INhonolulu Magazine Issue #14 - February 2014 | Page 14

Nachos in paradise
James Charisma
Photo by Matthew Mendoza

T

he legend goes that in 1943, a
dozen or so army wives of soldiers stationed at Fort Duncan in Eagle Pass, Texas, arrived at
the Victory Club restaurant just after
closing. Not wanting to turn away
the business, the maître d’hôtel—
Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya—quickly
threw together a dish of heated tortilla chips that he cut into triangles,
shredded cheddar cheese, and a jalapeno pepper. The women loved the
dish and when pressed for the name,
Anaya answered ‘Nacho’s especiales.’
In time, word travelled about the
dish and it rose in popularity; the
apostrophe was lost and by 1950, it
was simply ‘nachos.’
Today, nachos are an internationally beloved appetizer and a staple
available on restaurant menus across
the United States. In fact, they have
become so ubiquitous with food culPage 14

ture that they oftentimes go unnoticed, or taken for granted. One group
of bloggers has decided to put nachos
where they belong: front and center.
“This is important business,” says
Shananigans, editor of the blog Nacho Paradise. “Don’t get me wrong,
we have a lot of fun, but we take our
work very seriously.”
The blog’s regulars—12 to 20 nacho connoisseurs—are working their
way through more than 150 restaurants on O‘ahu. They sample and
review each venue’s nachos, with
commentary and a summary (with
picture) uploaded to the group blog
within a few days. They enjoy drinks
and have fun, although they take their
nacho reviewing responsibilities diligently, complete with scorecards distributed to the group for notes, and
nacho-themed nicknames.
“Traci’s a Libra, so she’s Nacho
Libra. I’m Shananigans because I’m
always starting trouble. It’s not nacho-related, but it’s true, so we let it
go,” Shananigans says.
The scorecards are organized by category: presentation, taste, topping-to-chip
ratio (on a 1 to 5 scale), one ‘lame’ thing

about the nachos, and one ‘rad’ thing.
“No nachos are perfect,” says
Shananigans. “And terrible nachos always have one or two good qualities.”
So far, the group has visited more
than 40 restaurants. Their favorites
include the former Cha Cha Cha’s in
Waikīkī, Serg’s Mexican Kitchen in Mānoa, the five different types of nachos
available at Harbor Pub, and the Colossus nachos at Rivals—although the
group warns to watch out for the ‘beefy
surprise’ in the middle of the Colossus.
Of all the food possibilities to review, why nachos? Surely there are
others more bizarre or amusing to try
out—what’s the appeal with the classic chip dish?
“Nachos are a social food; people
come together to enjoy them. Even the
ingredients are celebrating diversity!”
says Shananigans. “When we go out, it’s
twenty different people who wouldn’t
normally ever be hanging out. Even
princesses are like, yeah! Nachos!” ■
Follow Nacho Paradise’s continuing
adventures on their blog, nachosinparadise.blogspot.com, as well as their new
mac-and-cheese blog, macaroniandcheehoo.blogspot.com.

The gin diaries
Anton Glamb

I

had the pleasure of symbolically
visiting three countries in the Mediterranean. The venue was the M
and the poison was Bombay Sapphire’s
latest gin, Bombay Sapphire East.
Three different bars at the Ala Moana Boulevard nightclub featured a signature cocktail and cuisine sampling,
each representing a different country.
We were given a passport to document
our journey and a charming lady welcomed us at each port to stamp our
books. A video was shown to verify that
we were, in fact, having an international experience, and the crowd was well
dressed and cultured.
Spain had a Tom Collins (it’s a lemon drink) with tonic, bitters and cu-

cumber that was both refreshing and
subtle. Served on ice in a large red wine
goblet, Spain had the evenings tallest
pour. Paired with cold soup and shrimp
shooters, the Spain station was definitely the most relaxed and easiest to enjoy.
Morrocco had something really weird going on, and I was into it. It
was a yogurt/pomegranate concoction
in a sherry snifter with a salted rim.
Its smoothness deceptively masked its
high alcohol content, and three floating
coriander seeds provided a mellow aroma for the palate. If you have ever had a
lassi or one of those mini yogurt drinks,
imagine that with booze in it but also
imagine it tasting like there wasn’t any
booze in it even though there was lots.
The food in Morrocco was incredible
and could have made the trip worthwhile even with an aversion to yogurt.
Have you ever drove your Ferrari to
go get Campari? I haven’t, and I don’t

particularly care for Campari. Luckily,
Italy’s cocktail featured Aperol, Campari’s potable cousin. Along with a spritz
of prosecco and a hand-clapped shiso
leaf, Italy’s cocktail was the driest and
most aromatically complex. If you can’t
afford Versace, you could at least drink
it. Of course, everybody knows Italians
like to put tomatoes, basil and fresh
mozzarella next to each other, so there
was caprese salad along with a mushroom risotto that had been seared to a
crisp. Italy was a great place to round
out my trip before returning home and
handing in my passport in hopes of
winning a free Vegas vacation.
Even though I didn’t win the trip, I
have to give Bombay Sapphire credit
for putting an interesting twist on their
liqu