GOING VEGGIE-ALOHA STYLE.

Ah, the land of grass shacks and hula girls, swaying palms and tradewinds, native Hawaiians strumming ukuleles, with poi, pineapple, and papaya for everyone. If this is your image of Hawaii, wow, have we got news for you! How about freeways and highrises, cell phones and the Internet, and one of the largest vegetarian organizations in North America? Yes, the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii (VSH), with more than 800 members, is making waves in the local Hawaiian cuisine.

Thanks to John McDougall, MD, who got his vegetarian start here in the late 70's, Hawaii boasts a number of vegans who trace their dietary roots to him. When he left to practice in California, a group of vegans and vegetarians got together to support each other and the rest of Hawaii in a movement to eat more healthfully.

Throughout the 80's, it was a challenge to eat out in restaurants if you wanted lowfat vegan food. Only a small number of restaurants would even know what you were talking about. "What? No oil in a stir-fry?" "Brown rice? That's only for animals--or prisoners!" "No chicken? Not even fish? My friend is a vegetarian, and he eats chicken and fish!" Or, as I was told one day in a Vietnamese restaurant, "Chicken is okay because it doesn't bleed." I still haven't figured that one out.

But things are changing. In the VSH's Oahu Dining Guide, there are 60 restaurants, each of which offers a minimum of three vegetarian dishes. As might be surmised, most of these are ethnic restaurants--logical when you consider that people in many ethnic groups are, or were, vegetarian by necessity.

The largest ethnic restaurant group is Thai, with a total of 14 restaurants. Some of these also offer brown rice as a standard substitution so you don't have to call ahead to request it. There are seven Chinese veg-friendly eating spots, two Vietnamese, six Mexican, and a smattering of Indian, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Egyptian, and Moroccan restaurants which cater to vegetarian customers.

Because of the large vegetarian presence, Hawaii, as a travel destination, has become quite veg-friendly. Hawaiians have always been health conscious, and now more people than ever are making the connection between good health and a plant-based diet. As the media covers health, nutrition, fitness, and sports stories, they invariably confront vegetarianism. One especially visible vegan news anchor, Dick Allgire, with the ABC news affiliate, does a daily health report and doesn't hesitate to draw the audience's attention to the disease-diet connection.

Olelo, the community-access TV channel on Oahu, runs the weekly Vegetarian Hour. This program features vegetarian videos from such notables as John Robbins (Diet for a New America) and Michael Klaper, MD (A Diet For All Reasons), and Marc Sorensen's National Institute of Fitness series on cancer, diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis. In addition, there are local video productions such as The Scientific Basis of Vegetarianism, Hawaii's Veggie Jox, and my own A Race For Life, plus cooking demos. Finally, there is a weekly radio talk show, Nutrition & You, on KWAI every Sunday evening with yours truly, Terry Shintani, MD, and John Westerdahl, RD.

All this media coverage helps to mainstream vegetarianism, even to the extent that hopeless carnivores will order vegetarian dishes because it's so well-known that they taste good. Even a fast-food chain, ZIPPY'S, purveying some of the fattiest of local fare, now boasts vegetarian lowfat chili, and several other vegan options.

Most visitors to Oahu find their way to the Ala Moana Shopping Center and then find themselves across the street from the SIAM ORCHID on Kapiolani Street. Whether for lunch or dinner, there is a varied vegetarian menu. The decor is attractive and modern, the food delicious, but as is the case at most restaurants, there is too much oil for my taste. Prices are low to moderate.

For something a little different, try a Mongolian barbeque. Up in Kaimuki, there's an area of neighborhood ethnic restaurants. At 3569 Waialae Avenue, the main drag, there is the MONGOLIAN BAR-B-QUE. There's Mongolian Vegetarian on the menu that consists of cabbage, onions, celery, carrots, tofu, and tomatoes. Delicious, but again, a little too much oil. Prices are low.

Looking for a taste of the sublime? Visit the elegant Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel out in Kahala. You couldn't ask for a more beautiful setting. THE PLUMERIA BEACH CAFE sits beside the ocean, with a view of a little island with a coconut tree just offshore. To your left, you see Koko Head, the remains of a volcanic crater and the backside of a popular tourist attraction, Hana-uma Bay. Once you're able to take your eyes off the spectacular scenery to peruse the menu, you'll find the vegetarian options limited. But that's nothing new, right? Keep going until you come to the VEGETARIAN SANDWICH. The plainness of the title belies what is to come! Our server delivered a gigantic platter with a high triple-decker sandwich surrounded by a mix of exotic greens and pickled vegetables. My vegetarian dining companion, 99-year-old Maybelle Roth, was so impressed that she took a sample with her to show to the food servers at her retirement home. The layers consisted of three slices of a ten-grain bread trying to contain layers of fresh Island vegetables: eggplant, zucchini, onions, red, green, and yellow bell peppers, avocados, alfalfa sprouts, tomatoes, and Manoa lettuce, along with an herb marinade in a base of chopped olives, red vinegar, and olive oil. The manager plans to extend the selection of vegetarian entrees, both for lunch and dinner. Not cheap at $10.50, but worth it! Another option is the Portabello Mushroom Burger--so delicious that it makes one wonder why it can't be a universal replacement for the "dead cow" burger!

