July 4 specials and a taste of Italian culture
Friday - June 27, 2008
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Fourth of July at Longhi’s
If you’re looking to make July 4 a special night out, then look for the fine dining restaurants that offer spectacular views of firework displays as well as excellent food. At Longhi’s Restaurant there’s a view across Ala Moana Beach Park as well as a special menu for the evening.
“We’re offering a five-course menu from 7 p.m.,” says restaurant manager Mary Ann Bowman, “and it’s fabulous!” The $85 menu includes chilled crab claws, Napoleon Longhi (roasted eggplant, vineripened tomatoes, roasted red peppers, chevre and fresh basil drizzled with house made vinaigrette), lobster cannelloni and a choice of either opakapaka, chicken marsala, shrimp Longhi or filet mignon with béarnaise. Dessert is included. The restaurant will be open for dinner from 4 p.m. offering Longhi’s regular, Mediterranean-inspired menu that includes lobster tails, shrimp, pasta, steak and salads. Reservations for the set menu (and prime view) will be taken from 7 p.m. There also will be fresh Maine lobster (3.25 pounds and 1.25 pounds) on the menu for the evening. Longhi’s, on the second floor of Ala Moana Center, offers the perfect vantage point for firework viewing, and also boasts an award-winning wine list to toast Independence Day in style.
Longhi’s Restaurant
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
947-9899
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Café Sistina.
Sergio Mittroti has one of the few family-run Italian restaurants in Hawaii and he’s proud to serve dishes inspired by generations of his own family. While recreating some of Michelangelo’s best known artwork on his own restaurant walls, Sergio has spent these past 17 years serving a true taste of his homeland to Hawaii. “I grew up in a family where food was incredibly important, and I learned to cook by watching my grandmother and my mother,” he says.
“‘The Classics’ are an attempt to lead people gently to the food of my culture,” he explains. “If they are not too familiar with real Italian food then there is some comfort here, something they will recognize.” Homemade Italian sausages, for example or Fettuccine Bolognese. The Caprese di Melanzane is from a family recipe where Sergio’s grandmother would marinate thick slices of eggplant for a year until they were ready to be eaten with fresh mozzarella. The adapted dish at Café Sistina, although it doesn’t take a year to create, is tender eggplant that melts almost before it reaches the mouth and slips over the tongue like fine wine. And Sergio creates a wonderfully spicy Linguine Puttanesca that is one of the best in Hawaii. His rich tomato-based sauce is given strength and character by the slow cooking of anchovies, kalamata olives capers and garlic. The result is a dish full of flavor, depth and personality.
If you’re looking for true Italian food and a restaurant that’s bursting with creativity, pay Sergio a visit at Café Sistina.
In creating an atmosphere that’s casual and friendly, Sergio has given people a taste not just of Italian food, but of Italian life.
“I’m trying to give people a taste of my culture,” says Sergio. One dish at a time.
Café Sistina
1314 S.King St.
Honolulu
596-0061
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Kaiseki At Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas.
Time again for Hiroshi Fukui’s elegant and illuminating 10-course contemporary kaiseki. This one is scheduled for Thursday, July 3, at his Restaurant Row restaurant.
Fukui is a huge fan of fresh island fish, so expect to see lots of it in different preparations on the menu. Perfectly suited to a multicourse, small portion menu, Fukui’s work is precise and the result of strict Japanese training. Portions of delicate entrees are artfully presented and contain layers of rich flavors, and the dinners, held three times a year, are incredibly popular.
“The difference between traditional Japanese cooking and what I am able to do here at Hiroshi,” he says, “is that traditional kaiseki dinners kept me up all night preparing food. The ‘contemporary’ kaiseki are just as intricate, but they take less time.”
Imagine the challenge of creating 30 new dishes a year (and more) that appeal to hundreds of different palates. Fukui’s method is to keep it simple.
“My goal is remembering that everything, no matter how creative and how inventive, comes back to the basics. The challenge, for me, is to create food that makes people comfortable but still manages to be different.”
Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas
Kaiseki Dinner
July 3 $75 per person
533-4476
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Noble Grapes at Vino.
There have been some fairly “noble” names dining at Vino in recent weeks (food critic Alan Richman, winemaker Jim Clendenen and the outstandingly gifted winemaker Fred Scherrer, to name but three); on July 5, it’s noble grapes that get the attention. Nebbiolo (an Italian grape variety that produces Barolo and Barbaresco) will be featured and paired with food from Chef Keith Endo’s considerable repertoire. “The right Nebbiolo can be glorious,” says master sommelier Chuck Furuya.
Pairings include homemade pizza with Portobello mushrooms, Maui onion, pancetta and fresh herbs, Moroccan seared duck and panko-crusted beef with an olive-caper butter sauce.
Wines will include 2001 Damilano Barolo “Cannubi,” 1998 Sottimano Barbaresco “Fausoni” and 1999 Pira Boschis Barolo “Vita Nuova.”
Cost is $75 per person. Serious wine lovers take note: This is not your average wine tasting.
Vino
Restaurant Row
533-4476
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