Dining Editor Mari Taketa - Honolulu Magazine

The Lū‘au Stew from He‘eia Pier

An unforgettable dish that brings back glimpses of simpler times.

The secret about Ringer Hut

I don’t know where I first heard about the tonkatsu. But it was enough to get me researching, and I found out Ringer Hut, the newish Nagasaki champon shop in the Waikiki Trade Center, is not just famous for its…

Did this: Food & Wine Makahiki

At Saturday’s Hawaii Food & Wine Fest Makahiki, the whole night sounded like this:“Oh my god, it’s Marcel!”“Todd English is looking goood.”“Robert Irvine, can you flex your bicep for me?”All that came out of my mouth. Of the media passes…

Outrageous pork at Eat the Street

It was mega-pork time in Kakaako Friday night, dozens of trucks and street food booths selling everything pork. Bacon pop tarts, pork belly bao buns, maple bacon gelato, pork-stuffed malasadas — and these in the photo gallery below, highlights of…

Foodscene: September

Sept. 1: Wine season beginsProbably the most ignored first-day-of-season ever. We’ll drink to that!Sept. 1 & 2: Okinawan FestivalKapiolani Park9 a.m. to 5 p.m.Bon dance Saturday 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.Andagiiii!! Okifest’s crunchy fried donuts are among the best on the…

Beyond falafel and hummus: Go

As good as Da Falafel King’s Israeli-style falafel is, stuffed in its whole fried brown glory into fluffy pita pockets with deep-pink cabbage, fresh slaw, pickles, diced tomato and cucumber and tahini, the small menus at the Waikiki kiosk and…

Anybody up for Israeli BYOB? How about noodles and tonkatsu?

Before you ask me what Israeli food is, have a look at this menu. Da Falafel King’s sit-down restaurant is all about what owner Yanir Yosef calls “Israeli-style fast food”: spring-green falafel, roasted shawarma, garlicky fresh hummus and all the…

Food pics: Latin Nights tapas pop-up

It’s become one of Streetgrindz’ missions to surprise Honolulu, from time to time, with the haute levels achieved by certain food truck chefs. Which is why tonight and tomorrow, if you peek into a certain warehouse in Kakaako, you’ll see…

Eat here … or here … or here

A year ago, pop-ups were so new to Honolulu they were like first bites that left us wanting more. We had only three: Pig and the Lady at Hank’s Haute Dogs, Addis Ababa at J2 in Kaimuki, and Off-Premise, popping…

Foodscene: August

Aug. 3: August MoonHonolulu Academy of Art900 S. Beretania St.6 to 9 p.m.Tickets $85 online presale, $95 at the doorThirty wineries, 13 restaurants and food vendors and artists doing live art team up in this benefit for arts educationAug. 3…

Way beyond tacos and burritos

Remember this? It’s what Baja Style brought to last summer’s Eat the Street: Pig Out! Every time someone ordered a taco, this pork was pulled into fresh handmade tortillas, until by the end of the night the pig had been…

Eat the Street Spicy Fest

Spicy = popcorn, poppers and O.M.G. that ceviche. Check out the range of reactions when the monthly Eat the Street food truck-and-street food rally celebrated fiery heat in Kakaako Friday night.Spicy night in Kakaako: Highlights Eat the Street Spicy Fest…

Eat the Street debut: Caribbean Spice

Spicy? You want spicy? How’s 43 food trucks and street food booths serving up spicy crispy shrimp, kimchee wings, spicy ahi hand rolls, cayenne pepper popcorn, spicy salmon dynamite, chocolate chili gelato, spicy watermelon gazpacho, fresh roasted corn with jalapeno…

Joy of Sake: What to eat, what to sip

It’s the world’s biggest sake-tasting celebration outside Japan, people, and it happens right here in Honolulu. Joy of Sake is this Friday, a record 360 premium sake set out for as much self-serve tasting as anyone can manage in 2.5…

All the glorious cheese

Picture this: Foodies all of us, lusting after the promise of locally made cheese and the chance to fund more, two dozen of us drive to the back of Lualualei Valley Saturday night and descend on tiny Naked Cow Dairy.We…

Naked Cow cheese dinners: le menu

Finally! The first dinners at Naked Cow Dairy featuring Oahu’s first locally produced cows’ milk cheeses are upon us. It’s been a long time in the making — not the dinners but getting to the point where we can eat…

Midsummer Natto’s Dream

How do you tell the story of a 10-course natto dinner on July 10, Natto Day? It’s epic, almost, the stuff of legend, practically — I mean, I was there, and I still can’t believe I ate 10 natto dishes.It…

Next Tuesday is Natto Day — let’s celebrate!

