Add published author to the resume of L&L Drive-Inn co-founder Eddie Flores.
Flores’ funny L&L Hawaiian Barbecue cookbook, "$266 Million Winning Lottery Recipes," is chock full of many popular L&L dishes, including so-called "center of the plate" chicken, beef, pork and seafood items, side dishes and more, by L&L executive chef Raymond Cheng.
Some people will be thrilled to get previously "secret" recipes for L&L’s mac salad, or perhaps its katsu sauce, or maybe some people have looked high and low for the L&L Spam musubi recipe (yes, a recipe, on account of the sauce involved).
The book also is bursting with funny cartoons by freelance artist Jon J. Murakami, with whom L&L has worked for the past six years or so, Flores said.
Toward the end of the book, Murakami acknowledges drawing the comics but disavows any and all responsibility for writing them. "It was Eddie who actually came up with all the gags," Murakami wrote.
One of the gags readers may pick up on is that a lot of Murakami’s characters are caricatures of real people.
"A lot of them are friends," Flores said. Many are listed in acknowledgements at the back, but not all those named are pictured. "Maybe in the next one," Flores laughed.
Recognizable folk range from local, national and international celebrities to local politicians and business people, L&L employees, franchisees and family members.
If people spot themselves in the book, they are encouraged to contact L&L and send in a photo and the page number(s). "If we confirm it … we’ll personalize it for them and send them a colorized copy," Flores said.
Typical of Flores, the book leaves absolutely no marketing stone unturned.
The company’s vendors, distributors and food brokers all are mentioned, either in the comics, within recipe text along with contact details, and in a list of acknowledgements in the back.
Most of the L&L franchise locations are depicted in Murakami’s comics as well.
Of all the acknowledgements. Flores said, "without their support we’d never be able to be this successful."
The book will be unleashed upon an unsuspecting public next week, Flores said.
It sells for $9.95 and will be sold through "the majority" of L&L locations, at bookstores, online via L&L and through Mutual Publishing.
"If this book sells, I’m going to write a joke book. … I’ve kept a couple thousand," Flores said.
ALOUETTE VOTING
The Master Holiday Chef Challenge in which Hawaii chef and restaurateur Chai Chaowasaree is hoping for your vote raised eyebrows with its online registration process, but concerns raised by a reader have been allayed.
In order to vote, you have to register with your email address and a password, but "the micro-site is not asking for a voter’s email account password," said Abby Rizen, a publicist for the national contest by Alouette Cheeses. "It’s a password of their choosing," and must be used each time a site user votes.
Indeed, your columnist entered an email address and a password different from that associated with the email account, and the site rejected the attempt, but a second try with a different password was successful.
Vote early, vote often. Chef Chai’s recipes had but 5 percent of the vote Thursday afternoon, compared with the 14 percent vote for those of chef Ryan Jaronik of New York City. Oh, and you could win daily or weekly prizes, too, for participating.
———
Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
