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Man from Hunger: A Century Run of Sushi

Chappy Hardy, a.k.a. the Man from Hunger, appears with another report for Scott Simon in his search for the South's best eating bargains.

This time, he checks out Kanpai, an elaborate sushi bar and buffet that also serves prepared Japanese dishes besides sushi. Kanpai, whose name is the equivalent of "cheers" in Japanese, offers a lunchtime buffet that costs $9.50.

That price allowed Hardy to feast on salmon, crawfish and other varieties of sushi rolls for an hour-and-a-half extravaganza of eating. When the chopsticks came to rest, Chappy had consumed 104 bites of sushi at just over 9 cents per bite.

He does admit that most Kanpai customers aren't out to take advantage of the sushi buffet the way he did: "There's a delicacy to Japanese dining that is pretty much lost on me."

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Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.
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