Trying out new restaurants on Maui, for me, is always a challenge. There are old mom-and-pop favorites, like Sam Sato’s, where I try to stop each time I come home because I never want to see them go out of business. Then there are more recent favorites, like Star Noodle, where I’d only been once…
Driving through Upcountry Maui just never gets old to me. On my last trip home, my dad took us up the back roads where we usually go running. Driving through the old Haleakala Dairy lands, I rolled down my window to take in the smell of eucalyptus and the moist scent of the rain the…
Nanzan Giro Giro is one of those hidden gems in Honolulu that I never would have found on my own. I’d heard murmurs of the interesting contemporary kaiseki-style restaurant tucked away on Pensacola Street, and finally went to visit for the first time last November. The kaiseki style of cuisine is truly a culinary art…
It’s an unfortunate fact that I was born lacking the green thumb gene. My grandma had a beautiful garden full of flowers, fruit and macadamia nut trees, and a huge, grassy lawn. The centerpiece of our yard was a Surinam cherry tree so large you could climb up in it, whereas most times I see…
UPDATE 9/20/13: Big changes in Kakaako! Biting Commentary reports that Cocina has found a permanent home in the space vacated by the Whole Ox Deli, just around the corner from Taste. It appears that many of the hit dishes from the Cocina pop-ups now will be available in the restaurant, beginning 10/1/13. Nice! Why is…
UPDATE 4/10/13: Wow, have there been big changes since I posted this! Bob McGee has now left Whole Ox and the new chef, Justin Yu, has some major changes in store. I guess we were one of the last to get the foie gras poutine! You can read more about it on Honolulu Magazine’s Biting…
People always wonder why we’d ever leave for vacation, when we live in paradise. Yet locals love to travel, whether its the Big Apple, Japan, or just Hawaii’s unofficial 9th island, Las Vegas. But rarely do people from Hawaii head to Mexico since the climate and water activities are pretty similar. It wasn’t at the…
Driving out along Kalanianaole Highway usually gives me a feeling of anxiety. It’s the route for the Honolulu Marathon between miles 12 to 22 or so and usually the memory most associated with this stretch of asphalt, for me, is one of pain. In fact, entire area of Hawaii Kai – from Maunalua Bay to…
Here we are, seven days into the new year and I’ve scrapped my resolutions already. OK, well not completely. I had a salad for lunch, knowing I’d be indulging in a chocolate-making class this evening… Kokoa Bar by Ricard Chocolat is located on the street level of the Queen Kapiolani Hotel, right across the Honolulu…
At the beginning of 2012, one of my resolutions for the year was to read a book a week. It came right down to the wire, but I made it! Here’s the complete list of what was on my list this past year.
