Imentioned recently that a few Fisherman’s Wharf waitresses were World War II Italian war brides. I heard from David Yamada, the now-retired Honolulu Advertiser director of photography. His mother, Maria, was one of the Italian war brides, he told me. She worked there for 54 years!
While that would be interesting in and of itself, she also served such luminaries as Elvis Presley, President Lyndon Johnson, Gov. John Burns, Jackie Kennedy and Frank Sinatra.
Kewalo Basin
Fisherman’s Wharf opened in 1952 at Kewalo Basin. It was a Spencecliff restaurant and managed by Cliff Weaver.
Older readers might also remember the spot had been Felix’s Florentine Garden cafe from 1938 to 1951. The sampan fishing fleet docked nearby.
Fisherman’s Wharf had a nautical atmosphere with barnacled old wharf pilings, ship’s riggings, a foghorn, lanterns, compasses, tarnished old diving suits, wooden boat wheels, portholes and a 9-ton anchor.
A stained-glass mermaid astride a sea horse, obtained from the old Castle home at Diamond Head, was enshrined in the second- floor Mermaid Bar. It had a panoramic view of Kewalo Basin and the Pacific Ocean.
The head chef was Saburo “Saby” Kawaguchi. His signature dishes were lobster thermidor; cioppino, a fish stew; mahimahi papillote, served in a paper bag and cut open with a knife at the table; a creamy oyster stew; and opakapaka Florentine.
War bride
Maria Caterina Prato was born in Mondovi, Turin, Italy, and raised in a convent. Supply sergeant Morichika Yamada was part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which liberated Italy during the war.
“My dad, Mori, was stationed near my mother’s hometown of Mondovi in northern Italy during the war,” David Yamada said. “My uncle, my mom’s brother-in-law, met my dad and became friends with him.
“In time, my uncle Dino brought my dad to their house where he met my mom.” He was 20. She was 16. They fell in love and he proposed.
Maria’s brother wouldn’t let her get married at that young age. Maria waited until she was 18 and came to Hawaii in 1947. Because she barely spoke English, she had difficulty finding a job. She was encouraged to be a waitress.
Many Italian women, including Maria and three others who came to work at Fisherman’s Wharf, married American GIs.
Mori Yamada got a job as a professional photographer. In the late 1960s he owned Graphic Pictures Hawaii, serving many big businesses in the state.
Maria’s job helped support their two children, David and Joyce, she told columnist Bob Krauss, who interviewed her on the 50th anniversary of her working at Fisherman’s Wharf in 2002.
“In seven years I was able to put a down payment on this brand-new house.” She was also able to buy a Cadillac in 1956. She liked it so much, she bought a new one in 1962 and another in 1982.
In 1951 she worked at Spencecliff’s Sky Room restaurant at the old airport on Lagoon Drive. Her tips usually totaled $5 a day. When Fisherman’s Wharf opened in 1952, she transferred there. “The first day I started, I think I went home with $40 in tips.”
“It was a nice, big, beautiful restaurant, and popular,” Yamada said. “When I started working there, they used to have a line to the parking lot of people waiting to come in and eat.”
She worked a split shift, serving lunch, catching the bus home to Kaimuki and returning for dinner: “Hard work, hard work, but good money.”
Elvis Presley
When Elvis Presley was filming “Blue Hawaii” in 1960, he wanted to eat lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf during a break in filming. To avoid being mobbed, he entered through a back door and ate in the manager’s office. His server was Maria Yamada.
Maria waited on Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra, Jackie Onassis, Red Skelton and Duke Kahanamoku over the years. She had autographs from many of them.
Lex Brodie was a regular and asked Maria to make a commercial for Pirelli Tires, “because you’re Italian,” he said, “and because Italian tires are the best.” She did the commercial for him.
Serving the president
She was a favorite waitress for Spence and Cliff Weaver, Krauss wrote. They picked her to wait on President and Mrs. Johnson when Gov. Jack Burns hosted them at Washington Place.
“Their whole team was warned to tell no one, so Yamada wondered if their families would even believe their tale,” Honolulu Magazine wrote in 2015.
“The president said, ‘Tell you what. You can prove it to them,’” Yamada said. “He took his felt pen from his pocket, and he put his name on my forehead.” Photographer John Titchen snapped a picture of it.
“I was very proud of the autograph,” she said. “It gave me a big thrill.” When she went home, her husband, two children and mother were asleep. She woke them up. “They were really surprised to see the president’s signature on my forehead,” she said.
The next day, the signature of Lyndon B. Johnson was barely visible. Maria accidentally washed off some of the ink while taking a bath. “I tried not to erase the signature while washing my face,” she said. “I guess I got careless. I am a bit disappointed.”
To her surprise, though, the photo appeared in newspapers across the country, as well as locally. In New York City alone, three newspapers ran it.
Treasure chest
Despite the celebrities, presidents and regular customers she served over the years, her favorite part of the job was taking children to Captain Kidd’s Treasure Chest. Children could select a toy of their choosing, such as a whistle, puzzle, plastic boat, plane or car.
“I spent my whole life at Fisherman’s Wharf, as you might imagine,” David Yamada told me. “I knew everyone and grew up with many of their families. I remember the famous Treasure Chest with all the toys.”
“I used to go into the kitchen all the time, and Saby would make me crab cakes. There were three other Italian war brides there. I have good memories of it.
“What impressed me the most were the wooden models of the fishing sampans hanging from the ceiling. They looked like the real ones docked outside at the wharf.
“My mom really made a life for herself, because she met so many interesting people at Fisherman’s Wharf.
“After Spencecliff sold all the restaurants in 1986, my mom still worked at the Wharf, but I didn’t go there too often. It was not the same.”
Maria Yamada retired in 2006, the same year her husband, Mori, died. The restaurant closed a couple of years later. In November 2014, bulldozers razed what was left of Fisherman’s Wharf. But left intact are the memories of so many employees and customers who still fondly recall the iconic Honolulu eatery.
Maria Yamada died in 2021 at age 92. “She was so special to many people,” her son said. “She was a loving, dedicated mother and spent her whole life taking care of us.”
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The Rearview Mirror Insider is Bob Sigall’s twice-weekly, free email newsletter that gives readers behind-the-scenes background, stories that wouldn’t fit in the column and lots of interesting details. Join at www.RearviewMirrorInsider.com or contact him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
