Because other than wine and food, I believe that jazz is also one of life's essential nutrients so when it was announced that the Blue Note was opening in the 50th, I knew I had to visit it at some point... of course they've been open for quite a while and I passed up musicians like Stanley Jordan and Chris Botti because... because you know, life gets in the way. But since we're on this mini staycation and Willie K plays on Tuesdays, there wasn't any excuse not to make that initial trek to the Blue Note.
So after paying for my $35 loge seats on the internet (the floor seats were $45), here we were... First mistake... I actually turned into the parking garage of the Outrigger Waikiki trying not to hit the copious tourists walking on the sidewalk just to find out that the Blue Note only validates parking at the Outrigger East... and Outrigger Waikiki charges $8 per hour... I either have to now reverse on to Kalakaua without hitting any tourists that I missed on the first pass or just suck it in... I sucked it in since this was date night.
The two shows for the evening were also at 6:30 and 9:00 but the doors open at 5:00 and the seats are first come, first served. We were there at about 5:15 and it already was at least 2/3 packed...
Once we were seated, I reminded the Mrs that some of the comments on Yelp note that service can sometimes be an issue especially when it's packed... So order our drinks and food as soon as the server appears. So the Mrs selects the Elderflower Fizz ($14) with Hendricks gin, St Germain and fresh made sour while I just ordered a bottle of Rose ($60)...
Ok, only small kine commentary... I understand Waikiki prices are probably the highest on the island but at least the wine glasses could be a little better than the Libby glasses used here...
This was kinda funny too... reminding you that there was a $10 minimum per person per set. The only drink on the menu less than $10 were the $9 bottled beers...
Our grub included the Cheese Plate ($28) with Stilton, white cheddar, Brie, Manchego and parmesan...
Along with the Pizza of the day, a garlic chicken on thin crust ($15)... it was actually very good...
And the Mrs always needs her frites...($5) I'm pretty sure these were of the frozen variety...
Then the star of the evening did what he does best... sing and play his heart out... with a little comedy thrown in for good measure...
It was a great show... Willie always performs like no other and though date night did cost $$$, we'll be back if Herbie or Esperanza or Diane make a stop in the 50th... I'll just remember to park at the Outrigger East...
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