UPDATE: The Natto Day dinner is now fullIt came by Facebook message, the kind of note that gets my juices running:Hi Mari!My name is Scott Pang. You don’t know me but I saw an article you wrote about eating natto…

Eat the Street Garlic Fest preview

Get ready for major garlic breath, Kakaako: Eat the Street Garlic Fest happens tonight, a record 45 food trucks and street food vendors amassed on one gigantic lot to pay homage to this most redolent of bulbs.You ETS veterans know…

Foodscene: July

July 6: National Fried Chicken DayWay more than wings and drumsticks: chicken nuggets, Korean fried chicken, chicken katsu, popcorn chicken, Chinese crispy fried chicken…July 6: Puff & BlowWhole Ox Deli327 Keawe St.6:30 to 9:30 p.m.$35 gets you three cigars, three…

New eats: La Cucina

How a straight-up restaurant review morphed into Nonstop’s latest open-invite dinner:April 2012. La Cucina opens in the lobby of Imperial Plaza on Cooke Street, the first solo venture of longtime Mediterraneo chef Don Truong. Pastas made fresh in-house daily. Housemade…

Naked Cow to host cheese dinners

UPDATE: Both dinners are now sold out.Picture this: Sunset, gentle breezes, cows mooing softly in the distance. You’re in the country, wine glass in hand, eating the cheese that came from the milk the cows made. Merci beaucoup! You toast…

It’s International Sushi Day — are you ready?

Yes, people, there is an International Sushi Day, because after all, how could there not be? If Peking duck (Jan. 18), coq au vin (March 22) and pizza with everything except anchovies (Nov. 12) have their days — and none…

Did this: Joy of Sake Kick-Off Party

Joy of Sake Kick-Off Party ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 15 Not yet! The annual Joy of Sake happens next month, a record 360 premium sake making their U.S. debut at Pier 2 at the height of midsummer.No,…

VIDEO: Wildest ice cream in town

What went down in Kakaako last Saturday, you had to be there to understand. How one ice cream can taste like shrimp chips. How another tastes like the scent of banana. How Cap’n Crunch can exude fog. How fast whiskey…

Mangiamo! Nonstop dinner next Tuesday

Pasta lovers of Honolulu, you know the feeling. Where’s the good spaghetti for under $17 a plate? I’m not talking about overboiled strands in runny marinara, or luxurious heaps of frutti di mare or top-of-the-line uni spaghetti. Just a good…

Wildest ice cream in town

If you’ve been to Prima, you’ve probably heard about the Cap’n Crunch gelato. Nestled among other flavors like chocolate, cherry and lilikoi, Cap’n Crunch is baker/pastry chef Alejandro Briceno’s tribute to the peanutty-sweet breakfast cereal, an instant hit when the…

Foodscene: June

June 7: National Chocolate Ice Cream DayJust so you knowJune 9: One-Year Anniversary, Uncle Clay’s House of Pure AlohaAina Haina Shopping Center820-850 W. Hind DriveFrom 10:30 a.m.Buy a shave ice and HOPA will donate one to its “Share-HOPA-Forward” campaignJune 12:…

Tacoako Tuesday: Go

It’s been a while, a good long while since the combo of an obscure law and a police crackdown killed the only weekly food truck scene in town. But now that the City Council has decriminalized Honolulu’s food trucks, I’ve…

Eat the Street Tomatofest

Tomatofest: The food by Tracy Chan & Mari Taketa Eat the Street Tomatofest ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 35 jQuery(function($) { new NggPaginatedGallery('1230ca23a48a11e8fd7be3d1b1679cf0', '.ngg-imagebrowser'); });Tomatofest: The scene by Jonas Maon Tomatofest scenes ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1…

Eat the Street debut: SL2 Delectables

Leonard’s Malasadas is making a tomato cupcake. Jawaiian Irie is stuffing a tomato with jerk chicken topped with melted cheddar and a tangy salsa. EAT Honolulu’s bringing a Shinsato pork sausage slider with green tomato relish, Momo Burger will have…

Eating Kalihi: Hidden sweets

Sometimes, the best treats are hidden from view. Sometimes they come with the best stories and the nicest people. Here are five of Kalihi’s gems. Hidden sweets ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 17 Nisshodo Candy StoreWhat: Home of…

Did this: Hawaii Wine & Food

The tickets came in the mail on Wednesday. “A Celebration of Great Wines, Music, Food & Fashion,” they said. “Includes food, beverages, entertainment and Fashion Fusion Fashion Show by Hawaii designer Valerie Joseph.”Cheehoo! An excuse to head out leeward, for…

M&M eats: Kickin Kajun

Roll up your sleeves, tie back your hair and put on that plastic bib: Melissa Chang and Mari Taketa take you through the no-holds-barred glories of Keeaumoku’s messy new seafood phenom.Kickin Kajun1518 Makaloa St.808-946-2787On Facebook at Kickin Kajun RestaurantYou want…

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Mari Taketa

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