Ailantha - Blog

An Easter Birthday; No Egg Hunt, But A Hunt For A Hat And A Restaurant

5/5/2026

     Books by Patti Liszkay available on Amazon:
    "Equal And Opposite Reactions"     http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
   "Hail Mary"    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
"Tropical Depression"          https://www.amzn.com/B0BTPN7NYY

An Easter Birthday; No Egg Hunt, But A Hunt For A Hat And A Restaurant

...Continued from previous post:
The following day, April 5, was Easter Sunday. I woke up at 4:40 am and left a surprise for my young relatives outside their door: three Easter baskets I had put together the night before, each filled with candy, jewelry, a stuffed animal and a gift card.
At 5:15 am Tom and I walked into downtown Waikiki, then continued for a mile and a half up Kalakaua Avenue, so peaceful and quiet in the dark pre-dawn.

Our destination was St. Augustine by the Sea church for the 6:00 am Easter Mass.

The church was decorated with kāhili, or Hawaiian feather standards, staffs that are traditional symbols of the ali'i, or Hawaiian royalty.

When we left the church the sun had risen,

...and Kalakaua Avenue was already alive as we walked among the folks out and about at 7 am on this beautiful Easter Sunday morning in Waikiki.

This day was also the birthday of one of our young relatives. During breakfast at Koko's,

...one of the servers noticed us celebrating the birthday girl, and he made up a little birthday cake for her from muffins, whipped cream and fruit loops, and led the restaurant in a round of "Happy Birthday."

Later that morning some of the family went out banana boating - a recreational activity which, as I understand it, involves being fast-towed along in a banana-shaped raft until everybody falls off. Or something like that. Much fun, I hear, for those who enjoy that sort of venture.
I, however, opted to walk with one of my daughters into downtown Waikiki.

My daughter wanted to bring back a Hawaiian print cap for a friend, so we set out on a hat hunt.
We wandered up Kalakaua Street, popping into the ABC stores,

...as well as the 123 Waikiki Mart, which looked to be a wannabe cousin of the ABC stores,

...San Lorenzo Bikinis,

...the Target at the International Market Place,

...and a few of the other ABC-esque stores along the way which, while dovetailed with the high end stores, are legion.

When my daughter had narrowed her choices down to her top three, we decided to head over to the Royal Hawaiian Center, where we took the escalator up to the Pa'ina Lanai food court,

...so that she could think it over while we split a cheeseburger and fries from the Mahaloha Burger,

...which makes the world's best burger, nestled in a soft, buttery bun and accompanied by the crispiest of French fries.

After lunch we walked over to Duke's Alley, a not-easy-to-find-if-you-don't-know-about-it passageway off Kalakaua Street hidden between two buildings where there is a vast outdoor market of individual vendors who sell handmade jewelry, locally made crafts, Hawaiian clothing, and all sorts of Island souvenirs.

Ultimately my daughter, unable to decide which hat she preferred to buy for her friend, just bought all three. (All of which her friend loved).

Now, the plan was that, in honor of our young celebrant's special day, we would have a birthday dinner that evening at the Cheesecake Factory on Kalakaua Avenue. We likewise invited a friend of our young relative and the friend's parents, who, by happy coincidence, were currently staying next door to the Hale Koa at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. With the eight members of our group and the three invited friends, that made eleven of us.
We had called for a reservation but were told that place didn't take reservations for parties over six - which seemed rather counterintuitive to me, but whatever - so we decided to go early in hopes of avoiding a gargantuan wait.
However, though we arrived at 4:30 pm, we could see that the interior of the restaurant was already crowded with diners and the line to sign up for a table was out to the street. It occurred to me even then that, with eleven of us, dinner at the Cheesecake Factory might not be written in the stars.
When we reached the host station we were told that our wait would likely be a couple of hours. The sympathetic host explained that, this being Easter Sunday, they were busier than usual with lots of big groups. In other words, everybody had the same idea as we did. We took vote and unanimously decided to try our luck elsewhere.
But where were we going to find a table for eleven on this day when every other tourist in Waikiki was probably also out looking for a table?
One of my daughters took on the task of googling and calling around to hunt us down a restaurant. After a couple of tries and fails she found a place that had space for all elven of us, a pizza place a few blocks away off Kalakaua Avenue called Appetito Craft Pizza and Wine Bar.

