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Articles about the Diamond Head Cove Health Bar
Honolulu Weekly
Surfing Dogs and Açai Bowls
Where retro Hawai‘i meets a contemporary food consciousness
BY SHANTEL GRACE | JUL 13, 2011
The sour factor is contained, the sweetness is pleasure but not exhausting, and the bowl is designed to remind us that what we eat is who we are. In 2004, the açai phenomenon began. First there was the super-berry, multi-level marketing campaign that sold the juice for $40 a bottle (and never stopped charging peoples’ credit cards). Then there was Oprah, whose nutritional “experts” claimed the berry would melt the fat right off our bodies. And following her, of course, was Rachael Ray, who I’m pretty sure paired the juice with a plate of pasta and called it “balanced.” Eventually, we were all pretty tired of the celebrity fruit.
So when a friend of mine recently decided that she’d make it her summer mission to find the best açai bowl on the island, I thought–what’s the point? But every Tuesday we’d meet for coffee, practice our Italian, Hebrew or whatever else we were into at the moment, and then order the café’s signature açai bowl. Most of them were good, a few of them sucked and only one prompted this review
Eating Across the Board
To be honest, the words “Health Bar” didn’t sound perfectly enticing, and pulling up to the Diamond Head Cove Health Bar’s tiny strip of jam-packed parking was a bit of a bummer. But it only took a second to figure out that the restaurant is much more a collection of like-minded people whose daily goals are to stay active, eat healthy and have a good time than a place where vegans and calorie-obsessed folks listen to each other’s sermons.
People are actually reading books and sipping kava while eating fresh fish wraps. They’re drinking carrot and celery juice while snugly chatting on sofas. There’s talk about surfing and skindiving, and there’s Island music, which ultimately reminds me that, perhaps, once-upon-a-time, this is what living in Hawaii felt like.
The fresh ahi wrap is a stunner for two reasons: it’s enough to feed two, maybe three, and the capers and onions and colorful leaves of lettuce taste like you’re eating something that’s twice the price ($9.25).
Next on the menu is the “Awesome Fresh Fish Salad with Magically Delicious Dressing,” and guess what, it is an awesome fresh fish salad with magically delicious dressing. The fish is made into fresh limu-shoyu poke and sprinkled with Kauai paa salt. It has garlic, onions, capers and mushrooms, and this mix is generously poured over greens bursting with broccoli, butter avocado and Molokai tomatoes.
I can’t go on without mentioning the jumbo hummus wrap stuffed with spinach, grated carrots and a tangy dressing made with Dijon mustard and mirin. Vegetarians will tell you anything to get you to try it, but this carnivore is telling you that it is perhaps the best wrap in town. I was scared of the texture; I was sucked in by the flavor; and I returned the following Friday.
Smoothies and “smoothie boosts” are to be expected at a place called the Health Bar, but an açai bowl topped with granules of bee pollen is not. “Da Mana Cove Bowl” ($8.50) is a double heaping of açai pulp topped with organic granola, blueberries, strawberries, bananas and sprinkled with bee pollen. What sets it apart from so many others is the proportion of açai to the other ingredients. The sour factor is contained, the sweetness is pleasure but not exhausting, and the bowl is designed to remind us that what we eat is who we are.
A Man and His Dogs
You’ll find the Health Bar just around the corner from the entrance to Diamond Head State Park. On the walls inside, you’ll find images of surfers, beaches and all the things you’d expect to find in some hippy joint in Haleiwa Town.
The images that stick out the most are of Marcus Marcos–a local surfing celebrity, actor, entrepreneur and the owner of the Health Bar. He was famous for surfing with his dogs, Pono and Hone, and when Marcos died in December of 2010, Waikiki and the island of Oahu lost someone who returned a piece of Hawaii back to Hawaii. And we’ll miss him for that.
Today, his wife Ann, their staff, local musicians, patrons and healthy food visionaries keep the Health Bar going strong. So why shouldn’t you eat at Diamond Cove Health Bar?
