Many of us became acquainted with Lanai Tabura as a DJ and half of the morning radio and comedy duo Lanai and Augie, with Augie Tulba.

As human beings tend to simplify life by categorizing people into neat little boxes, Tabura was delegated to the box for Entertainers and Performers. Except he’s stepped out of it again and again. He’s launched a pidgin app, been a consultant for the war on identity theft, and launched a travel club to lead personalized tours abroad.

What piqued my attention was the introduction of his wine, Look Me in the Eye, about seven years ago. His culinary ambitions continue to be revealed with each passing year, from the launch of his “Cooking Hawaiian Style” TV show five years ago and the release of companion cookbooks, to joining forces with his brother Adam to win season four of the Food Network’s “Great Food Truck Race” in 2013.

The race gave him the connections to open Rain with Chicago partners Robb Savvy, Robbie Baldwin and mixologist Joey Luna, as well as Chicago chef Brooks Hart, also a Food Network veteran, of “Cooks vs. Cons.”

For Tabura, Rain fulfills a lifelong ambition to open a restaurant, beginning when he was a kid in the kitchen at home on Lanai, wondering “what if?” He knew what it was like to live off the land — hunting, fishing and gathering fresh ingredients — and that put him ahead of the curve of sustainability. His upbringing shaped the philosophy that now drives the menu at Rain, so named because rain is a force of nature that sustains us and our food supply.

The restaurant is on Fort Street Mall at Pauahi Street, its exterior done up in a foreboding black usually associated with the taboo nature of a strip club or old-school bar. Inside, the rain theme is echoed in photographs of colored umbrellas, light fixtures in the shape of clouds, and triangles representing stylized raindrops. A private room upstairs with an overview of the restaurant is in the works.

Rain introduces Midwest-meets- Hawaii upscale comfort fare that also takes vegetarians into account without being rote or patronizing. In addition to avocado toast ($10), inspired meat-free offerings include crispy roasted carrots with coriander yogurt vinaigrette ($9); a griddled wedge salad with roasted squash and fennel confit ($11); raviolo ($15) filled with black kale, ricotta and mushrooms; and an exceptional asparagus hummus ($13) that I could not stop eating.

A cauliflower ceviche ($12) also delivered a nice departure from the traditional seafood dish. The florets were dressed in a light blend of coconut milk, lime and fiery Thai chilies for the flavor of ceviche, without involving any kind of animal flesh. Spiced popcorn is also tossed into the dish but doesn’t add much as it gets soggy quickly.

If you’ve started with one of these vegetable dishes, you may feel entitled to something truly wicked, and that would be the duck fat tater tots ($8). An inch around, the rectangular blocks arrive stacked like a log cabin, and I’ve watched friends cut into them with knife and fork, but what you really want to do is pick one up and bite into it. That’s where you’ll experience the delicate crisp. Cutting into the tots only causes the brittle crisp to melt into the soft, hash-browny potato within. I would order these every time.

If you’re a fan of shishito peppers ($7), this is the place to get them, topped with anchovy crumb. It’s usually difficult to find the one hot pepper in the midst of their cool companions, but when I visited, we came across at least six peppers that had us reaching for something to cool our palates.

The first time I visited, oyster beignets ($14) were on the menu, and though the oysters were tasty, the exterior was thick and spongy. This close to Chinatown, where golden deep-fried oysters are a specialty at many restaurants, it’s just not acceptable. Since then, the dish has disappeared from the menu, which will continue to change with seasons and inspirations.

Meat eaters will feel at home here because it doesn’t get any richer than a butter-braised short rib ($32) with beef-fat fried pepperoncini. I’ve enjoyed a lot of wonderful short ribs on this island over the past five years, but none have been this tender or rich. A little goes a long way.

Another favorite dish is the brick chicken ($23), Hart’s take on chicken paprikash, served over buttermilk dumplings and finished with blackened lemon chips. A little piece of the tart lemon adds a high note to the chicken’s savory depth.

More layering takes place in a dish of creamy grits with shrimp ($18), enhanced by a shrimp reduction and flecks of crispy chicken skin.

For dessert, they’ve tapped neighboring Cake Envy for cheesecakes that, in spite of following a feast, are remarkably light and easy to polish off.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser.

Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.