Mayhaps not the first choice location for a kid's birthday dinner, but, hey, we figured there'd be pizza. And seats for eleven.
Which there were, except that our seats weren't all together. Still, we were grateful to the staff who kindly squeezed us into their crowded restaurant without an advance reservation on a busy holiday. And it was, in fact, a nice place with a friendly staff,

..and good food.
I had the Homemade Bolognese with Pappardelle, which was quite yummy,

...while among the others at my table, some had pizza which I was glad I didn't order since I don't like the burned spots known in the nomenclature as "char" (see post from 4/7/2026, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/so-is-burned-pizza-a-thing), though those who ordered the pizza liked it,

...and others had the salmon.

Apparently someone passed it along to the staff that there was a birthday girl in the house, as a server bought out to her table a beautiful little square of cake with six spoons so that everyone at her table could have a taste.

And, of course, we all sang another round of "Happy Birthday."
To be continued...

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The Arrival Of The Ohana

5/1/2026

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Books by Patti Liszkay available on Amazon:
"Equal And Opposite Reactions"   http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
   "Hail Mary"    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
"Tropical Depression"       https://www.amzn.com/B0BTPN7NYY

The Arrival Of The Ohana

...Continued from yesterday:
Ohana is Hawaiian for family, and on Friday, April 3, some of Tom's and my ohana began arriving in Honolulu to spend a week with us at the Hale Koa.
First to arrive in the afternoon were two of our daughters, whom we picked up at the Honolulu airport,

...then drove back to Waikiki. I've always loved the section of the road from the airport that passes by the mountains.

That evening we walked next door to the Hilton Hawaiian Village,

...where we ate at the Blue Water Shrimp, a short-order eatery,

...with the cutest dining area,

...and the best food.
Among us we had the garlic shrimp,

...the garlic shrimp and steak,

...the salmon,

...and the cheese quesadilla,

...served with a mountain of sweet potato fries.

Afterwards we walked towards downtown Waikiki,

...to a little hidden gem of a shave ice stand, the Niihau,

...apparently named after Ni'ihau, the Forbidden Island, most western of the Hawaiian islands, where visitors are forbidden and the 100 or so residents, the last descendants of the islands' original Polynesians, value their privacy, speak Hawaiian, and keep their island as a refuge for native birds, wildlife and Hawaiian culture.
Here is a view of Ni'ihau, which is 17 miles off the coast of the island of Kauai, from the beach cottage where Tom and I stayed in April of 2015 on the Barking Sands naval base (see post from 4/10/2015, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/two-hikers-in-search-of-a-trail) .

The Niihau shave ice stand, however, was very welcoming to us tourists,

...though folks were required to order at the door,

...then stand back and wait until our shave ices were brought out to us.

Though we'd all ordered "Keiki's" - child sizes - our shave ices were enormous,

...and oh, so delicious, topped with a condensed milk blend called a snow cap.

We then walked back through the park to the Hale Koa,

...where our daughters were happy to turn in for the evening.
The next round of relatives, who were supposed to arrive in the the evening of Friday, April 3, arrived at the Hale Koa at 1:30 am on Saturday April 4, their plane having been delayed.
Later that morning, while the late arrivals slept in, those who arrived the previous day enjoyed their first Koko's buffet breakfast of the season (see post from 4/22/2026, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/in-search-of-a-suitcase-part-2).

After everyone was up and ready to start the day, we went to Snorkel Bob's, the Honolulu snorkeling gear Mecca, to pick up the gear that I had reserved a few months ago for those of us who planned to snorkel.

