Restaurant Week Hawaii 2011

Illustrations provided by CIP

Proposed plans for the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head.

Now’s the time to make reservations for Restaurant Week (November 14-20). It’s a chance to try reasonably priced prix fixe menus at new restaurants, or an excuse to revisit old favorites. A portion of the proceeds goes toward the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head, a new culinary school to be built on the former Cannon Club site. Some quick facts on CIP, which will fall under the University of Hawaii umbrella:

• The 43,000-square-foot facility will house an advanced Asian culinary lab, competition amphitheater, signature restaurant, advanced baking and patisserie lab, classrooms, imu pit, themed garden plots
• Groundbreaking is scheduled for fall 2012, with CIP open for enrollment in fall 2013.
• The project’s budget is about $38-40 million. $8.5 million has been raised so far, including a $5 million grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Illustration of CIP's signature restaurant.

Find the list of participating restaurants and their Restaurant Week menus here. In particular, I’m excited about Vino, which will offer fresh pappardelle with roasted mushrooms and a braised Tuscan-style pork as part of a $39 three-course menu; Nobu with its signature yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno and some new desserts like a ginger infused caramelized white chocolate panna cotta as part of a $40 three-course menu; and SALT offering a mini charcuterie sampler, pork belly and hamachi with Shishito pepper jam, and a bourbon flan for $30.