Honolulu Star-Bulletin from Honolulu, Hawaii • 27

'SCARY MOVIE' A DUD, C-3 FENDCArTXIN CONCERT WITH BLINK 182 AND OTHERS, C-5 WEE A Hi Section il.G 15 Honolulu Star-Bulletin Thursday, July 6, 2000 Features Desk: 52W660 E-mail: features'" slarbulleUn.com Shunning pop divadom pays off 11 It The Weekly Eater ByNadineKatn AAA Moribe up to NewWave challenge FROM the outside, Sushi Bistro Shun is as bland as a couple dozen mom-and-pop Japanese restaurants around town. It wouldn't take a feng shui expert to figure the restaurant is on the wrong side of King street, its door facing away from drivers seeking diversion from the same old sights. The restaurant is also in what looks like a drab cement-block apartment complex. Doesn't sound promising, huh? How long have you lived here? Kamaaina know some of the best food can be found in less than savory digs, so it often pays to explore. Once you get inside Sushi Bistro Shun, you'll find it quite a bright spot, dressed in lively colors of lime and peach.

Take a seat at table, sushi bar, or parties of eight or so may call in to reserve floor seating in the tatami room, which these days, isn't necessarily furnished witii straw mats. This is one of those New Wave Japanese restaurants you may have heard about which can be good or bad depending on how adventurous you are. The good thing about this one is the menu has been created by chef Hideaki Moribe, formerly with Sheraton Kauai, so his experiments are more likely to revolve around crowd-pleasing poke than natto. Rather than sticking to flavors of Japan and Hawaii, Moribe also draws from other cultures for a menu unique to this type of restaurant It's hip to be We love high culture theater, dance, music, cinema but weekends are also made for shopping. Shopping Fanatic is a Thursday feature dedicated to the pursuit of finds beyond the malls.

Some mainland trends hit Hawaii hard. Others tend to trickle in. If the mid-century modern furniture trend ever makes it here, p2 hopes to be at the helm. Use the word "trend," though, and manager Justin Oda flinches. "It's more like art rather than a trend." People worldwide are realizing the industrial designs of the '40s through '70s are timeless.

"Some collect these pieces as functional art," he says. Others just buy them for nostalgia, like a customer who saw the Eames lounge chair and ottoman set nothing and do what you're told." Batalla, who is Mexican-American, wanted to explore her roots through the eclectic "Mestiza." Warner executives nixed the idea in favor of pop songs such as those performed by Whitney Houstoa "They wanted to make me a pop diva and I am so not interested in doing that," said Batallai who performs here tomorrow night at Orviz Auditorium. v. "They certainly, didn't want a world music record." So she recorded the album with her own money and it is paying off. Batalla last year earned the "Best Emerging Artist" and "Best CD by a New Artist" honors in Amazon.com's "Best of '99" roundup.

"Mestiza" was ranked 34th in the Web site's listing of the year's Top 100 re- PLEASE SEE PERLA, C-8 By Tim Ryan Star-Bulletin Hearing Perla Batalla's voice for the first time is an epiphany that leaves you shaking your head and wondering why you haven't heard her A former backup singer for Leonard Cohen, the Gypsy Kings, k.d. lang, Iggy Pop and Jennifer Warnes, Batalla, until a few years ago, had a lengthy and costly battle with her record, company Warner Bros. She wanted them to free her from her contract so she could record an album, "Mestiza," that they weren't interested in. i "Every bad thing artists say about record companies is true," said Batalla in a telephone interview from her Ojai, home. "It's slave labor.

They give you a small advance, then expect you to work forever for Manoa Outreach College UH there and bought it simply because he had one just like it 30 years ago. It's the same kind NBC's sitcom psychologist Frasier has in his living room, p2 sells the wood-veneer and black leather sejt, made just like the original, for $3,350. Just like art, nostalgia is not cheap. Furniture of ff Shopping Fanatic AAA' If 11 I this period is defined by modernist masters such as Ray and Charles Eames, I Herman Miller, and Verner Panton, who created i' furniture at the dawn of the postwar era based on i 4 I In concert: Who: "An Evening with the Judds" When: 7 p.m. Saturday Where: Waikiki Shell Cost $39.50, lawn seating, and $65 Call: 591-2211 t.

i 5 g' i 1 ft i 8 at Naomi Judd leads a colorful life and she loves the full spectrum of it 12 12 Food Atmosphere Service Value I sculptural. Most items in the store cost more than $500 and Oda says the prices are reflective of quality and style. A few items cost less, like authorized copies of George Nelson's Starburst, Ball and Asterisk clocks, $250 and up, LePage acrylic vases in fluorescent colors, which start at $150, and Alexander Girard pillows made of European linen, $110. The small shop has been at 1221 Kapiolani Blvd. for two years and is unassuming for a furniture store.

From the sidewalk, one has to squint to read the small, abstract 'p2' logo that marks the front window, hinting at the decor beyond. Vibrant red swivel chairs, a spiderlike three-coned floor lamp and amoeba-shaped woven cane ceiling lights are compelling shapes against stark white walls. These sell for $799, $3,800 and $194 respectively. Some items also have relatives on permanent exhibit at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Customers can thumb through catalogs for items by Herman Miller, Vitra and others, p2 inventory is not limited to these well-respected designers, however.

Buyers are always on the lookout for anything that has visual draw yet is suited to everyday use. and function. Right now, they're looking for local furniture designers and photographers to showcase. Hawaii, however, is synonymous with rattan, which seems natural because the backdrops for furniture are simple, single-wall constructed homes. Oda finds this puzzling.

