It takes a Village
by Sonia Martinez and Anthony Mathis
The Kea'au Village Market, a small
village within a village, offers a little bit of many things: gifts,
semi-precious gemstone jewelry, handicraft items, a few antiques, glorious
produce and scrumptious food. All these little enterprises surround
a tarp-covered court set with tables and chairs for communal eating.
The court even has a performance stage. There are at least two food
vendors worth a taste:
Donna's Smokin' BBQ Shack
In South Carolina, we lived within 20 minutes of five BBQ places. Each
was a personalized room in the mansion of authentic, melt-in-your-mouth-till-the-grease-runs-down-your-chin,
down-home Southern BBQ.
Yep, we like to think we know our BBQ. Donna's offers true BBQ in the
Kansas City style. Donna Williams-Crane ended up in Puna after living
many years on Maui, where she ran a very successful hotel laundry. After
moving here, she started looking around for a place to start her BBQ
dream. Serendipity provided the perfect location close enough to her
own home, and Donna's Smokin' BBQ Shack was born.
Donna smokes her own meats and makes her own dry rub using a secret
combination of herbs and spices. The meats-chicken, pork, beef, Louisiana
beef links and turkey-are all smoked on the premises with guava, apple
or cherry wood.
She would only hint at what she puts into her lip-smackin'-good sauce,
but we know it's got molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, catsup and a several
spices we couldn't identify.
Donna also makes scrumptious baked beans using a combination of navy,
pinto, white and red kidney beans, butterbeans, bacon, smoked pork,
onion, celery, bell peppers and pineapple - all cooked in her own sauce.
We have visited Donna's a couple of times and have tried two different
two-meat combos from her menu; both get an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Last
time we tried "Da Bomb BBQ Pork Hoagie" and a bowl of the
5-meat chili. She also offers smoked meat by the pound and plans to
offer catering options soon.
HIJ's Senior Contributing Editor, who grew up near Kansas City, chimes
in: Donna's is a pretty decent approximation of KC style BBQ but with
a few concessions to da kine taste. Donna doesn't leave her chicken
on the bone but cuts it chopstick size. And in addition to the oh-so-Kansas-City
two slices white bread, she includes rice.
Talithia's
Talithia's offers Mexican-style fare under the watchful eye of Tina
Giddings. A young woman with a great personality and a most engaging
smile, Tina is of Oklahoma Cherokee ancestry. Talithia is her Spiritual
American Earth Walk name.
Tina spent 15 years as a finish carpenter on the mainland before moving
to Hawai'i Island and still keeps her hand in the trade. Her mother
was a gourmet chef, so she learned to cook early and realized how much
she loved pleasing people with food prepared by her own hands. She'd
once married into a Mexican family and learned the Cooking Secrets of
the In-Laws. That was all it took.
Tina is a whiz at preparing delicious food in tiny quarters with no
real kitchen. Without a hood, she can't deep fry, so her food is basically
healthy. Being very community minded, she wanted to offer food that
she enjoys preparing and welcomes feedback and suggestions - especially
from her regulars.
Tina offers huge burritos, including: the Big Kahuna, made with Baja
beef; the Hula, with hulihuli chicken; and the vegetarian Pahoa. They
all come with beans, rice, cheese, sour cream, verde sauce and pico
de gallo. Each is big enough for two and costs a mere $5 with meat and
$4 without.
She offers combination plates of burritos plus garlic rice and beans
for an extra $2.50. Other items include taco plates, quesadillas and
Hula-Dilla, which Tina claims is a taste sensation and which we will
try next time we visit.
On our last visit, we had Garlic Shrimp Tacos: delicious marinated shrimp
served with the traditional shredded lettuce, cheese and sour cream,
with a side of garlic rice and beans. A word to the wise: She only serves
Garlic Shrimp Tacos on Fridays and Saturdays, so plan ahead.
Kea'au Farmer's Market
16-550 Old Volcano Road
(opposite Kea'au Shopping Center)
Kea'au
Twin spin:
Donna's Smokin' BBQ Shack
TEL: 982-7075
ENTRÉES: $6.75-$12.95
HOURS: T-Sa:10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
PLASTIC: V/MC
Talithia's
TEL: 895-7299
ENTRÉES: $3-8
OPEN: W-Sa:11 a.m.-pau
PLASTIC: Fuggetaboutit -
cash only
Top
of Page