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Executive Chef Kailua Now Open

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Actually, the Kailua location of the Executive Chef has been open since the month of December. Located right on the corner of Kailua Road, they’re a highly visible sight.  In fact, the store appeared to be open in November, but Closed signs indicated otherwise.

Executive Chef, Kailua location

The store’s interior is big, filled with every cooking gadget and tool you can think of.  The store is also deceptively “long,” taking some time to wend through all the aisles.  When I visited, there were so many workers (maybe 10), probably too much at an off-peak hour but reassuring nonetheless, and I did find a punchbowl serving ladle hiding by the checkout registers.

Now for the bad. While the location’s visibility is great, the parking is bad. There are three stalls (one of them reserved for Handicapped parking) near the store entrance, but getting to these limited stalls is tricky and the roadway is a tad tight. Otherwise, the parking is in the back, way in the back, beyond First Hawaiian Bank. In fact, the nearest row of parking is reserved for FHB customers, pushing back general parking even further. Hopefully, this FHB designation is removed to share the lot with upcoming businesses.

Executive Chef should get a boost once the neighboring Whole Foods opens up in 2012. You definitely need the upscale cookware to prepare your upscale groceries! Now I wonder if upscale clothing retailer, Fighting Eel, can get in on this… picture the modern day business mom driving home to Kailua, stopping off to pickup a fabulous outfit at Fighting Eel, then popping into the Executive Chef, and finally shopping at Whole Foods. Can you see it?

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V-moda Remix 4S?

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Of course the 4S in the V-moda’s Remix 4S stands for sport, sound, style, and speak. There is no alliance or tomfoolery associated with the recent iPhone 4S. But if you believe you need a Remix 4S to work with your iPhone 4S, then so be it.

mike-made-them-fly

Air Jordan 11 Madness

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#23. December 23, 2011. Air Jordan 11 retro. Concords. Black patent leather. The release date for the most iconic Air Jordan has been on every shoe head’s calendar.

Leading up to the release, original design sketches were released by The Architect, Tinker Hatfield. All MJ wanted was a shiny shoe.

Then, December 23, the clock hits midnight, the shoe drops virtually and physically.

Pandemonium. Across the nation, fights and riots ensue to own the Concords. By now, you’ve seen the news reports.

Online, you felt the Nike servers melt under the onslaught.

You wondered, “What does a blank checkout screen really mean?  Did the order go through?” Nike.com is inaccessible.  In an instant, the holy grail of kicks is no more. Good try. Move on. Catharsis.

And then…

Tinker made them shine. Mike made them fly. You made them iconic.
starbucks-tumbler

“Free” Coffee from Starbucks

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Did you manage to get one of those special Twelve Days of Christmas tumblers from Starbucks? The special on Day 12 of this promotion was a $20 tumbler that gets you free brewed coffee for all of January 2012. Yes, bring the 16-oz tumbler into Starbucks and get it filled for free!

At $1.70+ for a grande coffee, this tumbler can surely pay for itself soon enough. It’s the cup that keeps on giving (well, during January anyways).

I managed to get one after giving up on it. I slept on this deal, not planning on getting to a Starbucks early to buy one. I didn’t realize quantities of this tumbler were very limited with just a few allocated to stores. I went to one Starbucks at around 7:30am and asked about the tumblers. They said they sold out a long time ago. I then started calling every Starbucks on the Leeward side. Most laughed when I asked about the tumblers, saying they sold out “hours ago.” So I gave up on my hunt.

Then after work, I told my wife about the tumbler. She happened to see one at Starbucks Kaneohe while buying gifts there. I called and sure enough, they amazingly had one remaining. They held the cup for me so now I’ll be enjoying free Starbucks coffee to kick off 2012!

new-look-sbux-pick-week

New Year, New Look

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To welcome 2012, Starbucks freshened the look of its Pick of the Week freebies. Gone with 2011 is the former grey/silver color scheme. For 2012, it’s white with grey and green accents.

Go get your The Black Keys, Run Right Back, at your nearest Starbucks.

remembering-hackfelds

Remembering Hackfelds

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What do you see in this picture? Old timers will recognize the entrance to Hackfelds restaurant in vintage Liberty House Ala Moana.

I don’t remember if I ever ate at Hackfelds as a kid, but I must have at some point. I just remember this location being next to the downstairs bathrooms and a secret side entrance to the store. Since this restaurant is long since closed, there’s only one exit out of Macy’s ground floor.

Did you know the history of “The Liberty House” and the origin of its name “in response to anti-German sentiment” during World War I? The German Hackfeld family opened Hackfeld’s Dry Goods which became Liberty House and eventually Macy’s.

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