"Even people here who can afford furniture at this price range still buy rattan. Not that there's anything wrong with that" Oda says what they carry suits any type of home, any decor. And can even stand beside rattan for an eclectic look. What does p2 (P squared) stand for? Just like art, "it means anything you want it to mean." Store hours are 10 a.m to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Sunday, 10 a.m.

to 6 p.m. Entrance to By Tim Ryan Star-Bulletin Judd is sitting in her rural Tennessee home having her hair dyed a shade of red "that doesn't a exist in nature." "Black and white is boring," says Judd who performs with daughter Wynonna Saturday night at thp Waikiki Shell. "We're constantly trying to stir people up, shake, rattle and stir, telling folks you have got to think in colors." Judd's journey through life may bo even more colorful than her hair She got pregnant at 17, was physical ly abused by a boyfriend, worked as registered nurse, became a count singing superstar, contracted hepati tis and now is a much sought-after lecturer. "It sounds like I'm an expert in lots of things, but what I'm really good at is making mistakes," she said. This famous mother of two equa ly famous daughters, including a tress Ashley Judd, discusses opes ly the most personal stages what had been a tragic life.

She's in remission since contracting hepatitis from a needle while working as a nurse. She was diagnosed with the' potentially liU threatening liver disease 1990. so radiantly PLEASE SEE JCDDS, "Wynonna and Naomi Judd. Kile photo validated parking lot is oil Kona 1 street 3 1 Ruby SlarSuUetin-'-l. Eames lounge chair, designed in 1957, sells for $3,350 at pi i Address: 1914 S.King St.

(between King's Cafe 2000 and Suehiro) Hours: 5 to 11 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays Prices About $36 to $40 for two without drinks Call: 941-1333 While you can eat your fill of sushi, nigiri and Spider Rolls ($12) are just the beginning. You could warm up to the menu with the hiyashi chawanmushi, a smoky-flavored egg-crab custard served refreshingly chilled, or move straight to the poke-flavored Hawaiian Roll five pieces of ahi enveloping nori-wrapped avocado and served with a spicy ponzu sauce. I always rail about cooking hamachi, a delicacy best enjoyed raw, but Sushi Bistro Shun presents the exception with its Hamachi Cajun Salad The fish is seared with a light coating of Cajun spices so it's still rare inside It's then sliced and served with mesclun for wrapping in 3-by-5-inch sheets of nori. Fabulous! Now here's a question for you, what came first, baking seafood with mayonnaise or Hari Koji- ma? I can't eat dishes like the Baked Spicy Oyster ($7.50) without thinking about the former "Let's Go Fishing" host's legacy.

The half dozen pieces on the half shell were wrapped with maguro topped with a dollop of mayo seasoned with light Indian curry, a perfect touch. The Steak with Miso Sauce ($14) came recommended, and those tolerant of sugar will probably love it, but the sauce was too strong for me. Tempura is coated with a light batter and served in small portions, at $7 for two pieces of shrimp, and three pieces of vegetables (sweet potato and zucchini when I visited). I have had my doubts about New Wave Japanese, but the balance between traditional cuisine and spices and flavors be- yond Japan's shores is perfectly -demonstrated here. It could be the start of the next food trend, which shouldn't come as a surprise.

Hawaii has been a global society for a hundred years, long before the term became trendy. Nadine Kam's restaurant column runs every Thursday. Reviews are conducted anonymously andpaidforby the Star-But- letin. Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants: it excellent; -very good, exceeds expectations; average; below average. moma.org V.

IZAf Rtij Exotic cefeus inspired Gekkal)ijin, dance By Dan Piraro AAA i ILtuYfa a uou'NoMALlH little nu St? '-sf' s' i i wan llnderrteatri? 1 Muv Stsry of ths Cercas By Kazuko IL'cks Ayoimg Hawaiian woman liyes in the mountains with her father in the early 19th century. One night a young mai, wounded -by fighting, collapses in front of Ixr house The daughter nurses him. They fall in love, hut the healed young man must return to battle. With heavy heart, he leaves a present of gratitude and departs. Seeing the feather robe he had given her, tlx girl realizes he is someone of high rank and at the time it was kapu to marry someone of another class.

In order to hide herself from the youth, the maiden moves deep into the mountains where she succumbs to illness and dies. Touched by the sadness of the maiden, God endows her with the spirit of a flower Aat would bloom for one night. Thus reborn, tlx maiden gives off her beauty as the night-blooming cereus bathed in moonlight. By Stephanie Kendrick 1 Star-Bultriln The cereus hedge around Punahou school was heavy with blossoms last week. The creamy flowers open to the light of street lamps like elaborate bells, seeming even more delicate perched at the end of prickly cactus stems; It's not hard to imagine why.this fragile beauty would inspire an artist like Kazuko Hicks.

"I love the night-blooming cereus; it's beautiful," she said. The first time Hicks saw the bloom she was overcome with emotion. The experience inspired her to choreograph her first original dance, a blend of Japanese dance and classical western music traditions. The dance is also a family effort; her daughter, Sarah Hatsuko Hicks, composed the cello and flute score. The piece, titled "Gekkabij in," or "Night-blooming Cereus," will debut Saturday at the Segawa Senka Studio Dance Recital.

PLEASE SEE DANCE, C-9 Courtesy of Kazuko Hicks Segawa Senka, stage name of Kazuko Hicks, danced Kyokanoko Musumedojoji at the National Theater in Tokyo last year. One of her students will perform tlx same dance at Saturday 's recital. CURK KENT GOES SU0E SHoffWG.