Don’t go if you’re too stuffy to sit on a couch near strangers who might actually have something important to say. Don’t go if you’re not willing to pay with cash. Don’t go if you think local musicians play in cafés and bars for the simple pleasure of paying the bills. This is a place for those who care more about saving something than spending something.
3045 Monsarrat Ave. #5 732-8744
Fighting the Blues with Kava (‘Awa)
According to the Health Bar’s website, kava (also referred to as ‘awa) is an age-old herbal drink that was the beverage of choice for the royal families of the South Pacific. Believed to originate from Melanesia, kava grows abundantly in the sun-drenched islands of Polynesia.
Although consumed for centuries by Pacific Islanders, it was only during Captain Cook’s voyage to the Pacific in 1768-1771 that white men first encountered the plant and its consumption in sacred ceremonies. According to Cook’s account, natives chewed or pounded the root and mixed it with water to produce a brownish, often bitter brew, which they then consumed for its psychoactive properties. A soothing drink with medicinal effects, kava is known to calm nerves or ease stress as well as anxiety while combating fatigue…the natural way.
Its special anti-depressant components fight the “blues” and induce a happy, tranquil state. It’s been used to treat migraine headaches and cramps, but unlike other drugs (or medicinal herbs) it keeps the mind alert as the body relaxes.
Diamond Head Cove Traditional Organic Hawaiian ‘awa
Diamond Head Cove Special ‘awa Smoothie: ‘awa, bananas, coconut milk and maple
For more info, visit diamondheadcove.com
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
April 17, 2011
Just like the 1970s original, the reboot, which screens on Sunday nights on Channel Ten, is filmed entirely on the islands and its cast live there. Both onscreen and off, O'Loughlin and his co-stars are immersed in the location. If you're on Oahu, chances are you'll see them filming or relaxing off-duty in the surf, shops and bars of Honolulu and Waikiki.
O'Loughlin's next haunt is easy to miss, tucked away on a little retail strip on Monsarrat Avenue at the foot of Diamond Head. At the Diamond Head Cove Health Bar, one of the most authentically Hawaiian enclaves in the islands, everything - from the fresh fish, fruit and vegetables on "Da Cove's" organic menu to the artists, musicians, fishermen and surfers who gather here - is local to the core.
A source of characters, stories and spontaneous music, Da Cove is also one of only two places in the islands to serve real Hawaiian kava, or a'wa. Bowls are served to cheerful crowds on a'wa nights, accompanied by jamming Hawaiian musicians. And another TV star lives here: Pono the Labrador, who played Vincent the dog in that other Hawaii-based series, Lost. Pono can count, tell the time and surf. Maybe O'Loughlin enjoys the competition.
The current foodie obsession is acai, the purple Brazilian berry. At Da Cove, it's served in a bowl frozen with strawberries, banana and granola and is the perfect breakfast fuel for a trip up to Oahu's north shore.
Pono, a yellow Labrador retriever who spends much of his time in the Diamond Head area and on the waves off Waikiki, is about to become a star. But it's not likely to affect his already comfortable life.
The 22-month-old dog will be featured in flashback scenes in Wednesday's episode of "Lost," according to his owner, Virginio "Marcus" Marcos.
Marcos proudly reported that Pono completed all of his scenes in one or two takes, with little effort. Members of the crew erupted in cheers when Pono finished his tasks successfully. And of course, everyone loved him. "He's like this ambassador of aloha," said Marcos.
No wonder. At Marcos' Diamond Head Cove Health Bar, Pono greets everyone who walks in and is especially fond of -- and patient with -- children. He also happens to be an excellent surfer, taking to the waves on Marcos' 12-foot-6 board.
Marcos keeps the board leash tied to Pono's harness, but both have their limits. "If we eat it three times real good, then we go in," said Marcos, who wants to make sure Pono always feels comfortable in the ocean.
