Mixed Plate Special is Served

Today brings the official launch of Mixed Plate Special, a new online lifestyle magazine focused on Hawaii. A "virtual exhibition space" of sorts, Mixed Plate Special aims to chronicle modern Hawaii life in a variety of ways.

"We're really excited about bringing a fresh media outlet to the islands, one that adds new dimensions to storytelling — audio, video, flash — that we hope will enrich the reader experience," writes editor Catharine Lo in announcing the new site. "We want our stories to pop, and we want readers to become more engaged than they can in print."

And Lo knows print. She and fellow Mixed Plate Special contributor Ryan Senaga are longtime contributors to Honolulu Weekly.

Mixed Plate Special features four channels that will offer regular features: "People, " "Arts & Culture," "Food & Drink," and "Outside." Keeping things fresh is the "Daily Scoops," a blog that covers anything and everything in pupu-sized servings.

The site makes good use of the Joomla content management system, allowing Mixed Plate Special to showcase a variety of content with ease. And if you find yourself lost in exploring the many nooks and crannies, you can just subscribe to the site's main RSS feed and easily track the latest updates.

In addition to Lo and Senaga, other Mixed Plate Special contributors include 'Olelo veteran Angela Breene and Darin Isobe, accomplished designer and photographer for several PacificBasin Communications publications.

The masthead lists one Bruce Beinert as publisher, and he's also among the site's most active bloggers. Beinert was apparently once affiliated with Sugar Mill Inc., an ambitious high-tech start-up incubator that briefly occupied the old Waialua Sugar Mill. Years later, and it's clear he's still full of big ideas.

"Food is such an accessible metaphor for people who live in Hawaii — the multicultural population, their interests, and their varied lifestyles form a literal mixed plate," Beinert explains. "We want to extend that metaphor to media."