This, of course, did not include myself, as I tried snorkeling one time a few years ago at Hanauma Bay and lasted a little under five minutes. Turned out that I couldn't stand putting my face underwater even with a mask, I don't even like being in water, and being that close to live fish gave me the creeps, even the beautiful exotic fish swimming among the coral reefs.

But, as always, I was happy to let every one else enjoy mingling with the beautiful exotic fish.
Sadly, there had been heavy, windy rain storms in Hawaii the week before we arrived, and so there was so much residual turbulence of the sand and sea water that the snorkeling this year, according to those who participated, was not the best.
By Saturday afternoon the final round of our visiting ohana arrived, so that there were eight of us at the Hale Koa.
After lunch at Happy's, where Tom had the seafood salad,

...and I had the delectable veggie wrap,

...the young folks headed down to the beach.

That evening we all walked into downtown Waikiki,

...for dinner at the Pa'ina Lanai food court at the Royal Hawaiian Center.

After dinner we joined the Saturday night strollers for a while,

...then we returned to the Hale Koa.

To be continued...

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The Dress In The PX Window

4/28/2026

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Books by Patti Liszkay available on Amazon:
"Equal And Opposite Reactions"   http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
   "Hail Mary"    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
"Tropical Depression"       https://www.amzn.com/B0BTPN7NYY

The Dress In The PX Window

...Continued from previous post:
Soon after we arrived at the Hale Koa I saw this sundress in the Post Exchange window display.

The Post Exchange, otherwise known as the PX, is a mini-department/grocery store where military folks stationed on post can find all sorts of necessities.

As soon as I saw this dress in the PX window I felt that it was a necessity, though I couldn't say why I needed to have it. Except that I liked it. But is liking needing?
After a few minutes of cogitating over the problem, I came up with a solution: I needed this dress because, though I'd brought my bathing suit on this trip, I didn't bring along a swim cover to wear over it on my way to the beach or the pool. Never mind that I just about never get into the water (see post from 5/9/2025, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/water-water-everywhere-but-i-dont-like-to-swim).
But what if this time I decided to? Why, I'd need a swim cover. (And, okay, I might wear the dress other times, too).
So I went into the PX to buy my sundress.
But, though I roamed through all the racks of dresses, there was not another of the exact dress that was on the mannequin in the window. There was a white dress with red flowers and a white dress with blue flowers, but not another pale yellow dress with magenta flowers.
I went to the check out and asked the clerk if there was, by chance, another of the same dress as was on display in the window. The friendly clerk told me that there was not, but if I wanted the dress that was in the window, I should just go ahead and take it off the mannequin.
"Oh, thanks," I said. I thought a moment. "Should I, um, put another dress on the mannequin?"
The clerk thought a moment. "Um, sure," they said.
So I picked out what I considered to be the second prettiest dress among the selections, the white dress with the red flowers. I then proceeded to window dress the mannequin.

For never having window-dressed a mannequin before, I thought my effort was not half bad.

Nor was it all that good.
I could not get the bodice straight across the shoulders, no matter how I yanked and pulled.

Every time I passed the PX window I zeroed in on that aggravatingly crooked bodice. On two occasions I even popped back into the store and endeavored to straighten out the shoulder line, but to no avail.
Then, on our last day in Hawaii, in the PX window where the white dress with the red flowers had been, I saw this:

I expect that some one must have seen that white and red dress, liked it and bought it, crooked presentation and all.
I wonder if they redressed the mannequin?
To be continued...

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Farewell, My Cream Puff

4/26/2026

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...Continued from previous post:

Books by Patti Liszkay available on Amazon:
"Equal And Opposite Reactions"   http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
   "Hail Mary"    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
"Tropical Depression"       https://www.amzn.com/B0BTPN7NYY

Farewell, My Cream Puff

I expect that, in general, folks who come on vacation to Waikiki love sitting on the beach and swimming in the ocean.

Me, I prefer walking along the beach and looking at the ocean.

But what I love doing in Waikiki is walking up and down Kalakaua Avenue.

