announcement notes.

Residents who are Huaka‘i by Hawaiian members, or who become members by June 24, will get two free meals starting July 1.

In March, Hawaiian welcomed Chef Dell Valdez as its new executive chef. Read 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Sheldon simeon hawaiian airlines 052826

<title>Hawaiian Airlines moving to pre-paid meals in main cabin for most Mainland flights</title>

Travelers will be able to pre-order from a menu curated by Maui-based chef Sheldon Simeon starting July 1.

Hawaiian Airlines moving to pre-paid meals in main cabin for most Mainland flights

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Crime & Courts

 the City and County of Honolulu after she was fined nearly $600,000 over an improper apartment listing.

In 2019, Sandra May needed a tenant. She had owned a home on Wilhelmina Rise since the 1970s, with a lower unit in the home available for rent by long-term tenants. But after her husband died in 2019, May, living on a fixed Social Security income, needed to make ends meet, but couldn’t find another tenant.

To broaden her search, May listed the unit on several online rental platforms. But May — who her attorney Loren Seehase said “struggles to utilize any kind of technology” — had inadvertently listed the unit as available for less than 30 days.

That same year, the City and County adopted an 

 hiking up fines against property owners illegally hosting short-term rentals. Violators could be fined up to $10,000 for each day a violation persists.

In November 2019, May received a notice of a violation from the city regarding an online property listing. She promptly corrected the listing to show that the unit was only available for periods of 30 days or more, and believed the matter to be done.

Two years later, after the lifting of the Covid-era moratorium on evicting tenants for non-payment of rent, May again was in need of new tenants. Once again she listed the unit online, once again (in 2023) she received a notice of violation from the city, once again she corrected the listing, once again she thought the matter over.

In April 2024, it happened again. Only this time, because this was a recurring violation, the city informed May that she would incur daily $10,000 fines until the listings were corrected.

Unfortunately, May spent much of late March and April in and out of the hospital following a car crash and other medical procedures. By the time she learned of the violation and was able to correct it, 59 days had elapsed — and now she owed the city $590,000.

On the same day, the city also placed a $10,000 lien on May’s property stemming from the second violation.

“She’s like, ‘you know you’re going to put an old lady out on the street,’” Seehase told Aloha State Daily. “‘I can’t pay this, you’d have to take my home.’ And the city responded by saying ‘Well, I guess you’d better get an attorney.’ So, it was a very callous response. Poor Sandra was in tears about it, and there was no conversation, there was no negotiating, there was no listening to reason.”

May sought out attorneys, who referred her to the Pacific Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm that focuses on property rights cases. Even better for May, the PLF works pro bono, Seehase said.

Seehase said the letter informing May of how much she owed the city did not mention any way to challenge the fines. Without a mechanism within ordinances to challenge the situation, Seehase said the only option is to challenge it on constitutional grounds, in federal court.

In particular, Seehase said the case could be argued to be in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. That amendment most famously concerns “cruel and unusual punishment,” but also protects against excessive fines.

Seehase said other Eighth Amendment cases have attempted to determine whether particular fines are so ruinous they will destroy a person’s livelihood, weighed in proportion to the actual crime itself.

In this particular case, Seehase said, May’s mistake brought no harm to anybody other than herself.

“This is not the type of situation where we’ve got like a building code violation and lives are imminently in danger,” Seehase said. “This is an advertisement, so there was no harm done to anyone.”

On the other side of the coin, Seehase said the $10,000-per-day fines are the absolute maximum allowed by city ordinance, and that the city could have chosen to reduce those fines at their discretion. Because the city hit May with the $590,000 fines and the $10,000 lien on the same day, Seehase said that “it really kind of appeared that the city went on a vendetta … against poor Sandra.”

Seehase emphasized that, regardless of how the listings may have appeared online, May did not ever offer the property for periods of less than 30 days. If a person attempted to book the property for less than 30 days, May would cancel the booking.

May is seeking relief through the federal court, not monetary damages, Seehase said. Should they win, the court will determine an appropriate remedy, potentially including a partial or total reduction of the fines.

Seehase said the City and County has 21 days to respond once they have been served.

A spokesman for the Department of Planning and Permitting told ASD the department cannot comment on pending litigation.

Sandra May rentalsign 610x407 16x9

<title>Octogenarian sues Honolulu over $600,000 fines</title>

Sandra May was told she owed the city hundreds of thousands of dollars over an improper online rental listing.

Octogenarian sues Honolulu over $600,000 fines

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Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

 recently opened its second location. The business’s original location is close to Hilton Hawaiian Village; Goofy Café & Dine – Waikīkī Beach is on the first floor of The Twin Fin Hotel on Kalākaua Avenue. Its grand opening is Friday, May 29.

While the original Goofy’s Café offers dinner, it focuses on brunch. The new restaurant, which is in the former spot of Wolfgang Puck Express, features an all-day dining experience with menus for breakfast, lunch, happy hour and dinner.

The breakfast menu is offered from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to general manager Michael Tabarejo. The menu features customer favorites like smoked salmon eggs Benedict ($24.50), lemon butter garlic shrimp omelet ($21), avocado toast ($18), and the Big Island beef loco moco ($24). However, the Waikīkī Beach café offers buttermilk pancakes with a variety of toppings.

“Pancakes are only at this location,” general manager Michael Tabarejo confirms. “They (the other location) do French toasts. For our eggs Benedicts, we use sourdough bread instead of English muffins.”

The fluffy buttermilk pancakes come with toppings like fresh berries ($20), Hawaiian tropical fruits ($20), brown sugar mascarpone cream ($18) and bacon mac and cheese ($20). The latter features a sweet-and-savory combo, thanks to the melted cheese topping with maple syrup on the side.

The brown sugar mascarpone cream features a velvety mascarpone whipped with brown butter and rich brown sugar.

The eatery’s popular acai bowls are still available at this location. Choose from the fresh berries bowl ($18), Hawaiian tropical fruit bowl ($18) or niu acai bowl ($19). Tabarejo recommends the latter, which includes papaya, strawberries, banana, coconut mousse, chia seeds and coconut flakes.

The eatery’s lunch menu is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Options range from local corn fried rice ($20) and the Goofy cheeseburger ($21) to fish and chips ($23 lunch, $20 happy hour).

“For lunch, the corn fried rice is amazing,” Tabarejo says. “It’s got some protein (pork belly), vegetables and rice. Our fish and chips are also good; they’re light and crispy. We use Swai (for the fish).”

The fish and chips are served with fries and tartar sauce. The Goofy cheeseburger features a brioche bun filled with a double 4-ounce beef patty, Swiss cheese, American cheese, caramelized onions and house sauce, with fries on the side.

The eatery’s happy hour, available daily from 2 to 5 p.m., is exclusive to this location (the eatery’s Village location doesn’t have a happy hour). Customers can enjoy pūpū-style dishes — like ‘ulu hummus and tortilla chips ($12), truffle fries ($12), spicy ‘ahi nachos ($18) and the Goofy spread board ($15) — along with larger plates like the spicy crispy chicken sandwich ($20) and clubhouse sandwich ($20).

The Island-grown breadfruit hummus comes with local tortilla chips. The Goofy spread board ($15) is anticipated to be a signature option. Pick any three house spreads — fresh guacamole, kalua pork rillettes, ricotta honey pepper whip or truffle local mushroom pate — served with toasted sourdough.

The restaurant’s dinner menu, served from 5 to closing, features heartier options like steak and fries ($48), creamy Tuscan salmon ($35), chicken Parmigiano ($26), confit Branzino ($69) and surf and turf ($120). The latter is designed to serve two people, and includes a 1-pound rib-eye steak, lobster tail and Kauai shrimp. The confit Branzino is a Mediterranean sea bass that features a whole fish served with pistachio caper salsa and roasted potatoes.

