Flowers, foie gras on Arancino at Kahala anniversary summer menu

Nadine Kam photos
Foie gras marinated in cognac and brandy is strewn with a summer’s garden of edible flowers and greenery.

BY NADINE KAM

Flowers are everywhere this summer, and on my Fashion Tribe blog I recently wrote of the season’s best accessory, a living flower crown. Well, Arancino at The Kahala’s executive chef Daisuke Hamamoto takes the same inspiration from nature and applies it to his new plates, draping his insalata Misticanza ($13) with micro greens, herbs and edible flowers, while a new dish of terrina di fegato ($20), foie gras marinated in cognac and brandy, also wears a colorful, eye-catching bouquet of edible greens.

Both are new a la carte offerings introduced this month in celebration of Arancino at The Kahala’s second anniversary. Both dishes are available for lunch and dinner, along with other new dishes of pesce al cartoccio ($32), an elegant mix of seafood, shimeji mushrooms and broccolini steamed in parchment paper with white wine, and Sangiovese wine risotto layered with grilled Muscovy duck, fried leeks and gold leaf ($26).

The restaurant is also offering two new summer tasting menues, one with four courses for $65, and the other comprising five courses for $89.

The new risotto dish is offered as a Primi option on the $65 tasting menu, and the foie gras is one of two antipasti options listed on the $89 tasting menu.

What I like about their tasting menus is that for each course they provide two or three options, knowing that not everybody shares the same food preferences. I certainly have my share of finicky friends.

So on the $65 tasting menu you’ll find antipasti offerings of seafood carpaccio or prosciutto and fruit. For your Primi selection, you’ll have a choice of seafood tagliatelle; tagliolini with white wine, garlic, tomato cream sauce and uni; or the grilled Muscovy duck risotto. All in addition to a choice of lobster bisque or caprese salad, plus dessert of tiramisu or gelato affogato.

On the $89 menu you’ll start with a choice of bagna cauda or lobster bisque, followed by local seafood antipasti or the foie gras dish. Secondi options are grilled seafood, sous vide Colorado lamb or braised short rib with Sangiovese wine reduction. Then choose a Primi plate of Ho Farm cherry tomato tagliatelle, tagliolini with tobiko and calamari in garlic-olive oil sauce, or mixed mushroom risotto, before ending with your choice of the day’s desserts.

Here’s a look at a recent sampling:

Delicate amuse bouche of English pea mousse topped with prosciutto and pea shoot.

One view of the edible garden of seafood and greens that comprise the Misticanza, beautiful bite-size nibbles of grilled scallop and abalone, with calamari, amaebi, uni, tomato, dill, basil, nasturtium leaves, cucumber, and more.

The view from the opposite end of the Misticanza arrangement. It was funny but out of all the ingredients, both my dinner guest and I saved the two pieces of sweet uni for last.

The foie gras at the top of the page was plated with fresh fruit and brioche.

Sangiovese risotto was topped with grilled Muscovy duck, a tangle of lightly fried leeks and crowned with gold leaf.

A new dish of pesce al cartoccio proved simple and delicious, with catch of the day, Manila clams, shimeji mushrooms, broccolini and tomatoes steamed with white wine in parchment.

Light bianco mangiare, a roasted almond panna cotta topped with housemade coconut gelato and coconut granita brought the meal to a close.

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Nadine Kam is Style Editor and staff restaurant critic at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; her coverage is in print on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Contact her via email at nkam@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Rebel Mouse.

First bite: Teppanyaki done right at Sumikawa

Nadine Kam photos
A slice of A5 Kobe simply flavored with a drag across a pink Himalayan salt dish that guests take home for later use. The hope is that you bring it back on a return visit to Teppanyaki Ginza Sumikawa.

First there was Vintage Cave with a $300 per person set menu. Then Sushi Ginza Onodera with its $160 to $250 per person omakase. Was Honolulu ready for such pricey dining experiences, with no cheaper diversion? Other restaurants may have offered similar set menus, but also offered a la carte options for those who could only afford a trio of appetizers or so.

There is also the question of value. We’ve all had experiences in which the quality was not commensurate to the steep price.

Yet, I feel both these restaurants deliver on quality and experience, and there are enough in town who agree, who have made a sister Ginza restaurant possible.

With its exceptional quality, presentation and service, Sushi Ginza Onodera has become a trusted destination for sushi aficionados, and the company has full intention to do the same with teppanyaki at the newly open Teppanyaki Ginza Sumikawa.