Kalakaua Avenue is the main thoroughfare, the beating heart of downtown Waikiki, crowded day and night with tourists,

...strolling amidst the high-end stores,

...and the less high-end,

...bordered by the beach on one side,

...and mountains in the distance on the other.

I like to describe Kalakaua Avenue as Fifth Avenue with Palm Trees and ABC's (see previous post, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/in-search-of-a-suitcase-part-2).

From the Hale Koa at Fort DeRussy where we stay (see post from 4/17/2026, www.ailantha.com/blog/arriving-at-the-hale-koa), one can reach Kalakaua Avenue on foot either by way of the beach,

...or by way of the park.

During our two week visit to Honolulu, my mate Tom and I went walking most days on Kalakaua Avenue. Sometimes we'd walk a few blocks, other times a few miles, taking in the sights along the way, including the Bank of Hawaii building, the world's most beautiful bank,

...the historic Honolulu hotels, the Moana Surf Rider,

...and the Royal Hawaiian,

...the Royal Hawaiian Grove,

...the beaches of Waikiki,

...as well as the flora and fauna along the way.

Now, over the years, during our perambulations up and down Kalakaua Avenue, we had become accustomed to stopping at least once every day at the Royal Hawaiian Center,

...where we'd head up to the food court,

...for our daily cream puff fix from the Kulu Kulu Honolulu bakery.

These cream puffs, they were extraordinary, especially the sweet, velvety, feather-light filling, which I expect explains our Kulu Kulu Honolulu cream puff addiction.
Now, besides the most sublime cream puffs on the planet, Kulu Kulu Honolulu also sold a gorgeous assortment of pastries that could be called edible art.

But Tom and I were hooked on our cream puffs.
And so on this trip we were looking forward to our first visit to the Royal Hawaiian food court to savor our first cream puff of the season.
But when we arrived at the Pa'ina Lanai, where the Kulu Kulu Honolulu used to be we saw this:

We immediately knew that our cream puff days were over. We grieved for a brief moment before I recalled that my nephew, who recently returned from a trip to Honolulu, had told us about the most wonderful confection he'd eaten while on the island. It was called a malasada, and he described it as a sort of sugar-coated yeast donut that's cooked up upon order so that it's warm and fresh and soft and so delicious that one had to taste it to believe it.
By good fortune there was a malasada stand at the Pa'ina Lanai.

The stand had always been there, though we'd never paid much attention to it, being strict devotees of Kulu Kulu Honolulu.
But now that Kulu Kulu was, unfortunately, no longer with us, we decided not to dwell on the past, but to seek out what might be a new and auspicious gustatory adventure.
I thought we'd try one malasada each from Penny's, but, alas, a minimum purchase of three was required.

So I ordered three coconut crème malasadas and waited while the malasada cook made them for me. Our malasadas were huge, so I wasn't sure Tom and I could finish two between us, let alone three.

However, our malasadas came out as warm, soft, and delicious as my nephew had described, and so somehow we managed.

Farewell, my cream puff, hello my malasada.

To be continued...

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In Search Of A Suitcase, Part 2

4/22/2026

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...Continued from previous post:
The following day, Wednesday, April 1, our first full day in Honolulu, Tom and I started off the morning, as we start off every morning at the Hale Koa, with breakfast at Koko's,

...the hotel breakfast eatery,

...with a beach view,

...a patio,

...and the most splendid breakfast buffet.

Omelette station

Waffle station

...with all the fixings

After breakfast my mate and I set out on a search for the Hawaiian suitcase of my dreams (see previous post) and a copy of the New York Times for Tom. Our first destination to this end was the Ala Moana Center, the largest open-air shopping center in the world, which is located about a mile from the Hale Koa.
We decided to walk the mile by way of Waikiki Beach.

This route took us past the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel, which is located on the next beach over from Fort DeRussy.

We then continued down Ala Moana Boulevard, which is the main thoroughfare between Waikiki and downtown Honolulu, and also the way to the Ala Moana Center.

