Restaurant rises out of the Garofalo ashes...

Restaurant rises out of the Garofalo ashes

A Hawaiian-themed restaurant that at one time was to serve as the

comeback for a disgraced Surf City mayor has finally opened its doors

Downtown.

No Ka Oi is serving up charbroiled rib-eyes and horseradish pasta

souffles, offering high-end Hawaiian food to what chef David Copeland

likes to refer to as a “highly elegant” clientele.

The restaurant originally surfaced as a five-person operation with

former Mayor Dave Garofalo at the center of what was then to be an

upscale Italian eatery. Bella Luna, as it was to be called, would

have been Garofalo’s comeback after pleading guilty to felony and

misdemeanor conflict of interest charges while on the City Council.

Garofalo eventually pulled out of the deal along with several

other investors, leaving only the building’s owner Dennis Boggeln and

Ron Quick, who eventually changed the restaurant to its Hawaiian

theme.

Painted in a soft mustard yellow and decorated with vintage

Hawaiian posters and carvings, No Ka Oi fuses Asian and Polynesian

dishes for diners on a front and rear patio and indoor dining room.

“The food is fun, it’s not pretentious,” said Copeland, who added

that most of his dishes were inspired by personal experiences. “Some

people use books, I use life for inspiration. Some of these dishes

have come to me in my sleep.”

The bar is an impressive artistic achievement, formed of

color-touched glass illuminated through fiber-optic lighting.

Boggeln said the restaurant, which is housed in a 100-year-old

building, was very difficult to retrofit.

“I’m just happy that we’re done with the construction phase and on

to the operations phase,” he said. “I feel like a giant weight has

been lifted off my shoulders.”

Harman passes Dead Dad legislation

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a ground-breaking law

introduced by Huntington Beach Assemblyman Tom Harman that grants

rights to children born through artificial insemination.

The law grants certain inheritance rights to children who were

conceived from the semen of a dead man.

Harman said the legislation could help the children of soldiers

who were conceived through sperm left by their fathers before they

went off to fight in Iraq. The law gives the such children the same

inheritance rights as traditionally conceived children.

“We’re really happy to have this legislation signed by the

governor,” he said. “This has been a high interest item and I’ve got

inquires from national media about this bill.”