kaukaulesa

Excellent points Sun-Ki, this could be a great discussion. First I wanted to say...Trader Vic's is alive and well in some far-flung parts of the world. My father and brother live in Dubai and the first time i went to visit in 1992, boy was I surprised to find Trader Vic's is one of the city's most popular restaurants. My Dad loves it, cause he can swill maitais and it's a nostalgia trip for him—he loved Trader Vic's here back in the 60s. He's a sweet-and-sour-loving haole. They keep the tiki torch burning, with the addition of some seminal 80s culinary additions like chicken satay and the like. (As a kid living in Jakarta in the seventies, I never guessed the peanut sauce I ate at street stalls would go on to conquer the world.) I agree there is a certain strata within HRC that is becoming humdrum—the requisite mahimahi with mango salsa, and "crisp" moi and now seems to be taking its place. (The plus side is that while that may seem boring, it's cool that it's trickled down to budget operations like Diamond Head Market and Grill...it's nice to be able to get mahi-mango for 7 dalah.) But as I said, in the Hale Aina Awards topic, I think a few chefs are going to be changing things, like chef Etsuji at Brown's Beach House at the Fairmont Orchid on the Big Island. He's so excited about getting to know the famer's in nearby Waimea. I ate there and he specially made a dish of sliced hamachi topped only by sweet locally grown tomato slices and a light shiso vinaigrette. He also did something extraordinary: baked baby (also locally grown) potatos in ala'ea. He said "Taste these potatoes, they have so much flavor you can just eat them plain." And he was right. Trained in Japanese and French technique, his way with seafood is masterful, highlighting pure flavors. The hotel just built him a new open kitchen. Also, although his regular menu is often criticized, chef Hiroshi at L'Uraku really does some outstanding cooking for his contemporary kaiseki dinners. Uni risotto, kahala sashimi, gosh, there were other memorable little plates. They highlighted local ingredients but never fell into a HRC rut. I highly recommend trying to get a reservation at his next kaiseki event this spring. Seared ahi is much more than a HRC dish...it already is a classic. You'll find versions of it as the chicest restaurants in Manhattan, along with some kind of tuna tartare. I think you'd be surprised to find how far HRC's reach has gone in subtle ways. Rocco DiSpirito (yes, the chef from that lame Restaurant reality show) made his name not with Italian food, but with his Pan-Asian-inflected contemporary cooking at his restaurant Union Pacific. It opened in 1997, and is just phenomenal. Roy's, Alan Wong's and Chef Mavro will never reach this level of cooking. But I don't know if he was influenced by what was happening in the Pacific Rim, or vice versa, or if there was no influencing going on at all. The fact is, Hawaii kitchens COULD be doing his kind of cooking: Halibut cooked in its own fat, covered in tangled scales of caramelized young ginger (just substitute the halibut for a luscious local fish), curried baby calamari in a Madras sauce set off by marinated dried blueberries (substitute the berries with dried strawberry guava or something). There is so much room for innovation and experimentation. I think as new crops of Hawai‘i born chefs graduate from places like Maui Community College's revamped $17 million culinary center and go out in the world and discover new flavors and techniques then return home, we'll see a natural evolution out of our mahi-and-mango culinary holding pattern. (I hope!)

Won ton pi chips! Mmmm. Remember when Checkers and Pogo hawked them on their show? And senbei, love that gingery-sugary flavah. And good mango seed...the black kind, slices that had a thick layer of meat on the outside of the seed. Hard to find that kind now...all that bright orange dried mango coated with li hing mui. It seems like most seed is imported from China, Thailand and other countries. Back in the day, back in the Yick Lung day, was seed made here? Seed has changed a lot in the last 30 years, no? Green mango and shoyu! That salt-n-tart combination is the taste of small kid time. Oh and Tomoe, sweet, chewy and comes with a prize. I still buy a box once in a while, like when I'm in the check out line at Shirokiya.

I agree, Joan Namkoong rocks! I always learn something from her pieces. I lover her "insider" stories about going on some outing or something with a bunch of chefs. We should all band together and publish our own egullet guide to "Lucky You Eat Hawaii"

yeah, I've been wanting to try Ethel's, but since it was featured on Emme Tomimbang's last special, with the four fab chefs (was it Roy or Alan who picked Ethel's?), I've wondered if I would even get in there at lunch time. I think you have to eat lunch at 10:30am to get a seat. For easy access and no MSG (they'll even hold the flour coating on the mahimahi if you're allergic to wheat), I stop in at Okata Bento when I'm in Kaimuki, on Waialae Ave, next to Payless Shoes. Mahimahi bento are two nice pieces of fish, some kamabuko, daikon and a sliver of spam. Take out only. And in a world of dwindling teriburger options (Zippy's doesn't even serve teriburgers anymore, although McDonalds now does...hmmm), Okata's version is top notch. For a nostalgia trip, go to Jane's Fountain on Liliha St. Old Pepsi signs, vinyl booths, Gabby on teh juke box and guys who look like Gabby in the booths. Order, say, barbecue pork, and you get a big plastic plate of nicely done meat, with frozen vegetables and rice, along with free cold tofu and tsukemono. The fountain no longer works, but the rest of the old-time atmosphere does more than enough to transport you to a pre-Ala Moana Center Hawaii.

It's no surprise that the usual suspects are on the list. Reader surveys always suffer from Zagatitis...people think that if they're going to a place that won last year, it must be good, so they keep voting for it year after year. It's the reason Nobu is still ranked as number one Japanese restaurant in New York even though it's not really a Japanese restaurant, and there are a number of places whose sushi and other Japanese cuisine is superior. It's why Bali-by-the-Sea won an award, it's been that "special occasion place" for generations. Nevermind that the food is underwhelming. The thing that rankles me is Honolulu's lackluster editorial. The capsules on the winners just regurgitate the same information we read every year. Get a little savvy...say "yes, the menu hasn't changed in three years, but judging by readers' reactions, it doesn't need to," or something like that. Or have there been changes? Also, someone cited the fact that the dailies' dining supplements are advertorials. Well, I wonder how much editorializing went into the survey responses...the Hale Aina awards section is sponsored by American Express, and the whole section looks like an advertorial. And a couple months ago I got an "invitation" from American Express and Roy Yamaguchi...if I ate at one of his restaurants, and paid for it with my AmEx card, I would receive his cookbook for free. Coincidence that he won top accolades? As far as the flogging the Hawaiian Regional horse. I think it's fine. It is great that chefs are so supportive of local agriculture, a sector of the economy that I hope grows. And new blood is doing new things in the arena--check out chef Etsuji at Brown's Beach House at the Fairmont Orchid on the Big Island (he's big on letting naked flavors speak for themselves...no sweet sauces!), or Kaikodo (also on the Big Island and sorely missing from the Hale Aina Awards). The problem with the awards is the categories are so staid and limiting. I agree, there should be more options for budget eats. Have a little fun and let people vote for best plate lunch, or even lunchwagon. Who makes the best Spam musubi? I worked on the Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide in New York, and for the restaurant awards, we always made up wacky topics like "best use of candy in a dish" (Atlas won, for its dessert that included Pop Rocks). Here's a secret: Honolulu Weekly will be expanding its food coverage to be simultaneously more playful, more comprehensive and more critical. Check out this week's review of the Willows' Rainbow Room.