Our first stop after we reached the Ala Moana was Barnes and Noble, where Tom was able to find a copy of the previous day's New York Times, since the paper always reaches the island a day late.

From there we made our way up to the third level,

...which offers a panoramic view of downtown Waikiki,

...and a Target.

I looked in the luggage section, but the suitcases there were of the conventional solid-color variety. To get a Hawaiian suitcase, I knew I'd have to hit the ABC Stores.
The ABC Stores are a Honolulu-based convenience chain that sells sundries, souvenirs, Hawaiian clothes, snacks, necessities,

...lunch,

...dinner,

...and just about anything else one might find oneself in need of, including a colorful Hawaiian-themed suitcase.

In Waikiki one cannot walk far without coming to an ABC Store,

...and so it's said that ABC stands for "All Blocks Covered." This is accurate.
In the Ala Moana Center there are at two ABC Stores.

Both carried suitcases, but neither had the suitcase of my dreams.

At that point we decided to take a lunch break at the Makai Market,

...which is the Ala Moana food court where, we learned years ago, the local folks like to come to eat. And so do we.

After lunch we decided to head back to Waikiki.

…once again cutting through the Hilton Hawaiian Village,

…on our way to the Hale Koa, where some of our fellow lodgers appeared to be enjoying some lobby time.

That evening, after splitting an order of Hulihuli half chicken at Happy's

...we walked down to the beach,

...to watch the sunset.

We then walked along the beach into downtown Waikiki.

And, what the heck, as long as we were in town, what was the harm in popping into every ABC Store along the way to look at the suitcases?

And so it went for the rest of our trip: No need to go out of anyone's way, but as long as we happened to be passing an ABC store, or a Target,

...or a Ross Dress for Less,

...or the Post Exchange,

...what, really, was the harm in just popping in and having a quick look at the suitcases?
The number of Hawaiian suitcases I looked at was legion.

And so it went until finally, after ten days of cogitating over designs on suitcases, I finally decided, on April 10, after much back and forth among a few close contenders, on this one I saw at the Ross Dress for Less at the Ala Moana Center:

It had the turtles and the flowers, and if I couldn't have the red, I found that the blue also called to me.
And, ultimately, it did indeed turn out to be a snap to find on the baggage carousel.

To be continued...

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In Search Of A Suitcase, Part 1

4/20/2026

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...Continued from previous post:
Over the course of our past few visits to Honolulu, I developed a love for a certain suitcase on the suitcase display shelf next to the escalator in the Longs Drugs in Waikiki.

The exterior of this particular suitcase was decorated with colorful stylized Hawaiian flowers and turtles on a red background.

It was bright and pretty and would surely be a cinch to find on an airport baggage carousel, unlike my current black suitcase.
However, I never bought the suitcase, mainly because I couldn't think of what I'd do with the suitcase I brought with me to Hawaii. (The thought never occurred to me to just pay for an extra suitcase on my flight back home, since thoughts like paying for extra plane luggage never occur to members of my tribe).
So year after year I'd see this suitcase on the shelf at Longs Drugs and wish it were mine. Until this year, when I decided that I would stop wishing and actually make this pretty Hawaiian suitcase mine, whatever it took. That's when the thought finally did occur to me to just buy the thing, bite the bullet, and pay the extra luggage fee.
But then I came up with and even better idea: pick up a cheap piece of thrift store luggage for this year's trip, buy the new suitcase when I got to Honolulu, then leave the old thrift store suitcase behind.
And so I went out to the Goodwill and found this pretty good suitcase for $5.99.

