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Grampies, a closer look
1/10/10 Update - Grampie's has vacated their former spot across from Century Center, and have been at 1770 Kapiolani Blvd. recently, at the Rock-Za Strip Club lot.
Aloha!
And that business just happened to be regarding something that came as a pleasant surprise, and will probably shock just about everyone in Hawaii Kai and beyond very soon, as he is actually beginning to make some very big news by leading the Kaiser High junior varsity football team to a 4-and-0 record! Why, I haven't seen that from a Kaiser team since... well... since I was in grade school myself! The architect of this turn-around is none other than Chico Gonda, the wild man on campus who used to moon the entire school, 'wooop his VW bug with abandon anywhere he wanted to, instigate food fights, and somehow, someway, always seemed to be in the middle of any gang brawl or ruckus! He was quite the terror, for sure, and that's putting it nicely.
Luckily for his teachers and the world in general, Chico has abandoned his once-wild ways, turning to God and becoming a man of powerful faith who has, along with his wife, Dee, been working with troubled youths ever since we came out of high school, over 20 years ago! One day, I'll write about the non-profit organization for kids that they've started and administered for the past so-many years, but let's hold-off on that for now, because, hey... it's football season!!!
Yeah, I know, I'm a fair weather fan who only gets excited when the team is doing well, but nonetheless, the kids do deserve the extra attention for winning games, right? If they perform well, in sports, in studies, or whatever, they need to be recognized and rewarded, is what I say. Don't get me started on these crazy people who've already changed the merit-based grading system in some of our own schools, and don't wanna give out A's because those getting D's and F's will feel bad! Hey, we're supposed to be preparing these kids for life, not sequestering them from life, and in life, if you continue getting D's and F's, you ain't going to college where they do give out D's and F's, and chances are, overwhelmingly, that you'll be in even more misery later - much more misery!
Man, I remember these days! Was good to see Mitch Simao out there, coaching the linebacker corps, as well. This guy was only about my height, maybe less, at 5'7 or so, but talk about a pit bull on the offensive line! He'd ring your bell no matter how big you were!
I asked Mitch if they had size, speed, or talent, and he said they've got it all! I guess the proof is right there on the field, though, as they've smashed everyone by 20, 30, 40 points except for Farrington, and that's including a victory over Saint Louis in pre-season! What the...??? Whatever the case, I do know they had some big boy's on that field, these four being some of them:
Freshmen and sophomore's? I swear these guys are transplants from Kahuku or something!
Dang, I shoulda got a shot of Chico's son, Joshua, whom I've known and played with since he was at the hospital being spanked, quite literally, but now towers over me in quite the reversal of roles. The boy ran for 260-something yards last week (varsity)! Of course, it was against Kalani, but still, the most I ever had was 107 yards against Kaimuki.
Props to my brother Chico, and his 4-and-0 jv football team!
Go Cougars!!!
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But getting back to Grampie's, and the ribs he just may become famous for one day, here's a shot of his palace, in an empty lot on Kalakaua Ave:
You've probably seen this scene if you've passed-by Kalakaua Ave. in the last three weeks, in the area just above Kapiolani Blvd., because that's about how long Grampie's has been in operation. And as regarding last time, when I was mumbling-on about how little I know, that's because I just happened to run into two people who knew a thing or two about Southern food, and both were kind enough to share a little insight into a world we here in the islands don't know very much about.
The first was someone I met who gave me a schooling about the Cajun flavors of Taste of the Bayou, which I thought was great, as did many of the professionals out there doing reviews on the place. While some of the dishes were pretty bad, like the catfish and especially their jambalaya, I thought anything that came with roux's were excellent, especially the shrimp etouffe. This kind Southern woman told me she'd been there twice hoping for some authentic Cajun, but was disappointed both times! In fact, even Big Al, who is a big-time foodie who regularly travels to the Mainland for work and has eaten at some of the best places in the country, as well as Da Gooch, both said that they didn't care much for anything except the gator, which did come with a roux! The thing is, she didn't really tell me what specifically was wrong about Taste of the Bayou, but just said she wasn't impressed at all. Hmmm.... Having never been to Mississippi or Lousiana before, I'd have to give her the benefit of the doubt - although I still say those roux's were killer!
The second conversation I had on the subject was with Terrell, who is none other than the owner of Grampie's itself! Cool guy, he was, very smart and common sensical, and though he knows real, authentic Southern food, he's actually been living in the island for the past 20 years or so, operating three successful businesses in completely separate fields. In Grampie's, however, he sees something that could go a long way, and if things go as planned and envisioned, it won't just be relegated to a small shack on the side of the road behind a chain link fence!
Since I've already identified him, I won't tell you exactly what he said about some of the other Southern food eateries on the island, but it was, uh... quite enlightening, to say the least!
Terrell was actually careful to admit that his place is not a 100 percent soul food operation. Hmmm... And what's the definition of real soul food? Well, he went off on a few different trains of thought, but in the end, he agreed that all it meant was traditional Southern foods, as enjoyed by the African-American culture, bottom line. The way he looks at it, he believes that a little twist here and there would better suit the needs of islanders, and a recurring theme within our conversation was his desire, more than anything else, to please his customers, not necessarily to replicate exactly what is real in a distant, far-off land not many locals know first-hand about anyway!
