Senia proves worth the wait

A few weeks ago I wrote about Vintage Cave Cafe completing the Vintage Cave triumvirate of options for the super-luxe, mid-tier and budget diner. But the true heir apparent of Vintage Cave’s claim to culinary invention and artistry is Senia, whose principal, Chris Kajioka (Aziza, Per Se), was the opening chef who gave VC instant credibility and a reason to pay $300 for a meal.

Foodies salivated over the idea of equally fab food at a price a typical diner could afford when news broke in late 2015 that Kajioka was striking out on his own. A spring 2016 target date was set, but that deadline came and went. Over the course of the year, there was a Pavlov’s dog response to rumors time and again that Senia would open, only to face more delays.

Well, Senia finally opened just before the holidays, and what an exciting way to start the new year! With this restaurant, Hawaii may one day bring home another James Beard Award.

Kajioka and partner, British chef Anthony Rush (French Laundry, Fera at Claridge’s), do not disappoint. The two met while working at Thomas Keller’s Per Se in New York.

“Anthony’s one of only a few people I’ve met in my career who I’ve worked alongside and worked well together,” local boy Kajioka said. “We kept in touch through the years, and we both happened to be at a point where we wanted to do our own thing.”

When a project Rush was working on stalled, he sent a text to Kajioka and soon was moving to Hawaii with his wife, Katherine Nomura Rush, now Senia’s general manager.

The opening dinner menu comprises affordable snacks, plates and sides, along with pricier share plates that serve three to five. Starting today the chefs are introducing a Chef’s Counter tasting menu with more of the multiple, exquisite small bites Kajioka came to be known for at Vintage Cave. Chefs’ Counter bookings are available only for parties of two or four, with seating at the counter overlooking the kitchen or at the Chefs’ Table, a private booth facing the kitchen.

Senia’s modern Americana approach to cuisine embraces all that’s current to a generation comfortable with reinterpreting the best of all cultures. There’s no one theme save for putting quality meals on the table. Both chefs are sticklers for sourcing the best ingredients and maintaining the integrity of those ingredients in their collaborative dishes.

The opening menu is deceptively small — only 20 items. Yet in three visits I could not get to everything. They start with snacks of poke-topped crisp nori crackers ($3 each), the operative word being crisp. I’ve had these elsewhere where the crackers were either soggy or tough to bite through. Chicken liver mousse ($7) is divine, topped with droplets of honey vinegar and served with four tiny “Every­thing Spice” financier cakes. Four are not enough to scoop up every dollop of the mousse, so you’ll probably find yourself ordering extra of the almond cakes at $3 per order.

Bubble and Squeak Croquettes ($6) are a more elegant nod to the British tradition of frying up leftover vegetables. Here the croquette orbs are reminiscent of arancini and served with a savory smoked egg mousse.

Kajioka has the ability to make us see the humblest ingredients in a new light, and there’s no better example than his dish of charred cabbage ($12), elevated by a magical dusting of shio kombu, with green goddess and buttermilk dressings, a combination few would ever imagine putting together.

A barbecue beet salad ($12) with avocado, seeds and grains also strikes a nice balance if you’re ordering some of the more decadent items, such as the share plates or bone marrow custard ($22). Though tasty on its own, that custard is served with a rich beef cheek marmalade and Hawaiian sweet rolls. These elements are great separately, but when put together they compete, leaving the diner to wonder which is the real star.

I loved the tender tako a la plancha ($18) spiced with the Middle Eastern herb blend zaatar and served with charred eggplant. And you can’t go wrong with juicy king salmon ($19), done up Mediterranean style, dressed with cauliflower florets, dates, a touch of lemon and chopped almonds.

The chefs don’t mess around with those share plates. On two occasions, with about five other dishes ordered, I could eat only two pieces each of glazed pork belly ($60 for three to four) and “pastrami-style” beef short rib ($110 for four to five).

The pork belly was perfectly sweetened and fork tender, with the fat melting on the tongue. On confronting the fat, my self-preservation instinct set in, and I immediately started trimming it away, but that fat is the whole reason this dish exists. The pork is served with flour tortillas, pickled vegetables, beet “char siu,” harissa sauce and Manoa lettuce for building pork tacos. With the fat hidden from view inside its tortilla blanket, the pork went down without generating the fear and loathing we associate with so much fat. Anyway, it is a new year; diet tomorrow!

Happy new year and happy eating in 2017!

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.