They are able to produce Japan’s Kobe Beef Certificate of Authenticity.

I have to admit I still had some doubts when I heard the company was opening a teppanyaki restaurant with similar price points to Onodera. I think many of us are acquainted with the idea of the high-price sushi bar. But when it comes to teppanyaki, the American experience is most closely associated with Benihana of Tokyo and its founder’s emphasis on fun and entertainment above all, making it a sort of Chuck E. Cheese party place for adults.

In Japan, teppanyaki is taken much more seriously. Even so, I couldn’t fathom a $250 per person teppanyaki meal when I still imagined itty bitty morsels of beef and shrimp. To pay just $100 for two still seems like a lot for that.

Well, consider me a believer now. All my doubts dissipated with each mouthful at Sumikawa, and it was with a spirit of zen, reverence and awe that I watched the chefs work their magic.

There are no knife tricks here, no turning a chef’s toque into a basket for catching flying morsels of shrimp, and no onion volcanoes spouting steam. There is only the clean, deft grilling of meat, seafood, shellfish and preparation of sauces in just the right measure, before your eyes.

Of interest to gourmands is the focus on the quality of ingredients, such that sauce or dressings don’t distract from the essence of the meat and seafood. I don’t expect everyone to understand or appreciate this. I watch too many people dump ketchup or shoyu on food before even tasting it, and note that many are fond of heavy sauces and gravies that I think have a masking effect on food. Those who understand this will have no qualms about paying the asking price here.
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Teppanyaki Ginza Sumikawa is at 1726 S. King St. (past Punahou, between Elsie and Pawaa Lanes). Open 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays. Set menu prices: $200, $225 or $250 per person. As in Japan, no gratuity policy. Call 784-0567.

Chef de Cuisine Keijiro Yamane, left, with Executive Chef Takanori Kambe, who came from Japan to oversee the restaurant’s opening.

We started by putting on a bib to protect us from possible spatters from the teppan. But considering the chefs’ skill, I wasn’t worried at all. I’ve done much worse at Italian restaurants. Red sauce = danger.

Sweet potato mousse with caviar served on crostini.

Kobe tenderloin topped with fried elephant garlic chip and freshly grated wasabi.

Blinis took shape on the grill, and were filled with minced A5 Omi wagyu.

Kagoshima A4 wagyu carpaccio with a touch of light curry mayonnaise dressing, Parmesan and topped with a mini salad of amaranth, kaiware sprouts, radish and arugula.

Foie gras and daikon line the teppan. The oil comes off the foie gras and is drained away.

The foie gras layered over daikon and served with poivre sauce.

First course: 53 By the Sea now open

Nadine Kam photos
Oysters that are part of the 53 Seafood Showcase platter. This was the grand opening selection. The actual $30 seafood platter will be portioned for two.

Now open on the site of the former John Dominis restaurant is 53 By the Sea, Honolulu's latest Italian restaurant helmed in the kitchen by a Japanese chef, Hiroshi Hayakawa.

No one who's ever been to John Dominis will see a trace of the former restaurant here. It's given way to a $16 million Mediterranean-style chapel-looking building that will also serve as a wedding venue marketed to Japanese lovebirds.

The 200-seat Italian restaurant is on the ground floor, and a ballroom staircase will lead to the Terrace by the Sea. The two-story, 18,825-square-foot building features two wedding chapels and six banquet rooms in an unbeatable setting right on the water's edge in Kakaako, with a straight-ahead view of Diamond Head.

Whereas the former restaurant was built close to the water, with waves splashing against glass walls, the new restaurant is raised, with glass doors and outdoor seating for those who want to actually feel the ocean breeze and take unobstructed photos.

The restaurant is open for dinner, and lunch service is set to begin around Sept. 26. During a media reception this morning, the restaurant offered a sampling of its menu, with entree prices ranging from $18 for spaghetti Bolgonese, to $42 for grilled Maine lobster with fried island vegetables.

*Note that the dishes below were presented in group portions, and not the actual individual portions.

The exterior of the new 53 By the Sea restaurant built on the site of the former John Dominis restaurant.

The ballroom staircase leading to the wedding chapels.

Chef Hiroshi Hayakawa.

Prosciutto and Pecorino.

Among the beef offerings is grilled Black Angus filet mignon.

Bow-tie pasta and pesto scampi.

Seafood penne.

Escargot-stuffed mushrooms.

The million-dollar view.