“In modern Hawaii, practically everybody has plate lunch for lunch,” I was told by Kai Cowell, a Philippine-born Honolulu chef who came to Hawaii to live and work over 40 years ago.

The book explores the history of Hawaii, which Vowell previews in a trailer (since when do books have trailers?), filled with slides of Hawaiian plate lunches. What's a plate lunch? "The plate ...

I’ve eaten plate lunches my whole life, but Ai Pono Cafe took the Hawaii plate lunch and made it better than I could have imagined. It destroys the concept of what a Hawaii plate lunch should ...

Those are phrases you'll only hear in Hawaii and they all relate to the plate lunch. You'll find them in all kinds of shapes and sizes. They usually include a main entree piled high with two ...