A New Orleans-style New Year’s Eve
Friday - December 26, 2008
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New Year’s Eve.
The last night of the year demands attention to detail at your dining table. New Year’s Eve foods should have an element of good luck attached to them - whether good fortune comes from a plate of black-eyed peas or a platter of fresh ahi sashimi, here are some restaurants serving up traditional and not-so-traditional feasts:
Top Of Waikiki.
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Sean Priester has gone from strength to strength since taking over Top of Waikiki almost five years ago. His food is sophisticated, elegant and fun, and he has never lost his ability to bring a comfort element to almost every dish. This year he’s returning to his Southern roots with a memorable New Year’s Eve menu.
“We wanted to incorporate Southern hospitality into the menu,” says Priester. “It will be a night inspired by the New Orleans’ Jazz Festival.”
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Expect lucky black-eyed peas to make an appearance on the menu, and look for the chef’s Lucky Plate - Niman Ranch Barbecue Pork Loin Chop with Espresso Glaze and Ceniza Farms Fresh Collard Greens.
“This natural pork is really superior with its marbling and intense flavor,” says Priester. He’s serving it charbroiled with roasted cornbread, apple butter and the house apple-jicama slaw.
Make reservations immediately if you can - the evening promises to be outstanding. There’s a five-course, Creole-infused menu that features sweet potato gumbo, oysters po’ boy, the restaurant’s signature ahi poke stack and coconut shrimp. Course two is a salad of grilled Maui baby romaine and entrees include shrimp and snapper etouffee, Thai barbecue lamb ribs with tea-smoked duck, and the restaurant’s signature roasted garlic ribeye. New Orleans traditional jazz and more are provided by Tennyson Stephens, Justin James-New Jass Quartet, DeShannon Higa and the James Kraft Trio.
Top of Waikiki Waikiki Business Plaza 2270 Kalakaua Ave.
923-3877 Topofwaikiki.com
Michel’s.
The view might not be from the top of a tall building, but there’s no finer view of the sands of Waikiki than Michel’s. Just steps from the ocean, Michel’s is one of the great dining rooms in Honolulu, and the place to head for elegance,old-world sophistication and reliably good food and wine.
In the kitchen, Chef Hardy creates classic European dishes inspired by local foods. Highly recommended on the regular menu is the Hawaiian Bouillabaisse with local fish in a saffron-tomato broth alongside an assortment of lobster, scallops, shrimp, mussels, clams and salmon. There’s a gorgeous pork chop done in the osso buco-style, and some excellent steak,lobster and fresh island fish.Look for New Year’s Eve specials, too, from this excellent chef.
And if you can’t make it to Michel’s for the last night of the year, go early in 2009 for Sunday brunch. What you’ll find is certainly the most elegant breakfast in the city - with service and attention to detail matched only by dishes like traditional eggs Benedict, New York steak and eggs, and corned beef sweet potato hash.
Michel’s On the Beach at the Colony Surf 2895 Kalakaua Ave.
923-6552 http://www.michelshawaii.com
Aaron’s.
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Of restaurants perched high above the city, Aaron’s surely has one of the finest views, so expect the dining room to sell out early on New Year’s Eve. With a menu of classic American cuisine such as oysters Rockefeller, lobster tails, steaks, fresh island fish, pasta and excellent blackened double pork chop, the restaurant offers sophisticated dining pre-dusk and then turns itself into an elegant night club with dancing until dawn. The view across the city is splendid, but the food, wine and atmosphere should grab most of your attention. General manager Al Souza is a welcoming and genial host.
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Aaron’s Ala Moana Hotel 410 Atkinson Drive
955-4466 http://www.tristarrestaurants.com
d.k’s Steak House.
Is steak high on your list of last-night-of-the-year dining? Then head to d.k’s where the 22-ounce, bone-in, aged ribeye is one of the largest and tastiest steaks in town. New Year’s Eve dishes include oysters on the half shell,pan-seared foie gras, duck confit, fresh island onaga and a choice of entrees that include opakapaka with truffled ali’i mushrooms or seared prime rib.
Dessert of chocolate cake and chocolate strawberries is included in the $75-per-person price. The wine list offers some of the most eclectic, best-priced wines in Honolulu. The view across Waikiki should offer great fireworks viewing z- if you can tear your attention away from your plate. d.k’s Steak House Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa
931-6280 three hours free validated self-parking.
www.dksteakhouse.com
‘Elua.
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Fine wines, classic steaks and seafood are on the menu at Aaron’s
There’s a choice of two dinners (what else?) at the restaurant famous for its chef duo.‘Elua offers a four-course dinner for $70 (without wines) that starts with a choice of Chef Philippe’s fresh manila clam chowder or ravioli of goat cheese and herbs on a bed of mesclun greens, followed by Chef Donato’s risotto of asparagus and imported Taleggio cheese. Entrees include fresh island moi on a bed of beluga lentils drizzled with vincotto, or pan-fried tenderloin of beef with a red wine shiitake mushroom sauce. Dessert is Chef Phillipe’s Grand Cru Manjari Chocolate Mousse.
Pair up the last-night-of-the-year feast with 2-ounce wine pours with each course for an additional $16. There’s a five-course New Year’s Eve menu too, that offers fresh oysters, fresh potato gnocchi with lump blue crab meat in a vodka sauce, pan-seared moi and Chef Donato’s Mediterranean-style grilled lamb chops. The dinner costs $83 and includes a glass of sparkling wine.
For gourmands with smaller appetites, there’s a new wine and cheese menu, and tapas plates that should appeal.
‘Elua Restaurant and Wine Bar 1341 Kapiolani Blvd. 955-3852
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