Another new cafe in Honolulu

I spend a lot of time reading, writing, and grading papers. I like doing this in different cafes when possible. It is fun to peoplewatch from time to time, and tea seems to help -- if it is hot and I can add 2% milk. My neighborhood, Manoa, has been a Starbucks virtual monopoly for the past two years, but a new competitor has just opened. It is also a chain, but has the best tea in town. The Honolulu Advertiser had an interesting story about Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's efforts to establish in Hawaii.

This week's Honolulu Weekly mentioned a new independent cafe that I will have to check out. It is called rRed Elephant and is at 1144 Bethel St. (Tel: 545-2468. Hours: 7 AM (yawn!) until 9 PM ). Why do all cafes here have to close so early?! In any case, I tried Googling this cafe, and found an interesting New York Times article, "In Honolulu, Arts Revive Chinatown's Fortune" by Jocelyn Fujii from 18 Dec. 2005 that mentioned the cafe and the overall gentrification of Chinatown. I was pleased to see the Times take note of our First Friday event.