But even so, some of the dishes, as you'll soon see, haven't been tampered or tweaked with much at all, so you'll still get a good dose of Southern while dining here, for sure! I arrived on this particularly fabulous day with good friend Jeff Benik, my personal photography teacher, who spent all but the last 4 or so years of his life on the Mainland and is also very astute with Southern foods. And he, himself, was quite impressed with this place in general. The menu is not very large at all, with no hush puppies, no chitlin's, no sweet potato pie, but with a few staples that'll still do you a whole lotta good on a warm Hawaiian day in Paradise. And check out these prices! Pretty darn reasonable, if you ask me:
Beginning with the two sides we ordered, collared greens first, Terrel explained with a passionate relish that the key is not in the collared greens at all, but in the ham hocks or smoked turkey that it come with it, specifically - the marrow. Getting the marrow out of the bones is key, and the only way you extract it out is by simmering low and slow for hours on-end - this really brings out the flavors, which are mixed with the collared greens later for a kind of Southern pork luau.
Though it was a tad salty for me, the smoky, rich flavors sure were delicious and apparent in this staple dish, which he says gets lots of compliments from those who've never tried it before:
The next side was an order of mac and cheese, which we both found not particularly special. I guess we would have preferred a bit more of a creamier cheese sauce instead of what we found, which was little more than macaroni and cheese, and a cheese that solidified rather quickly. Unlike the previous dish, the flavors were not pronounced at all, and thus, more than anything else, kinda acted more as a neutral-tasting starch like rice instead of an all-in-one dish you could happily enjoy all by itself.
The next course was the only thing here I really recommend against getting, and I'm not even sure I should mention it because it's being discontinued real soon due to the fact that it's their slowest-selling item. Yep, the hot Italian sausage sub is going bye-bye, and that's a good thing, because there's nothing redeeming at all about it, so let's just leave it at that and move-on to bigger and better things.
And bigger and better was the next dish, which was a batch of large, plump chicken wings. In fact, it only gets better from here on out! Arriving with a golden-brown, substantially-flavored coating that carried with it a mix of different spices, the insides were also juicy and tender as could be. And the sheer size of these wings? Wow... I think Terrel needs to expand into both a Buffalo-style version and a local-style garlic offering, as well! But heck, why stop there? He could easily coat these wings with the same American-style bbq sauce as his ribs, along with honey mustard, Korean-style, or more, in much the same fashion as Dirty Lickin's in Aiea.
But I do believe it's ribs that can be considered the specialty of the house. Terrel says Fiji walked-in the other day, tasted them, and left with almost 30 lbs. worth! The succulent pieces are mixed in a base of American-style bbq sauces that are enhanced with a bit of a local touch, a touch that could include lychee, guava, coconut, or today's twist, pineapple. There's no announcement or schedule anywhere, you just come and find out what's cooking for the day. In fact, there's so many different sauces, and he's so proud of them, that the restaurant he plans on opening one day soon just may be called Grampie's House of Sauce!
And yes, I thought the sauce was delicious, coming perhaps a bit stronger on the sweet side, which usually suits most local people better, anyway. Judging by the very light touch of pineapple on todays' ribs, I don't think you'll have to worry much about disliking lychee, guava, or any other version, because the taste of pineapple was only juuust noticeable enough to keep things interesting, and does not disrupt or overload the senses with any one flavor. If anything, if no one told you, you'd probably come away with only one conclusion, and that is - American-style bbq, in one of the slightly sweeter, fruitier versions, perhaps.
Jeff has tasted American-style ribs all over the South, North, East, and West, quite literally, and he was well-pleased with the ribs here at Grampie's. They weren't particularly fall-apart soft, but held its own integrity while yet being tender, juicy, and delicious.
I know, I know - there aren't many true Southern spots where an order of ribs comes over a standard two scoops of rice, but I guess that's just another local touch they bring to the table here.
Though ribs are a must-order and by far, the most popular item in the house, a real sleeper just may be the catfish. Now, I gotta say, I am not a big fan of Southern-style catfish in general. I even told Terrel, who was surprised at the lack of any catfish on our table, that I just didn't care for the thick, gritty qualities of the cornmeal crust, and that goes for hushpuppies, as well. No problem, he says, as he quickly made his way back to the tiny shack, emerging a few minutes later with a small order of none other than - freshly-fried, cornmeal-crusted catfish! With all confidence, and urging us to experience it for ourselves, we both bit into the morsels with perhaps a bit of trepidation, at least on my part, as I wondered if I'd have to put-on a smiley face while sampling the same, almost sand-like crusted fish I'd had elsewhere:
Well, well - waddaya know? The smile was genuine and real this time! Both Jeff and I were pleasantly surprised at the lack of grit, and how relatively light and crispy the crust was in general. Terrell explained that it's all in the preparation, as he says you can't have too much moisture leaching from the fish, or you'll have cornmeal clumping in a thick, hard mess all over the outsides. Funny how a little care can go such a long way! Personally, Terrell favors the other variety of fish found here, snapper, which is prepared in the same way, but it's definitely catfish that sells better, by far.
Me, I'm just glad another Southern food operator has come along. Yeah, it's not the whole shebang as far as variety goes, and as explained, there are some local twists here and there, but it's still a kind of teaser-look into the world of soul food, which I'm sorry, but we just need a whole lot more of in the islands! I'm gonna have to re-visit Molly's in Wahiawa and Mom's in Waipahu, both found in the Southern/American bbq section, as it's been a while now. Perhaps I may see things differently after widening my perspectives within the past 18 months or so while doing this site, especially after talking with the two folks I bumped into this past week, who both seem to know exactly what they're talking about. We live, we learn, we grow - that's the main thing!
Hey, I'll leave you with one more shot to make your day, a gorgeous panoramic from off the Makapuu Pt. That Jeff, I tell you, he's doing all kinds of crazy things with the camera, including stitching-together several different shots in one pic, allowing for a wide, clear angle you just can't get any other way:
And with that, you all have a great and fantastic day, and a safe and wonderful weekend!
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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