Now I was finally set to buy the Hawaiian suitcase of my dreams, except for one thorny little thought that poked at the edge of my consciousness: After years of sitting on the display shelf at Longs Drugs, what if this year my dream suitcase was no longer there?
As it turned out, that is exactly what happened. On the evening that we arrived in Honolulu and went on our walk into downtown Waikiki (see previous post) I popped into Longs Drugs,

...with the intention of buying my suitcase then and there. Except that my suitcase was now no longer among the suitcase inventory, which appeared to have turned over.
I nursed my non-buyer's remorse for a brief moment before deciding to let it go. After all, here I was in Waikiki where there was much to be happy about. And besides, there were a lot of stores in Waikiki and a lot of them carried Hawaiian-themed suitcases. Surely there was some other suitcase of my dreams sitting on some other shelf. I had only to find it.

To be continued...

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Arriving At The Hale Koa

4/17/2026

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...Continued from previous post:
For all the times we've visited Honolulu, there’s still always something wonderful about arriving at the Hale Koa:
Stepping into the breezy veranda lobby,

...that looks down over a courtyard on one side,

...and out over Honolulu on the other side.

The sound of the soothing Hawaiian music that wafts through the lobby,

...and feeling the aloha once again,

...none of that has yet lost its charm or wonder.

This year marked our eighth stay at the Hale Koa, an Armed Forces Recreation Center hotel for active duty members of the military and their families,

...and also for those retired from military service, as is my mate, Tom, here a young Army lieutenant back in the early 1970's.

The Hale Koa is part of Fort DeRussy, a U.S. army post located in Waikiki.

Though once a coastal artillery defense unit along Waikiki Beach,

...these days Fort DeRussy has a more peaceful mission as home to the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies,

...the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii, which is open and free to the public,

...a beautiful beachfront park with picnic tables, also open to the public,

...Fort DeRussy Beach, with its splendid view of Diamond Head, open to the public as well,

...and the Hale Koa.

On the hotel grounds there is a botanical garden,

...with a pool tucked back amid the foliage,

...and an aquatics center that overlooks the beach where there is a children's water park and an infinity pool.

There are also several well-loved trees on the post, some of which have been given names.

There are several outdoor eateries on post, among them Happy's, a popular short-order spot,

...the Barefoot Bar that overlooks the beach,

...and another snack bar on the edge of the beach.

Inside there's the breakfast buffet at Koko on Kaila (Commonly known as Koko's),

...a restaurant on the courtyard called Biba's

...and the Java Cafe.

There's a post exchange,

...a fitness center,

...a beauty salon/barbershop,

...and a little convenience shop.

This year at the Hale Koa we were assigned a 5th floor room,

...with a view of mountains on one side,

...palm trees and sea on the other,

...and downtown Waikiki between the mountains and the sea.

After we settled into our room we decided to head down to Happy's for some dinner.

Happy's being known for its enormous portions, we easily split a Kalbi Steak dinner,

...which we ate out on the patio,

...joining our fellow diners.

Afterwards we headed towards downtown Waikiki by way of the lobby,

...and DeRussy Park, where the sun was just starting to set.

We walked a little ways into downtown Waikiki,

...then we walked back to the Hale Koa,

...which somehow never loses its magic.

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Fear Of Flying To Honolulu

4/15/2026

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In the wee small hours of Tuesday, March 31, my mate Tom and I were headed to the Columbus airport,

...to catch a flight for Honolulu.
Seven times in the past we've been headed to the Columbus airport in the wee small hours to catch a flight for Honolulu.
But this time it was different. The country was still in a government shut-down during which TSA agents weren't paid - and often didn't show up for work - for six weeks. The news had been full of horror stories of airport chaos with cancelled flights, droves of travelers waiting in four-hour lines through security,

...and gangs of ICE agents with nothing useful to do lurking about.

Then there was Donald Trump's vanity war with Iran, over which Iran was threatening both cyber and physical retaliation against the United States (and what would be more horribly effective than sabotaging a plane?).
Anyway, in the midst of all those purported goings on, this year I was just a weence - or maybe more than just a weence - anxious about flying to Honolulu. I wondered if we should even go.
But we did go, and when we arrived at the airport at 5 am we found the place crowded, but not chaotic.

The line for security was long, but not hours long.

