Another special $59 dinner from Chef Mavro: The Julie & Julia dinner was such a hit that the restaurant will do similar special menus periodically. Next up: Beaujolais Nouveau menu, Nov 19-Dec 5, 2009, 6-9:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Call 944-4714. Chef George Mavrothalassitis and Chef de Cuisine Kevin Chong came up with a three-course menu to go with the 2009 Beaujolais Nouveau, which is being hailed as one of the best harvests in 50 years. But unlike Julie & Julia dinner, this one isn’t trad French food (wah!). What you’ll get: Sautéed maitake mushrooms, green papaya, Sumida watercress, galangal and kaffir lime; crispy SUCKLING PIG with Molokai sweet potato puree, pickled mustard cabbage, white pineapple pork jus; Big Island Meyer lemon curd, Japanese chees cake, citrus salad, ginger ice cream, pomegranate syrup. It’s an incredible deal. Dinner starts on Nov 19—official Beaujolais Nouveau release date around the world. They’re gearing up in Japan, Hollywood is having a French fest, and special Beaujolais Nouveau dinners will be happening everywhere. Join the global party.
PS: Congratulations to Chef Mavro, which kept its AAA 5-diamond rating for the second year in a row.

Town restaurant is one of a bunch of restaurants across the country holding a special dinner and book launch party for Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town by Douglas Gayeton at Town Nov 18. (Town’s in good company—that night the author will be at farm-to-table holy grail Chez Panisse in Berkeley.) Dinner (including wine!) is $100 and you get a copy of the book too. Sounds like a good deal to me.  Presented by Slow Food O‘ahu ($25 goes to the organization).

Restaurant Week is coming up Nov 16-22. It’s a chance to try out spots you may have put on hold due to the recessionary hole in your wallet. Some suggestions: Azure, Nobu, 3660 on the Rise, 12th Avenue Grill. But most of the restaurants on the list are so affordable anyway, there’s no real incentive to patronize them during Restaurant Week. In New York the benefit is all for the diner—getting to have lunch at Gotham Bar & Grill for $24.07.  Here the event is a fundraiser—to benefit the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head, which is a very good cause. So go eat. See the complete list.

Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas holds its next Contemporary Kaiseki dinner Nov 10. Here’s what I said last time around. These dinners are always stellar. I’m putting my money on the sautéed marinated akule, panko-crusted halibut, the…oh, they’re all going to be memorable. Here’s the full menu. Hurry and reserve, cause the event sells out. $75 food only, $100 with wine pairings. 533-4476.

Trump International Hotel Waikiki Beachwalk is slated to open Nov 16, and hopefully that goes for the highly anticipated BLT Steak that will be in the view-blocking monolith. I was lucky enough to eat at Laurent Tourondel‘s critically acclaimed but hard-to-keep-open Cello in New York. Amazing that he made his name with seafood and now oversees a thriving international steakhouse empire. A BLT Fish or BLT Market would seem to make more sense on a Pacific island. (And I secretly would prefer a BLT Burger!) But hey, I just live here.