Downtown, Honolulu First Friday Art Gallery Exhibitions 9/7

On Friday, 9/7, we went to the First Friday event in Downtown, Honolulu. It's held on each First Friday of the Month and it takes place throughout the Downtown and Chinatown districts of Honolulu. The center of the events radiate around Mark's Garage. It's recommended that you find parking early (between 5pm-6pm) because of the crowds this event attracts. I'll post links to any related sites at the bottom of this post. We found parking at a municipal parking garage in Chinatown at the $3 rate for evening parking. Our first stop was to find some dinner. We chose Du Vin, a wine bar and restaurant located on Bethel Street across the Hawaii Theatre. Kelli and I were last here for the 2006 Louis Vuitton Film Festival's Opening Party. We started with 2 glasses of Zilliken reisling and the Cream of Asparagus Soup then the Baked Brie in Puff Pastry, Escargot, Crispy Duck and ended with the Chocolate Souffle. The food was excellent! I especially loved the Crispy Duck. As far as the ambiance of the restaurant, it's tight and cozy, low lighting, rustic decor and no air conditioning. Yes, NO Air Conditioning! The last time we were here, it was a cocktail party so we were standing and walking around in the courtyard area. That was much cooler. Sitting down inside was uncomfortably warm! Don't expect to feel fresh and cool after a sit down dinner inside. Try to look for a table in the courtyard if you want to keep cooler. The service is on the slower side. There is a sign posted saying "allow 20 minutes for menu orders". To be straight forward, our ice water arrived after about 5 minutes, then our wine at about 10 minutes, ordered from the menu maybe 20 minutes from seating. Our food started coming out about 30-40 minutes from seating, but the waitress not once refilled our waters or asked if we wanted another glass of wine. Anyway, it was too hot in there so we drank, ate and got out of there. The total bill was $72.45 plus tip for the items we ordered. I would dine here again, but I probably would do it on a cool night. The famous Honolulu Theatre was holding an "Open House" as part of the First Friday events. Also on Bethel Street are several art galleries that were packed with people interested in seeing the artwork and meeting with some of the artists that were displaying their work. Below are some photos from First Friday. Left: Bread of Life sweetbread. We bought 2 loaves for $8. Right: Click to link to the full size map by Art at Mark's Garage. Related Links: Full Size Photos. Art at Mark's Garage. Google Maps of First Friday Area. Du Vin 1115 Bethel St Honolulu, HI 96813 (808) 545-1115 Other reviews on Google Search.