Customers can also enjoy a variety of beverages, ranging from beers and wines by the glass or bottle to house cocktails and “Goofy Flow” drinks. The latter are frozen cocktails and come in flavors like liliko

i, peach and starburst ($18 each), which features a mango strawberry syrup. "Goofy Flow" drinks are usually made with rum, but non-alcoholic versions are also available. 

Goofy Café & Dine – Waikīkī Beach also features a takeout window with a separate grab-and-go menu. The takeout window is open from noon to 5 p.m. and features options like furikake fries ($6), volcano loaded fries ($9), volcano chili cheese hot dogs ($13) and more.

[{"type":"text","text":"The eatery offers a 5% kamaʻāina discount. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Validated valet parking is available (three-hour validation for $8)."}]

Open daily starting Friday, May 29, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Valet parking available (three-hour validation for $8)

Goofy Cafe Waikiki brunch spread 052626

<title>Goofy Café & Dine opens second location</title>

This popular brunch spot — whose original location is near Hilton Hawaiian Village — opened a second location at The Twin Fin Hotel. This new location features brunch, lunch, happy hour and an expanded dinner menu. The café’s grand opening is Friday, May 29.

Goofy Café & Dine opens second location

Igor Lytvynchuk, the Washington man charged with throwing a rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal, had his first court appearance in Honolulu on Wednesday.

Lytvynchuk, 38, appeared in U.S. District Court to plead "not guilty" to two charges of illegal taking of an endangered marine mammal. Those charges stem from 

 on May 5 when a man — later identified by investigators as Lytvynchuk — was recorded on video hurling a rock at a monk seal on a Maui beach, seemingly only narrowly missing the animal’s head.

As any form of harassment of an endangered seal violates both the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, that single rock incurred two charges. Both charges are misdemeanor offenses, carrying a maximum possible sentence of one year in prison each, although Magistrate Judge Rom Trader told Lytvynchuk Wednesday that there is no guarantee, if he is found guilty, that he will face the full maximum sentence.

Lytvynchuk was arrested May 13 near Seattle by special agents of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Following an initial court appearance in Washington, the case was transferred to the District of Hawai‘i.

Lytvynchuk had little opportunity to speak at Wednesday’s hearing, confirming in one or two words that he understood Trader’s description of the legal process ahead of him. While his “not guilty” plea drew murmurs from the several dozen people in the gallery, he made no statement about his actions during or after the hearing.

However, a lawyer for Lytvynchuk had previously told media that Lytvynchuk had supposedly believed the seal to be a sea lion threatening sea turtles.

Trader ordered Lytvynchuk to be released on an unsecured $25,000 bond with several conditions, including that Lytvynchuk surrender his passport and all travel documents, that he not change addresses without approval from his pretrial officer, and that his travel is restricted to the Western District of Washington — a U.S. court district covering the state west of the Cascade Mountains — and O‘ahu for court purposes only.

Furthermore, when on O‘ahu, Lytvynchuk is prohibited from accessing any beaches or approaching any marine wildlife, Trader said.

“I think that’s an appropriately tailored restriction, given the circumstances,” Trader said.

Failing to comply with these conditions could result in a warrant for Lytvynchuk’s arrest and put him in jail until trial.

Lytvynchuk is also required to be present at future court hearings. However, Trader said he is inclined to waive that requirement for certain minor hearings and allow Lytvynchuk to appear remotely.

For example, the next hearing date is scheduled for June 9, where attorneys for both sides will set a mutually agreeable trial date and other deadlines. Trader agreed with Lytvynchuk’s attorney Sean Fitzsimmons that Lytvynchuk’s physical presence at that hearing will not be necessary.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social meets Hawai‘i Skies

From the ground:

From the sky:

Kady Pascual

Social Media Editor

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social meets Hawai‘i Skies

From the ground:

From the sky:

Authors

Kady Pascual

Social Media Editor

More in Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Neighborhood weather updates

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Island vibes

Gotta catch ‘em all — at Ala Moana Center: voices from Pokémon GO’s “Wild Area: Global” event

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