Page 2 - Dining Out - January 15, 2023

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Restaurant Insider with Anne Lee
ANNE LEE
speaks with fashion show producer/director, event producer and “model whisperer”
LYNNE HANZAWA O’NEILL
Photos courtesy Anne Lee
The fabulous Lynne Hanza- wa O’Neill (aka the “model whisperer”) is the epitome of NewYork City style and sophis- tication — and infused with aloha, right down to her Locals brand rubber slippers.
A fashion show producer/di- rector and event producer for 43 years, she was born and raised here in Hawaii, makes NYC home and lives here a few months out of the year.
When looking for the ideal lunch spot, Podmore was the perfect choice. The ambiance and subtle nuances make it feel like you are in an NYC restaurant — not to men- tion some of the material/decor you see inside are genuinely from the city. The food speaks for itself.
Everything chef Anthony Rush creates is made from scratch, and you can’t find a full English break- fast like his anywhere else.
AL: How did you get to be Lynne O’Neill?
LO: I was born in Hawaii and moved to Los Angeles when I was 3 but spent summers here with family. I worked at Dole Pineapple Cannery (where Costco Iwilei is now) for two summers and Kings Bakery when it was on King Street.
I studied art history at UCLA and then volunteered at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which led to a temp job at Macy’s San Francisco in public relations and special events.
I then moved to Tokyo and be- gan producing fashion shows on my own upon returning to San Fran- cisco. In 1990, I moved to NewYork and produced New York Fashion Week runway shows for design- ers and fashion events for retailers and publications — I was execu- tive producer of Honolulu Fashion Week 2014-2016.
My 43-year career also includes launching events with The Rolling Stones and Usher for Best Buy; fash- ion show consulting for CW’s Gos- sip Girl, Bravo’s The Fashion Show and Sex and the City: The Movie. I was the inspiration for the Margaret Cho character in HBO’s Sex and
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Dining Out
/ January 15-21, 2023