NADINE KAM / NKAM@STARADVERTISER.COM
Les Kekahuna shows Big T’s popular creamy scampi plate.
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When it comes to personal branding, Taylor Wily is the big winner from "Hawaii Five-0." He has parlayed his identity as shrimp truck owner Kamekona into the real thing.
Shrimp lovers will find Big T’s shrimp truck at home at the Hilo Hattie flagship store on Nimitz Highway from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, offering a range of plates from $8 minis, $12 full plates to $13 for the popular creamy scampi. Options include butter garlic, sweet and spicy, hot and spicy, or firecracker.
What’s more, fans of the big guy might spot him there when he’s not on set.
The truck is manned by his cousin Les Kekahuna, who grew up in Kahuku with roots in the shrimp business. An uncle was a honcho at the Kahuku shrimp farms, and the family would cook up shrimp and sell it outside their home. "Before Giovanni’s made it commercial, the locals were already doing it," said Kekahuna, who also sells $10 Big T T-shirts from the truck.
Hilo Hattie is at 700 N. Nimitz Highway.
If you can’t make it there, find the truck at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii’s Kodomo No Hi Keiki Fun Fest, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 4.
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