Greens and Vines grand opening in Honolulu

Five years ago, in Night of the Living Lasagna, John Heckathorn wrote about Sylvia Thompson's Licious Dishes raw and vegan meal plans. He loved them. He also wrote: "Licious Dishes is not a restaurant. 'I didn't want a restaurant, I wanted to spend evenings with my hubby,'" [Sylvia] says.'"

Maybe she was spending too much time with the hubby. Because at the end of this month, she's opening Greens and Vines, a raw and vegan full-service restaurant.

The way she tells it now, though, is that she had always wanted to open a restaurant. But Pete (the hubby) advised against it: "'You'd be competing against Russell Siu and Alan Wong. Do you know how many restaurants fail?'" Sylvia remembers Pete saying. It wasn't until about a year ago when she won an Ilima award and cooked at the awards gala that Pete admitted: "Maybe your food is good enough to pair with wines." (Just one illustration of this ultra-gourmet couple's obsession with wine…and food.)

And so, on October 28, Greens and Vines celebrates its grand opening. Sylvia is still working on the liquor license, but in the meantime, she's already moved the Sub-Zero wine fridge (capacity 300 some bottles) that was originally destined for her condo's wine room into the new space.

For the opening, expect a buffet of Greens and Vines dishes, such as a kaffir miso pad thai, the famous Living Lasagna (one of my favorites) and the Wicked Chocolate Tart. There will be jazz on the patio; the new space has outside seating, in full, defiant view of the Jack in the Box across the street.

Grand opening October 28, 3 to 6 p.m. $85, portion of proceeds go to MA'O Organic Farms, BYOB. 536-9680 or sylvia@e-liciousdishes.com for reservations
Greens and Vines opens for dinner starting October 29, for lunch on November 12
909 Kapiolani Blvd., e-liciousdishes.com