FAST FOOD VEGGIE STYLE

For those who need to eat and run, there are a couple of alternatives. Grab some fruit and go to the ALOHA TOWER MARKETPLACE, a setting so spectacular that you need to see it whether you're hungry or not. It's located right downtown amidst a flurry of shops of all kinds. Despite the fact that it's oriented to tourists, the view of the harbor, ships, ocean, and Sand Island make it an experience not to be missed. Another option is the deli at DOWN TO EARTH, a natural foods store near the University of Hawaii. Along with a variety of organic fruits and vegetables and bulk grains and spices, you can find a good selection of books on vegetarianism. Your meal can be sitdown or take-out.

ALTERNATIVES TO RESTAURANTS

Find the nearest supermarket or natural foods store to buy a selection of your favorite produce, such as tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, romaine lettuce, cilantro, mangoes, apples, and bananas and have a do-it-yourself (albeit primitive) buffet on the beach at Waikiki. You can also go "native" and get fresh Waimanalo corn (so sweet and tender you should eat it raw) as you're doing the circle-island tour. Drive over the Pall, the spectacularly beautiful pass that divides the island with its majestic mountain range. There's the Pall Lookout with an updraft that'll blow you away if you're not firmly anchored.

If you want to stay in town with your tropical culinary delights, visit the walk across the street to watch a soccer game at Kapiolani Park or play a round of golf at the Ala Wai Golf Course, one of the busiest in the world. Swim the famous Waikiki Roughwater Swim course, 2.4 miles, possibly alongside one of Hawaii's substantial number of Ironman triathletes. Have the feedbag ready when you get out of the water because there's nothing like a hard ocean swim to create a gigantic case of the "munchies."

When you've recovered from that activity, put the remaining comestibles in a backpack, rent a bike from Island Triathlon & Bike (don't forget a helmet, please), and head out over Diamond Head Road. This is part of the course of the Honolulu Marathon that attracts over 30,000 runners (and walkers)! If you're lucky and it's a clear day, you can see the outer islands of Molokai and Maul. Bicycling, too, is guaranteed to whet a healthy appetite to go with the healthy exercise. Besides, just think how delighted you'll be to find that you're fitter and possibly leaner at the end of your trip than when you started.

WANDERING THROUGH CHINATOWN

Halfway between the airport and Waikiki, you'll find an area referred to as Chinatown. Its history goes back to the early waterfront days of Honolulu's founding. As waves of immigrants moved to Hawaii in search of a new life, they tended to settle in enclaves. Today, the roughly four-square-block area is inhabited by not only Chinese, but also Vietnamese, Thai, Philippine, Cambodian, and Laotian people. The sights and sounds of the polyglot of the different languages you'll hear are enough to make you swear that you are in a foreign country.

Take a careful look at the vegetables and fruits on display in the little shops. Many of them are unrecognizable to most Americans. You can buy the giant jakfruit, durian, bitter melon, gobo, a pillowcase-sized bag of shiitake mushrooms, dalkon, as well as a wide variety of Chinese cabbages such as choi sum, spoon cabbage, bok choy, won bok, kale, and kohlrabi. Be careful when you ask the mama-san or papa-san how to prepare the different items. The answer you get frequently requires translation!

It is in this area that you'll find lots of little Asian restaurants that may or may not have vegetarian dishes. They'll usually be happy to comply with your requests (to the extent that they understand them). Another caution: Many Asian restaurants use fish sauce, oyster sauce, or chicken or beef bouillon as a soup or sauce base. You'll have to request that these not be used, that you want "no animal products whatsoever."

THE LEGEND (formerly "Buddhist") Vegetarian Restaurant menu features dishes that the most dyed-in-the-wool meat-eaters would salivate over. Their "pork," "fish," and "chicken" dishes look like, taste like, and chew like the dishes that most Westerners are accustomed to, so much so that many committed vegans won't even order these dishes. "Too much like the real thing that I've totally lost the taste for," say many of the old-time vegans.

If your visit is timed right, you'll be able to attend a Vegetarian Society function. Call (808) 944-VEGI for recorded information on coming events.

So, whether you're seeking the Hawaii of old (go to the Waioli Tea Room to see a real grass shack), Kapiolani Park to see a hula show, or if you just want a lovely, romantic getaway, you'll be able to appease every one of your vegetarian taste buds healthfully and happily.

Ruth Heidrich, PhD, is a 20-year vegan, author of A Race for Life, The Race for Life Cookbook (see Book Reviews, page 31), and a past president and founding member of the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii.

She is also a six-time finisher of the Ironman Triathalon, an ultra-marathoner, and holder of more than 700 first place age-group awards for road races and triathalons.