Windward wining, dining
Friday - August 08, 2008
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Jo McGarry is on vacation; This story is written by Kerry Miller.
A quick glance at popular eateries on the Windward side. Make the trip to Kaneohe and Kailua to enjoy creative culinary delights at these popular spots.
Formaggio Grill Kailua
This newest Formaggio location is a social hot spot for wine, food and music lovers. Just seven months new, the Kailua Formaggio Grill is already “drawing in younger adults to older adults, and anybody who appreciates good wine,” says restaurant manager Dusty Grable.
It offers the same great quality food and drinks as the Formaggio Wine Bar at Market City in Kaimuki, but provides something different with its atmosphere. The lighting is comforting - not too bright and not too dark. Quirky and colorful paintings by resident artist Ron Genta adorn the walls, and Genta, by the way, also painted the bar’s tables and wall pillars. A counter seating area offers front row viewing of the Formaggio kitchen. Besides the traditional “table-for-your-party-only,” guests may sit at long friendship tables, which seat about eight, and meeting total strangers is the name of the game.
“We are a bar,” says Grable. “Although families are more than welcome, we want to provide a place where parents can get a baby sitter and come out.”
The wine room houses 1,300 bottles, and Formaggio carries more than 60 wines by the glass. It’s also home to a Cru Vinet system, few of which are on Oahu. This wine-on-tap system allows Formaggio to open more wine bottles at once than your average restaurant. Also, Formaggio often orders wines rarely seen in these parts, so guests should check the specials board to see what’s new.
“We’re about keeping things new and fresh. We’re not your typical restaurant where people come in and want the same thing every single time,” says general manager Patrick Okubo, adding that the drink menu changes about once a month.
Besides the wine there is, of course, the delectable menu featuring steaks, pasta, wine bar favorites, seafood and more - all of which are available all the time, so late-night diners are welcome to order whatever they like until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, 10 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday, and until 11 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.
A couple of late-night options are the truffle’d shoestring fries with black pepper, and the Formaggio Fonduta (a fondue of imported cheese, spinach, artichoke and crab meat served with warm crostinis). An “anytime” choice is the Mediterranean Seafood Salad - a blend of shrimp, scallops, crab and lobster served a on bed of mesclun greens and fennel in a citrus vinaigrette.
Served alongside the wine and food is live music Wednesday through Saturday, beginning at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday and
Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Formaggio Grill
305 Hahani St. Kailua
263-2633
http://www.formaggio808.com
Zia’s Caffe Hawaii (Kaneohe)
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Located on Kamehameha Highway with the Koolau Mountains as a backdrop, Zia’s Caffe Hawaii in Kaneohe not only has great food, but beautiful scenery to boot.
While it is open for dinner, if you’re looking for a good lunchtime deal, Zia’s is one to try, with the average price of lunch at $9.95.You do get a hearty portion for your money, too, and won’t be leaving with a half-empty stomach.
A popular choice for lunch at Zia’s, says manager Dan Poh, are the combination items. Choices include soup and salad ($7.95), pasta with soup or salad ($7.95) or a sandwich combo with choice of soup or salad ($8.95). The soup combo offers a choice of mine-strone soup (a mainstay on Zia’s menu) or soup of the day and either tossed or Caesar salad. For the pasta combo, order linguine, fettuccini, penne or spaghetti with choice of sauce, including Alfredo, black and white, Bolognese, or Poh’s pick, the arrabiatta, a spicy white wine tomato sauce with bacon, fresh tomato and basil. Choose from the French dip, eggplant veggie, turkey BLT and the Italian sub for the sandwich combo.
Poh also suggests the garlic fish sandwich (fresh fish sauteed in a white wine butter garlic sauce with Zia’s spice on garlic bread served with lettuce, tomato and onion) or the garlic shrimp sandwich (shrimp sauteed with a white wine, garlic, sun-dried tomato cream sauce, served on garlic bread with lettuce, tomato and onion).
Poh invites customers to inquire about the daily soup and entree specials at lunch and dinner, as well as to enjoy Zia’s comfortable casual atmosphere, with what he calls a mellow European ambiance.
“We have a very popular lunch and dinner. Lunch combinations are popular in Kaneohe,“says Poh, adding that the Zia’s crowd is “a lot of families, business lunchers, (and) actually a fair amount of tourists coming down off the Likelike.”
Zia’s offers both indoor and outdoor seating.
Zia’s Caffe Hawaii
45-620 Kamehameha Hwy.,
Kaneohe
235-9427
Assaggio Kailua
Established in 1992 as the first Assaggio location on Oahu, Kailua Assaggio is known as a great lunchtime spot for folks in the Windward area. Whether it’s a business lunch or a midday get-together with friends, manager Brandon Takahashi says Assaggio can accommodate your needs.
“We’re one of the few places where you can sit down and have a meeting and eat,“says Takahashi.
Known for its Southern Italian cuisine, Assaggio serves up salads, pastas, sandwiches and steaks to satisfy your lunchtime appetite.
“A lot of people like to eat the salads - the fish salad, steak salad and scallop salad. (Also) pastas, sandwiches are the mainstay; steaks are also popular at lunch,” says Takahashi.
The crispy golden fish salad features a seasonal fillet of fish pan-fried in olive oil and crispy garlic and served over mixed greens with homemade dressing. House specialty pastas include Italian classics like fettuccini Alfredo, cheese ravioli and lasagna. Other pastas more unique to Assaggio are the calamari strips vegetable, featuring calamari strips sauteed with olive oil, garlic and mixed fresh vegetables and served over a bed of linguine; baked stuffed eggplant is filled with ricotta cheese and topped with tomato sauce and melted mozzarella cheese and served with linguine.
On the sandwich menu is an open-face mushroom onion sandwich featuring sliced button mushrooms with caramelized onions (sauteed in olive oil and garlic) and topped with melted mozzarella cheese. There are also the meatball sandwich, sausage sandwich and chicken Parmigiana sandwich. All are prepared with homemade bread and served with a house salad topped with homemade dressing.
All steaks come with a choice of pasta, potato, rice or vegetable. This juicy meat menu includes filet mignon, New York steak, pepper steak and an osso bucco alla Romana (a braised veal shank with onions, garlic in a lightly seasoned tomato sauce).
While Takahashi says the only thing limiting the size of the lunch crowd is the parking in the area, it hasn’t stopped loyal Kailuans from taking advantage of Assaggio’s lunchtime meals - and it should-n’t stop you, either.
Street parking is available, as well as in two municipal lots close by.
Assaggio Kailua
Kailua Business Center (ground floor)
354 Uluniu St.
Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-10 p.m.
261-2772
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