Because the dog weighs 90 pounds, Marcos usually encourages Pono to swim next to the board all the way to the beach after a surf session.
Pono also has considerable math skills, which he was happy to show off last week (for a treat, of course).
Marcos wrote 12 divided by 3 on a piece of paper and held it in front of Pono, who promptly barked four times. Marcos also hid a pen, water bottle and towel, then asked Pono to retrieve them one at a time, by name. Then he wrote out the word "Kamehameha," and asked Pono how many letters were in the word. Tail wagging, Pono barked 10 times.
Apparently, the folks at "Lost" enjoy the Health Bar's wholesome fare, and that's where they discovered Pono. Though Marcos could not reveal any plot lines, he hinted that Pono might be asked to return.
Maybe one of these days, they'll find a role for Pono's little buddy and constant companion, a chocolate Lab puppy named Hone.
Los Angeles Times
Travel Section
March 16, 2007
Awa makes a comeback in Honolulu
Awa, a native elixir associated with friendship, makes a comeback.
A bowlful and kukakuka. What could be more relaxing?
By Julia Steele, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Awa sipping spots in Honolulu
Honolulu — At first glance, the Diamond Head Cove Health Bar hardly looks like it's in the vanguard of 21st century Hawaiian culture. True, it sits on the slopes of the islands' most famous landmark, Diamond Head. But it's in a mini-mall, sandwiched between a beauty parlor and a barbecue plate lunch shop. There's neon in the windows and a Mexican restaurant across the street.
Step inside, however, and you'll know in an instant that you've left Waikiki behind and tapped into the native zeitgeist. In one corner, a group of young people is speaking fluent Hawaiian. In another, noted musician Jeff Peterson is playing slack-key guitar. Bunches of ripening bananas hang from the ceiling. Surf photographs and paintings cover the walls.
"The spirit of my shop goes like this," says Marcus Marcos, the Cove's owner. "Where would you want to go to experience local food, culture, artists, musicians, farmers, fishermen? It's here. It's local everything, man."
Local everything, including the just-caught ahi and the fresh coconuts. But what transformed the Cove from just another smoothie bar into a Hawaiian gathering place is the most popular drink on the menu, awa.
Awa, or kava as it's also known, is Oceania's elixir, imbibed for countless centuries throughout the Pacific and infused with major social import. In Fiji and Samoa, awa remains second only to water; in Hawaii, awa drinking fell off after the missionaries arrived and it became almost impossible to find — until recently.
At the Cove, one of two awa bars here, you can walk in and for $5 get a coconut shell full of the stuff. On the heels of a native cultural renaissance and a political sovereignty movement, heading to the awa house has become another way to live like a Hawaiian.
"The awa bar is a haven, a place to kukakuka, talk story, discuss the day's events," says regular Andre Perez. He is just back from a week in Mississippi leading classes and workshops for about 900 Hawaiians incarcerated there. Perez is part of Hale Mua, or men's house, a Hawaiian cultural and spiritual group.
"Our goal is to raise the consciousness of our people to live a pono, or balanced, lifestyle," he says. "We don't have a hale [house] yet — the Hawaiians have been so disenfranchised — but Marcos' place serves as a temporary hale until we can find a permanent home."
At a table outside sits Kaiao Aea, a University of Hawaii English major who comes weekly to drink awa and write. "Awa makes you a little more creative. It lets your brain do certain things you wouldn't be able to do if you were stressing out," he says. He pulls out a journal, flips through poetry he has composed after drinking awa and hands over one titled "Aloha" that begins this way:
Let your fingers be
The roots with which you
Grasp this land and receive a sustenance
Unseen by the eye but felt
By the spirit and sung aloud.
Awa is made from the root of the Piper methysticum plant, which is harvested, ground, pounded, mixed with water and strained. The resulting drink is full of kavalactones, which basically slow the body down; it's the opposite effect of a caffeine high. (Like coffee, awa is not regulated.) Drink it and you may achieve the experience your Hawaiian vacation promised, relaxation.
