Dinner and a Movie

Got Plate Lunch and "The Descendants"

Cinema Cat & Gourmet Gracie

E Komo Mai, welcome! Home for Hawai’ian style comfort food, this family owned restaurant opened in 2014 after years of great success with their food truck and catering business. Growing up in Hawai’i, they know firsthand the unique, bold flavors of the food “da kine” you get from the islands. Aaah, the spices, the sauces, the smell, and yes, the TASTE. The name is simple, “You get plate lunch?” “Yah, we got plate lunch.”

The origin of “plate lunch” goes back to the 1880s, where it was a midday meal for hungry workers on the booming pineapple and sugar plantations of Hawaii. Many were immigrants from Japan, China, the Philippines, Korea and Portugal, who all brought leftovers to share for lunch. This combo go-to meal is a staple within the cultural melting pot of the islands. It offers several types of protein, but is always flanked with white rice and macaroni.

The BBQ chicken dish is a Benicia fan favorite — boneless, skinless chicken

thighs marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil, with rice and mac salad. Or, the Ultimate Loco Moco — 2 beef patties, 2 slices of Spam, 2 scoops of rice, 2 over easy eggs, smothered in brown gravy, topped with green onions. Yes, spam is definitely a thing! Gracie personally craves the Crispy Kalua Tots — tater tots topped with crispy Kalua pork, mozzarella, house sauce and green onions. Mahalo! Fresh Ahi Poke most Tuesdays.

Don’t miss this special place where the food is really a lifestyle with aloha. Take out and patio dining. Onolicious!

1034 First Street , Benicia, CA | 707.745.4751 www.gotplatelunch.com

Our 2-Minute Movie Review:

The Descendants, 2011; Directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways), Nominee – Best Director

There are few things that can put a moviegoer at ease quicker than a George Clooney voice over. That is how we are brought into the beautiful setting – Kauai – of The Descendants (Nominee – Best Picture) and introduced to the “screwed up family,” complex situations and unruly emotions of this skillfully layered story.

Clooney (Nominee – Best Actor) plays Matt King, a fabulously wealthy yet humble bigshot, a totally relatable dad, a “backup parent, an understudy,” whose eyes are opened in a flash to realities he never anticipated when his wife goes into a coma after a boating accident. He must take up the reins of parenting two girls while simultaneously managing the sale of his family’s enormous legacy property. He can barely adjust to each new whiplash as he comes to see his own flaws and weaknesses. We, of course, witness his vulnerability and magnanimity.

A true comedy/drama, filled with impossible, yet believable situations, The Descendants packs a delightful family of supporting characters from Beau Bridges, as Cousin Hugh, to Robert Forster, unforgettable as Clooney’s father-in-law. Placed repeatedly in “what-would-you-do?” situations, we eagerly ride along with them on the edge between disaster and good form. Add Shailene Woodley, and wow!

We will not sell The Descendants short by calling it a roller coaster ride. Better to recognize it as a wildly engaging lesson in good breeding and humanity.