DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

At the recommendation of friends, we reserved a table for dinner at Mama’s Fish House in Paia, on the north shore of Maui. I called several days in advance from the mainland, and even so, prime time seating for the weekend was fully booked. I took a 6:00pm seating on Sunday night.

We arrived an hour early, our day trip truncated by persistent drizzle. The staff graciously accomodated us; they seated us immediately at the best table in the restaurant, at the railing, facing the beach. In retrospect our timing was serendipitous, for we were able to enjoy the view for an hour before the sun set. After dark, the beach is lost to shadow.

The service began with an unexpected amuse-bouche, a shot of tasty crab bisque in an espresso cup. I was delighted to see that they brought one for Raphael as well, and more delighted when he made an icky face after the first taste. More for me.

Mama’s menu takes the high-end dining practice of naming the source of every ingredient, e.g. the French Laundry’s “Cloverdale Farms Rabbit” or “Wolfe Ranch Squab,” to a new and somewhat ridiculous level: naming the fisherman that caught each fish! For my entree I selected the “Mahimahi caught by DeWitt Lickle along the north shore of Maui.” I can tell you that Mr. Lickle catches one hell of a mahimahi; it was as good as the best fish I’ve ever eaten (the Dover Sole at the French Laundry).

The restaurant’s setting and decor are a visual treat — open-air dining a few dozen feet from the surf, decorated inside and out with Polynesian memorabilia. My companions were gaga for the Lotus flower arrangements. I don’t understand flowers, but I was digging the reprinted advertisements from WWII-era weapons makers in the men’s room. Strange but true.

Our server was helpful, offering honest recommendations and guidance, steering us toward his favorites. From beginning to end, the service was excellent, with one exception: the food was slow to arrive. Between the toddler-chasing, the architectural tours, the appetizers and so on, I didn’t notice how much time had passed until someone mentioned it. I doubt this is typical, but our Mama’s dining experience lasted two and a half hours.

The desserts were excellent. I was as stuffed as my mahimahi, but the server talked us into splitting the banana crisp and the chocolate mousse. Four forks flew… two fingerprint-smeared plates remained. I won’t admonish you to “save room,” because it’s senseless. Eat a bunch of fish first, but have dessert anyway. What the hell; you’re on vacation.

One of my dining companions commented that Mama’s serves the best food on Maui. He’s an accomplished chef, and he spends a month on the island every year, so this is saying something. I hope to return frequently to continue my personal comparison of Mama’s to every other fish house on Maui; until I’m finished, I’d be inclined to agree with him. It was truly great.

Here’s a long-exposure, post-sunset panorama of the view from our table.
See all photos from Mama’s Fish House

Writing his own birthday message in the sand was no problem… erasing his own footprints, that was the trick.

One of the best things about writing on the web is hearing back from readers. Sure, sometimes I hear from the readers’ lawyers instead, but I’m learning how close I can come to the line without stumbling across it and into the courtroom.

My periodic pokes at Ricardo Montalban and Chrysler’s “Corinthian Leather” ad campaign, the first of which dates back to October, 2001, finally reached the person responsible, more or less anyway. I received this anonymous message via the website’s feedback form:

I was forwarded your site by my sister after a recent lengthy family email conversation about “Fine Corinthian Leather”. My father and a coworker are mainly responsible for the campaign and term “corinthian leather”. I thought you might like to know as ad men working for Young and Rubicam in the 60’s-70’s, they were faced with the age long dilemma of making something look like a must have desirable item… much like everything in America. They needed a tie-in name to go with their “Spanish” Cordoba, and so, Corinthian sounded like a name that would conjure up something exotic, timeless and elegant. It’s hilarious that it has held on as one of the most remembered catch phrases in media history. I don’t see it as being any different than JCrew using names like “light pacific” or “bright butternut” to depict colors such as blue or yellow…and I certainly wouldn’t refer to it as a 25 year old deceit!

I wish the writer had provided some contact information, for I’d love to hear more about the Corinthian Leather campaign.

I’m not sure I agree that inventing a type of leather is the same as inventing a new name for a color; the Corinthian Leather campaign suggested that the leather had qualities differentiating it from lesser, non-Corinthian leathers, when in fact no such qualities existed. Maybe a better comparison is the Folgers “Mountain Grown” campaign, or Claude Hopkins’ famous Schlitz beer campaign. But even there, claiming differentiation where none exists falls short of actually naming the thing.

Monday nights on Maui, the place to be is Mulligan’s on the Blue. A band called Gypsy Pacific has a standing gig, and they’re worth the drive. They play “gypsy jazz,” the music of Django Reinhardt — not a name that appears in my CD collection, but that will change now.

Their website describes them as a string quartet, which is technically true, but if that conjures images of a cello or old white guys with powdered wigs, think again. And pass me another Guinness while you’re at it. The instrumentation is upright bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, and violin, 20 strings and 40 fingers in all, and most of them were a blur. These guys have some seriously fast hands.

See some good pictures of the band on Mulligan’s website.

“I need to get a photo of Spam Sushi. Is there any way to do that without actually eating it?”

“Sure, although you’ll have to spend the $1.75 to order it.”

“Oh, well, I hate to waste food.”

“It’s not really food.”

“Good point.”