Ono Hawaiian Foods returns for 2 pop-ups

Ono Hawaiian Foods closed in August. Are you still going through withdrawals?

Well, briefly, you can have your laulau and salt watercress back.

Vivian Lee, head chef at the restaurant for 25 of its 57 years, is coming out of retirement to serve as guest chef at two pop-up dinners, Sunday at Square Barrels and Nov. 29 at Leahi Concept Kitchen in the Waikiki Parc Hotel.

Lee will be paired with Hitoshi Sugi­ura, executive chef of Patina­stella in Tokyo, who was linked up with “Auntie Vivian” by a mutual friend.

Their menu: laulau, beef stew, salt beef watercress stew, chicken long rice, lomi salmon, pipikaula, octopus luau, poi or rice and haupia.

Dinner at Square Barrels, 1001 Bishop St., is at 5:30 p.m. Cost is $42. Book at eventbrite.com.

Dinner at Leahi is at 6 p.m. Cost is $35, $45 with beer pairings (BYOB welcomed). Call 971-6302 or email PPM@hawaii.edu.

A PERUVIAN ROTISSERIE IN KAPOLEI

The Castillo brothers — Antonio, Martin and Eduardo — founders of the successful San Francisco-based, family-operated chain Limon Rotisserie, were in town for Saturday night’s grand opening of their fifth restaurant and first Hawaii location, at Ka Makana Ali‘i in Kapolei.

The restaurant brings a taste of Peru to the west side, with four kinds of ceviche plus a Leche de Tigre seafood cocktail; empanadas with fillings of sirloin, chicken, veggies or Oaxaca cheese; signature plates of pork chops with bacon-potato-cabbage hash; Peruvian-style paella; and lomo saltado (wok-fried beef tenderloin).

But the star of the menu is Limon’s open-flame, slow-cooked soy-, garlic- and chili-marinated rotisserie chicken, served with Peru’s classic aji amarillo, a yellow chili pepper sauce. A quarter of dark meat is $12.95, a quarter of white meat is $13.95, half a chicken is $18.95 and a whole chicken is $28.95.

Call 670-2646.

— Nadine Kam, Special to the Star-Advertiser

COOL MOVE

Kaimuki’s Via Gelato now has a location in Ward Centre, offering 16 to 20 flavors made daily, including guava rose and cucumber mint.

Hours are 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays and until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Call 732-2800.