And the TSA agents were conscientious and efficient as always despite the ordeal they'd been going through of having to work without pay. Tom and I thanked them for their service.
And there were, thankfully, no ICE agents lolling around our airport. Just lots of travelers.

Nor was our plane cyber-sabotaged or at all delayed, and we arrived ahead of schedule for our layover in San Francisco, which was likewise crowded but orderly,

...and ICE-free.
Our flight to Honolulu took off on time, and five hours over the ocean later we landed, again ahead of schedule, in Honolulu.

And so all my flight anxiety was for nought. Unless, as I sometimes think, worrying is necessary to prevent what you were worried about from happening.

To be continued...

4 Comments

So, Is Burned Pizza A Thing?

4/7/2026

7 Comments

Books by Patti Liszkay available on Amazon:
"Equal And Opposite Reactions"   http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
   "Hail Mary"    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
"Tropical Depression"       https://www.amzn.com/B0BTPN7NYY

So, Is Burned Pizza A Thing?

On Thursday evening, March 26, Tom and I saw a sublime performance of "Miss Saigon" at the Short North Stage in downtown Columbus.

Having decided to seek out some dinner before the show, I looked online in advance for an eatery close to the Short North Stage. I found a pizzeria a few doors down from the theater called Pauli Gee's.
The prices were, I thought, a weence on the expensive side for pizza, but the place had stellar online reviews:

And so we decided to give Pauli Gee's a try.

The place had a charming interior, and the crowd there at 5:30 pm on a Thursday night appeared to verify the positive online reviews.

We decided to spilt an $18, 10" tomato, mozzarella and basil pizza. It arrived looking like this on top:

...and this on the bottom:

The purportedly best pizza place in Columbus brought us a burned pizza!
Or so I thought. Tom asked our friendly server about the state of our pizza. They explained to us with much enthusiasm that this was a wood-fired pizza, and so the crust wasn't burned, but "charred," as a wood-fired pizza was supposed to be.
Oh. Okay. I looked around the restaurant and tried to catch a glimpse of my fellow diners’ pizzas. From what I could see, their pizzas also looked to be pretty well "charred."
We proceeded to consume our charred wood-fired pizza, which tasted burned to us. In fact, I'd have said it was inedible if not for the fact that we were eating it and so was everybody else.
Later I googled some online images of Pauli Gee’s pizzas. They were charred every one.

I did more online research to see if by chance there was an anti-charred pizza contingent.
Apparently not:

In fact, among all the reviews I saw only one reference made to the charring. And that one was pro-char.

So what can I say?
As for me, if in the past I ever made a pizza that turned out like this,

...I’d have tossed it. Or at least tried to scrape off the burnt part. In the future, though, I guess I would serve it up proudly and call it charred (though I, for one, wouldn't eat it).

7 Comments

Why I Missed The No Kings March

4/1/2026

20 Comments

Sadly, I did not participate, except in spirit, in any of the March 28 No King's Marches here in Columbus, Ohio.

I was not among the 20,000 marchers who took to the streets in the greater Columbus area because for the past few weeks my upper respiratory system has been under siege by a virus.
Magnified 500,000 times, here's what my virus looks like under a microscope.

   It's a shape-shifting zombie virus.
That is to say, this nanoscopic little demon might attack for a few days in the form of a headache and sore throat, then beat a retreat before returning a few days later as a killer cough with a sidekick of sinus congestion from hell, until it mutates yet again into some or another underhanded entity that leaves me plodding along in that tired, achy, indescribably crappyesque state that my mother the nurse used to call general malaise, which is where I more or less was last Saturday.
   It's my understanding that a virus is not exactly a living thing. But it's not exactly a not-living thing, either. It's somewhere between a living thing and a not-living thing. In other words, a zombie. Which is why, though a virus can kill you, you can't kill it.
(If only someone could figure out how to shoot out the brains of a microbe).
  Still, I'm thankful from the bottom of my cough-wracked rib cage to all those patriotic Americans who were part of No Kings:
My good friends,