"It's like the feeling you get right after a massage," says John Langan, who's in the Cove trying awa for the first time. "It makes you relaxed, a little sleepy."
At the next table, Honolulu musicians Seann Carroll and Mike White are on their second round of the night. Why drink awa? Carroll stares into his bowl pensively. "Not for the taste, that's for sure," he says. Newcomers rarely relish awa's flavor: It's not uncommon to hear them liken it to soapy dishwater. And awa's color — which can politely be described as beige to nut brown — makes it look like something out of a mud puddle.
Still, as White points out, "After a few sips, your mouth is numb, and you can't taste it anymore anyway." And with most drinkers, any initial distaste vanishes quickly. Serious awa drinkers sit around and discuss the drink's differing varieties with the intensity of wine or beer aficionados.
Discussion, debate, kukakuka ... a lot of it goes on at the Cove. Marcos says awa promotes cognizance and conversation; certainly in the Pacific, the drink has been associated with camaraderie and communalism. The whole idea is to gather around a bowl, and regulars will tell you they come to the Cove to do just that.
"It's the atmosphere," says David Van Acker, "an eclectic coziness permeated with something local and intertwined in a very welcoming way."
In the back of the store, Marcos' friend Michael Puleloa is mixing up a fresh batch of moi, one of the most celebrated types of awa, once reserved for the supreme alii, or chief. When he's done, Puleloa pours a bowl for Marcos and one for himself and the two sit down. Puleloa launches into a long discussion of awa through Hawaiian mythology and history.
"Awa was pretty much reserved for royalty," he says at one point, "and to drink it is a privilege." Marcos hears him say this, smiles, lifts his coconut shell to his lips and takes a deep draft. He cuts up some Hayden mango to go with the moi.
He gets up to make sure a neighboring table has what it needs. He moves through the Cove, inviting everyone to share in the privilege of discovering more about Hawaii's past — and its future.
Honolulu Star Bullentin
Posted on: Friday, January 7, 2005
Smoothies, healthy bites go hand in hand
By Helen Wu
Advertiser Restaurant Critic
Smoothie bars offer a fresh alternative to start off the new year for those who have overindulged during the winter holidays.
You can find selections that don't leave you feeling stuffed after a meal but that are still satisfying.
Diamond Head Cove Health Bar
The fish is made into fresh limu-shoyu poke made with Kaua'i pa'a salt. It is also sauted with garlic, onions, capers and mushrooms in a shoyu-based sauce. The saute becomes a topping for a salad bursting with fresh mixed greens, broccoli, butter avocado and Moloka'i tomatoes. It is also used to fill a "taco" with salad greens which is more like a wrap in a spinach tortilla. Vegetarians will enjoy one of the best wraps in town — a jumbo hummus wrap stuffed with spinach and grated carrot accompanied by a zippy dressing made with Dijon mustard and mirin. Smoothie boosts are 75 cents and include protein powder, coconut milk, peanut butter, spirulina, maple syrup, honey, wheat germ, mangosteen, and liliko'i when available.
This eclectic combination gift shop, eatery and lounge is also where you can find musicians Barry Flanagan of Hapa, Ernie Cruz Jr. of Ka'au Crater Boys and Guy Cruz of Pure Heart gathering at night for informal musical appearances.
Highlights: minty fresh smoothie ($4.50) — fresh mint, honeydew, grapes and soymilk provide an invigorating thirst quencher; awa smoothie ($5.50) — banana, coconut milk and maple syrup help the awa go down easier for those faint of heart; veggie wrap with hummus ($6.50); fish taco ($8.75); fish salad ($9.50 small, $13.50 large) — be aware that the "small" is already "large" sized; fresh poke ($5 for 0.35 lb.)
Reach Helen Wu at hwu@honoluluadvertiser.com.
© COPYRIGHT 2005 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
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