Holy Tarte Tatin! Chef Mavro’s ‘Julie & Julia’ special starts Aug. 7

Julie & Julia beouf bourgignon

NOTE 9/4/09: Due to popular demand, Julie & Julia dinner has been extended through September, Tuesday-Saturday. Check the Chef Mavro blog for updates (and see how George Mavrothalassitis makes beouf bourgignon. Thing of beauty).

Yeah, recessions suck. But they also spur all kinds of good (and delicious) things. Like last winter’s Souper Tuesdays at Town, Hiroshi’s insanely cheap $35 Locally Grown Dinner,  and now Chef Mavro‘s Julie & Julia-inspired three-course dinner. Continue reading “Holy Tarte Tatin! Chef Mavro’s ‘Julie & Julia’ special starts Aug. 7”

In other news

• The website food52.com—founded by New York Times food writer Amanda Hesser and freelance food writer and recipe tester Merrill Stubbs—is in beta testing and looking for crack home cooks to try it out and give feedback. SeriousEats.com broke the news with video.

• Today I sent a tweet to @amandahesser saying “Good cameo in ‘Julie & Julia’! And she replied: “Thanks!” Swoooon.

Halekulani is taking a cue from Craft‘s Tom Tuesday Dinners and launching Table One next month. It will be a restaurant-within-a-restaurant in Orchids, offering tasting menus by Vikram Garg. I’m really looking forward to this. Continue reading “In other news”

Ode to the Sloppy Joe

Yes, Honolulu Academy of Arts’ Pavilion Cafe chef Mike Nevin is known for his garden fresh Med-Asian contemporary cafe dishes like mahi soba salad and greens-laden piadina (and his 80s Ward Centre spot Il Fresco was an HNL restaurant pioneer), but as Academy staffers recently found out, he also makes insanely delicious sloppy joes. Full of tomato, green pepper and celery, they’re as nostalgic as a … Continue reading Ode to the Sloppy Joe

Blaisdell Night Market: Farmers markets keep blooming

WOW tomatoes at Blaisdell Night Farmers Market

The launch of the Blaisdell Night Market in June means I don’t have to berate myself for not getting out of bed early enough to make the KCC Saturday crack o’ dawn version. Now every Wednesday I can leisurely walk from work—it unleashes its bounty at the corner of Kapi‘olani Blvd and Ward Ave from 4 to 7pm.

Continue reading “Blaisdell Night Market: Farmers markets keep blooming”

Momo and dhal: Himalayan Kitchen

The opening of Himalayan Kitchen in March marked one more step in the sloooow diversification of Honolulu’s restaurant scene. In the cozy Kaimuki second-floor nook that was once Days of Aloha Cafe (I still miss their tuna sandwiches and homemade guava jam), Himalayan Kitchen serves a menu of Indian and Nepalese food—a first for O‘ahu.

Back in April I walked in, saw a familiar face and blurted, “Hey, didn’t you used to work at Bombay Restaurant?” Owner Suman Basnet said he did—he was one of the original servers when the restaurant opened in 2006. He left there to work in a relative’s restaurant—in Omaha, of all places. Jaipur Brewing Company (!). I wonder if Jun Kaneko eats there. Continue reading “Momo and dhal: Himalayan Kitchen”