CRITIC’S PICKS ELIZABETH KIESZKOWSKI
Honolulu Star-Advertiser TGIF editor AZURE Azure offers rewards before patrons even see a menu: Its sophisticated, oceanside dining room has sleek Moroccan flair and well-informed servers, trained as “ambassadors” for the restaurant’s isle-centric menu, who set the tone early with attentive, dignified service. As for that menu: Chef Jon Matsubara has come into his own in Azure’s kitchen. His heady, richly flavored takes on local fare include lomilomi made from ami ebi (dried shrimp) and smoked swordfish made tender with duck fat, in addition to the restaurant’s trademark selection of seafood, direct from the fish market. Azure’s assertive entrees are complemented by a variety of small plates and a seafood salad so fresh each bite is a new thrill, so you can dine like a magnate or a body-conscious Hollywood star. ——— Royal Hawaiian Hotel, 2259 Kalakaua Ave., Waikiki; 923-7311; www.azurewaikiki.com. Dinner. $$$$
943-5900; morimotowaikiki.com. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. $$$$
THIRTYNINEHOTEL
Let’s be upfront: Thirtyninehotel is a left-field choice for a Critic’s Pick, putting it in elevated company. But the food and the experience at thirtynine hold up to scrutiny. You’ll get fine, globally inspired fresh plates from an up-and-coming chef in a sophisticated, urban (if not European) environment, with art on display and tastefully curated music in the air. Young chef Cody Pierce took over responsibility for the art space/lounge/ dance haven’s kitchen early in 2012, absorbing many aspects of mentor Jamal Lahiani’s “modern multi-ethnic cuisine,” influenced by Moroccan, Pacific, Indian and contemporary American tastes, all combined in the postage-stamp-size kitchen. The sauces are heady; the overall effect is delicious and healthy. Visit to see Pierce flip foods over a high flame or flash-fry potato chips to order and be heartened by his avoidance of overly processed or GMO ingredients. MORIMOTO WAIKIKI Pierce, who once worked at an Outback “Iron Chef” Masaharu Morimoto’s Steakhouse, says rightly he has “superWaikiki restaurant has an optimistic, enpowers” in cooking steak exactly to ortertaining character to match its nameder, but the ahi is equally amazing. sake. Sushi and sashimi are of the highest Note: Stay tuned and call ahead, bePHOTOS BY GEORGE LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM quality, while other menu items reveal cause with permits pending, thirtynine the chef’s affection for surprising combiChef Cody Pierce, at top, works in a small kitchen at thirtyninehotel to crewill be enlarging and improving its nations and precise technique. The open ate his pau hana grill items, including the chips and salsa pictured above. kitchen. Its dining, however, is just fine layout makes it a great place to peopleright now. watch, and the outside dining area overtrumpets its partnerships with local farm- Pupukea greens; the Grilled Mango & Goat ——— looking the Ala Wai Boat Harbor has a ers. Most fish and the grass-fed beef are lo- Cheese Salad is a beautiful blend of fla39 N. Hotel St.; 599-2552. Dinner, late night. vors, with arugula and macadamia nuts. chic yet comfortable nautical appeal. Try cal, and the dishes are instant classics — $-$$ The tasting menu has no weak plates. Fish the ishi yaki buri bop, yellowtail tuna sauced or dressed delicately, but with cooked tableside in a hot stone pot; at enough panache to inspire oohs and ahhs. is cooked deftly: Try the opakapaka with 21 DEGREES NORTH pipikaula risotto and a pea and mint purée breakfast, brunch or lunch, swoon over The dining room is plush, if a bit dated, for happiness on a plate. the chef’s loco moco, made with Wagyu but it just feels good to settle in to a This restaurant at Turtle Bay Resort is beef and Morimoto’s version of hayashi padded chair as laughter from the resort’s ——— an under-the-radar treasure. It's the food, rice — home style, but rich and finely grounds or afternoon light drifts in. You’re Turtle Bay Resort, 57 Kamehameha Highabove all, that shines here. All the fruit balanced in its flavors. steps from the ocean, after all. The salads way, Kahuku; 293-6000; and vegetables used by chef John Arm——— are outstanding: Kahuku shrimp, Avocado turtlebayresort.com. Dinner (closed Sunstrong, who’s been with the resort since days). $$$$ Modern Honolulu, 1850 Ala Moana Blvd.; & Hearts of Palm is inspiring, made with 2006, are organic, and the restaurant 20
‘ILIMA AWARDS
HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER