Hale ‘Aina Happenings: What’s New with Hawai‘i Restaurants in October 2017

Mahina & Sun’s debuts brunch, 12th Ave Grill celebrates Oktoberfest and MW Restaurant is taking orders for foodie holiday gift baskets.

October 18, 2017

Catherine Toth Fox,

The kung pao lobster and dumpling, a new dish by the new executive chef of Eating House 1849.

Photo: Courtesy of Craig Bixel

New Chef and Menu at Eating House 1849

Last month Eating House 1849 celebrated its one-year anniversary at the International Market Place with a new chef and menu. Jason Peel, who previously worked as a chef at Roy’s Waikīkī and a culinary instructor at Kapiʻolani Community College, was named executive chef of the Grand Lānai restaurant. His new menu features kung pao lobster and dumpling (above), charred tako, Kauaʻi shrimp paella and smoked arancini.

2330 Kalākaua Ave., #322, (808) 924-1849, eatinghouse1849.com

Yauatcha Waikīkī Starts Yum Cha Afternoon Tea Menu

Yauatcha’s popular roasted duck pumpkin puffs are on the new afternoon tea menu.

Photo: Courtesy of Yauatcha Waikīkī

Inspired by China’s tradition of tea service, Yauatcha Waikīkī, the elevated dim-sum teahouse at the International Market Place, is now offering a new set menu for afternoon tea service for $32 per person. Choose from six different teas, including an exclusive jade oolong tea with Hawaiian hibiscus flowers. The food menu features pork-and-prawn shu mai, shrimp and gai lan cheung fun, roasted duck pumpkin puff, crab and kalo croquette and your choice of dessert. The teahouse also offers a vegetarian version. Tea service is from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays only.

2330 Kalākaua Ave., (808) 739-9318, yauatcha.com

Mahina & Sun’s Now Serves Brunch

Mahina & Sun’s started serving brunch this month.

Photo: Courtesy of Shaneika Aguilar

This month Mahina & Sun’s, chef Ed Kenney’s Waikīkī outpost, launched a new brunch menu with local brekkie favorites, poolside cocktails and music selected by the Honolulu-based record label Aloha Got Soul. Brunch runs from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays, served either poolside or in the restaurant. Must-try dishes include the dark chocolate butter mochi waffle with local jam and house-made black-sesame gelato ($8), avocado toast with house-made tomato jam and dukkah ($12), pork adobo fried rice with pickled mushrooms and kim chee ($16) and fresh-fruit mimosas made with your choice of fresh pineapple, orange, lilikoʻi or guava juices topped with bubbly ($11). Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the restaurant is serving drinks using pink Pau Vodka, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Pacific Cancer Foundation. Reservations are recommended.

The restaurant has also been hosting new a Tasting Room experience from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. every Tuesday this month, offering guests an exclusive sampling of select local craft beers, wines and spirits. It’s free to attend. The Oct. 24 event will feature Kō Hana Agricole Rum; on Oct. 31, Nicole Jones of Youngs Market will be pouring spooky cocktails featuring Deaths Door gin whiskey. Pau hana on that day will start at 3:30 p.m. Reservations not required.

412 Lewers St., (808) 924-5810, mahinaandsuns.com

The Veranda Brings Back Friday Night Flights

Every Friday in October, The Veranda hosts a relaxed wine dinner with vints selected by sommelier-in-residence roberto viernes.

Photo: Courtesy of The Kāhala Hotel & Resort

The popular Friday Night Flights dinner at the Veranda at The Kāhala Hotel & Resort is back this month. From 6 to 9 p.m. every Friday in October, the open-air restaurant will pair top wines selected by the hotel’s sommelier-in-residence Roberto Viernes with a three-course dinner created by executive chef Wayne Hirabayashi. This Friday’s dinner menu features steamed clams with saffron matched with Elk Cove Vineyard’s pinot gris, pan-roasted chicken breast with Fil pinot noir (Viernes’ own wine label), and a cheesecake paired with Foris Wine moscato. Cost is $65 per person.

5000 Kāhala Ave., (808) 739-8760, kahalaresort.com

Celebrate Oktoberfest at 12th Ave Grill on Oct. 19

The folks at 12th Ave Grill know how to celebrate Oktoberfest, with local brews, house-made sausages and craftsman cheeses. The German-inspired dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Das Bier (the beer) list includes a Honolulu Beerworks pilsner and Waikīkī Brewing Co.’s Hibiscus Saison. The menu features flatbread with guancialle and Kula onions, house-made pretzels, beer cheese-stuffed crimini mushrooms from Small Kine Farm in Waimānalo, breaded Pono Pork cutlet with a bacon-mushroom sauce, braised Hawaiʻi Ranchers beef roulade with house-made pickle relish, warm potato salad with house-made bacon and onions and fresh doughnuts topped with lemon zest and powdered sugar. Cost is $65 per person. Reservations are required.

1120 12th Ave., (808) 732-9469, 12thavegrill.com

Order Your Holiday Gift Baskets From MW Restaurant Now

The Local Farmer Basket from MW Restaurant is filled with locally grown produce and eggs.

Photo: Courtesy of MW Restaurant

Looking for a gift basket to impress your foodie friend? MW Restaurant is offering a wide range of gift baskets and other treats perfect for the food-lover on your list. There’s a Brandt Steak Dinner for Two Basket ($125), with a 8-ounce rib-eye steak, Hāmākua eryngii mushrooms, Twin Bridge Farms Waialua asparagus, Ho Farms cherry tomatoes, The Rice Factory Hokkaido white rice and house-made butter and sauce. Or opt for the Local Farmer Basket ($50) with local mushrooms, asparagus, long beans, cherry tomatoes, long eggplant and eggs. The popular MW Premium Gift Basket ($100) has MW favorites including Grandma’s Cookies, gingersnap cookies, fudge-brownie cookies, chocolate-toffee mac nuts and banana bread. The restaurant is also selling individual treats—blondie brownies, house-made moringa furikake, macarons—as stocking stuffers, Yule logs and dessert platters for holiday gatherings. Give at least 48 hours advance notice on all orders.

(808) 753-2372, mwrestaurant.com

Cioppino Night at Vino Italian Tapas & Wine Bar, Oct. 22

Chef Keith Endo learned how to prepare crab cioppino, a rustic Italian-American fish stew, from master sommelier Chuck Furuya’s longtime friend and his wife. This dish is a specialty of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf area, and Endo recreates it for one night only—Oct. 22—at Vino Italian Tapas & Wine Bar. Pair the dish with a trio of wines ($6.95), selected by Furuya.

500 Ala Moana Blvd., (808) 524-8466, vinohawaii.com

Uncle’s Fish Market & Grill Opening at Pearlridge Center Downtown

Later this year, Uncle’s Fish Market & Grill will open its second location at Pearlridge Center Downtown, anchoring the newly renovated wing of the mall. The 4,911-square-foot space will open to the second-level parking lot. It will be joined by a new 10,000-square-foot Down To Earth Organic & Natural store, Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Pieology Pizzeria.