LUNCH pages

Big change for Rochelle and me: traveling with a family of four including a daring 5-year-old. (Reminds us of her Dad at that age.) We two are so used to, and comfortable with, each others' company. That, along with all of the above, will certainly call us back gratefully to our native terroir after this adventure.

Here's Rochelle taking her ease at Rustic, surrounded by Francis Ford Coppola's vineyards, awaiting a delicious shared lunch on our last trip to Santa Rosa (but one) before departure for Oakland and Kauai.

North Coast natives call the counties south of Mendocino "down below" and there are advantages to going there, a principle one being numerous excellent restaurants. Catelli's now in its fifth generation of family ownership, is one of our favorites.

Sienna braved the increasingly busy highway south of Geyserville, a sort of southern edge of Mendonesia, and dropped us at Santa Rosa airport, where we caught the Airport Express to OAK – Oakland International, our point of departure for Hawaii.

I did something strange to my camera, and it took some wild photos ... Neil, our Airport Express driver to Petaluma, who chattered constantly, told us all that Sunday afternoons on 101 were nightmarish, with everyone who'd gone to the wine country driving home. He took us on a back road into Petaluma, where we transferred to Mike's bus, and the real fun began. He too took a back road, the Black Point Cutoff over the Petaluma River, but through San Rafael there are no options. 

By the time we reached the East Bay, any suggestions of natural beauty were safely extinguished by a layer of summer smog.

Lazy morning -- last night's delicious left-over polenta for breakfast -- and then off in search of ingredients for paella to please Lindsey. Lunch first at Fresh Bite, the only 5-star eatery in Hanalei, and Yes, it's a food truck. And also Yes, worth 5 stars.

Freshest greens yet, nicely torn; excellent dressing, righteous amendments (ripe local tomato!) and Moloka'i Purple Sweet Potato Fries with organic catsup. Yum.

We negotiated our way through the metropolis to Jackie Ray's Ohana Grill, where we were hanaied into the ohana and served food like we get on our planet, only with an Island slant. 

Kalua pig spring rolls with a tangy pineapple sauce, Chicken tacos, and an Island salad. Set us up for the rest of the day!

After a shower and a futile search for a missing farmers market, we stopped into Ka'aloa's Super J's for a real Hawaiian lunch. We asked the Hawaiian lady behind the counter to feed us, and she asked, How hungry? Medium big, we said. Laulau is the staple -- the dark green square that's a sort of Hawaiian tamale. Rochelle got chicken laulau, chicken and white rice wrapped in taro leaves (also called laulau. A lunch plate like this is also called Laulau. Nobody is confused by this.)

The accompaniments are macaroni salad, a sort of salsa, and, in the smaller dish, a kind of cabbage and kalua pig dish, don't know its name. 

More white rice than I've eaten in a decade, but delicious. Constant stream of folks, some sit down at the big table with us, others take-out. Strong sense of community up here too.

You sharp eyed ones will note that the crockery is vintage styrofoam.

Drove up to Highway 11 for lunch at Sundried Sprecialties, a warehouse with a kitchen service counter, a couple big tables, a lot of refrigeration, and two smiling Kanaka Maoli to take your order ...anything you want so long as it's fresh fish.

Rochelle ordered Crabby Cakes (I didn't get it at the time) and I the Ono fish plate. $23. Fresh, well-breaded, and enough brown rice for a week. Right after we arrived, lunchtime hit, and everyone was scurrying and twitching Hawaiian style (meaning: not much.)

Hilo for lunch, a favorite restaurant right in the middle of the downtown, Pesto. We knew we had a big dinner in store, and so we went light: two beautiful salads with fresh local lettuce.

Back to Hawi for lunch at Bamboo, a favorite spot. I wore the shirt that I bought there in 2011, and no fewer than three staffers commented on it.

Lunch was chicken and ginger pot stickers with Hawaiian flavored sauce, more Ono in a special dressing with white rice and cooked veg, and a Kohala salad with mac nuts and delicious salad fixings. Please come back again, say at least three staffers; it breaks my heart a little that is almost certainly our last Hawaii trip. Better now to treasure the old memories.

next group : Above Waimea