Non-Italians can cook Italian, too

Hawaii is accustomed to restaurateurs of various ethnicities running kitchens that produce cuisine by cultures different from their own.

Still, the proposal for an Italian restaurant for the Honolulu waterfront by a Japan-based company seems to have more than the usual international flair.

Masahiko Nakamura owns Bellavita Inc., which is seeking to negotiate a lease for a vacant building at Kewalo Basin once used for charter boat operations. Bellavita runs several Italian eateries, and Nakamura also founded an Italian language school and cultural center in Japan.

Japanese shop directory EOK.jp says Nakamura discovered an affection for Italy while working as a ski instructor in the Italian Alps. He’s also a member of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

We’re holding out for details about the building — not a concrete monstrosity, we hope — but his Italian creds seem in order, anyway.

Access expanding to online classes

Online learning advances another step with a new partnership between the U.S. government and Coursera, the California-based educational platform that teams with universities and other institutions to offer free online classes to all comers.

The initiative announced last week adds "learning hubs" to the mix, physical spaces where students who lack reliable Internet access can log on to a massive open online course, and also meet weekly, in person, with local teachers.

This evolution offers the best of both worlds: access to high-quality online courses and the regular personal instruction most students need.