By Nadine Kam In the year of the dragon, chefs are on fire. After so many years of lamenting the lack of culinary diversity here, we've seen the arrival of Jamaican jerk at Jawaiian Irie Jerk in Kaimuki, Brazilian and Portuguese fare at Adega downtown, and now Latin American fare at Cactus in Kailua.
By Nadine Kam Servers preface a meal at Kickin' Kajun by informing newbies, "This is going to be the messiest but one of the best meals you'll ever have."
By Nadine Kam WAILEA, Maui » Alan Wong may not have been officially entered in the Maui Onion Festival Recipe Contest over the weekend, but in my mind, he was.
By Nadine Kam Hawaii is home to the food-obsessed. The social media realm is always abuzz with a chorus of raves for the best of everything, whether cupcake, tiramisú, ramen or sushi.
By Nadine Kam Upon returning from Shanghai, I had a short list of restaurants due for a visit. "The List" is subject to change at any time, and a restaurant can jump the line for any of a variety of reasons.
By Nadine Kam Like many journalists, I started on the city desk. I covered the debate over a rail transit system before being lured to the features desk with the promise of being able to interview rock stars.
By Nadine Kam I was so happy when I heard about Adega. Finally! The restaurant promised Portuguese fare, which hasn't been available here for mass consumption since the 1980s. As a result, our familiarity with the cuisine rests with Portuguese bean soup.
By Nadine Kam Last week's arrival of Eden Grinshpan, host of the Cooking Channel program "Eden Eats," provided a good excuse to return to Pacific Gateway Center's Lemongrass Café to see what's new.
By Nadine Kam My initial response to The Grove was a feeling of disconnect. Where some of the most popular neighborhood restaurants are winning hearts through moderately priced, good eats, here is a Kailua neighborhood bar and grill with resort prices. And, night after night, it's packed.
By Nadine Kam The Big Island might be called the Napa of Hawaii, with fertile farmland that is home to many of the best edibles in the island chain.
By Nadine Kam Pete Townshend was 20 when he wrote "My Generation" with the line, "I hope I die before I get old. "Old" being relative, most people that age probably peg a 30-year-old as old. But let's be generous here and set the outer limit at 35.
By Nadine Kam When in the course of a week, three people ask, "Hey, have you been to the new Nico's?" you know you'd better get there pronto. Naturally, a hundred other people have the same idea, so you have a clue what proprietor Nico Chaize is up against.
By Nadine Kam One casualty of the diverse restaurant scene as it’s grown over the decades is the buffet restaurant. While most were not as extravagant as those in Vegas, the idea of a mountainous plate of food appealed to those with ginormous appetites and/or a taste for variety.
By Nadine Kam I often find my enthusiasm for local restaurants wanes in light of my experiences in other cities, as well as reading about menus elsewhere, like Boulud Sud's in New York City, with its octopus in marcona-almond purée and kibbeh (lamb meatballs) with feta and pine nuts.
By Nadine Kam When the latest Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory opened its doors last week, a couple of employees were dispatched to stand outside the restaurant at the corner of Pensacola and Wai­manu and wave menus at drivers and pedestrians.
By Nadine Kam If you find yourself in Chinatown for any of the lunar New Year celebrations and need a moment's escape from the crowds, storm of lion dance drums and cymbals, and din from thousands of firecrackers, you might find reprieve at King Sha.
By Nadine Kam Even for those who don't like change or feel no need to change, there's nothing like the demarcation of the new year to spark the recognition that some things do change, in spite of our action or inaction.
By Nadine Kam New Year comes with a little warning. Over the years, a few scams have been perpetuated in my name due to a combination of high visibility and pseudo-anonymity. I wrote about it only once, but sometimes a message bears repeating.
By Nadine Kam In the competition for diners' hearts and minds in 2011, it was no contest: David won over Goliath.
By Nadine Kam Sakura Terrace offers the slimmest of menus — donburi with a few salads and sushi thrown in — but simplicity appears to be working.
By Nadine Kam When temperatures dip, thoughts turn to steamy bowls of soup, and here we have the option of soups of Eastern and Western origin.
By Nadine Kam The fast-sushi movement that began here in the early 1990s left its imprint on a generation of casual sushi enthusiasts content with a selection of a mere eight to 10 kinds of seafood atop their nigiri, if that.
By Nadine Kam When good little restaurants turn up, you wish them the best, in patronage and eventually growth. I reviewed Da Spot shortly after Ahmad and Ako Ramadan opened in tiny quarters on Pumehana Street five years ago and assumed growth on the basis of their popularity but said, "I would hate it if they lost that laid-back vibe."
By Nadine Kam It's always exciting to see a new project from Isamu Kubota and Motoko "Moco" Kubota, who never seem to run out of ideas.
By Nadine Kam I heard about Ming's Chinese Restaurant some time ago from a reader who appreciates excellence in unexpected places.
By Nadine Kam Considering that more people have fewer dollars to dine out, I'm surprised that the number of new restaurants has been higher this year than any other year in my 23 years of reviewing restaurants.
By Nadine Kam There are few things I find as cringe-worthy as hearing someone I know saying, “I’d love to open a restaurant.”
By Nadine Kam It's easy to assume that those headed for a sushi bar are going to eat mostly raw fish.
By Nadine Kam If the Star-Advertiser's ‘Ilima Awards ceremony had been slated a week later than this past Monday, Prima would have surely made the list of best new restaurants of the year.
By Nadine Kam Just like the Italians, the Japanese had their own “pasta” tradition, though with noodles more likely to be paired with seaweed and negi rather than tomatoes and basil. Who would have believed more than 20 years ago that combining both styles would result in a harmonious mixed marriage?
By Nadine Kam After being informed by a gloating Kailua resident that a certain popular restaurant was opening in Kailua, my response was, "Good for you; just rub it in."
By Nadine Kam The opening of Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, brings a couple of more dining options to the Leeward coast, which is great news for west siders looking for another weekend or special-occasion spot. But east siders might as well stay put.
By Nadine Kam Robert McGee is not a household name yet, but in the year-and-a-half since he arrived in the islands, he’s made quite an impression among food cognoscenti who have sampled his work at Apartment3, 12th Avenue Grill and, for a brief time, at SALT Kitchen & Tasting Bar.
By Nadine Kam Earlier this summer, I was observing the goings-on at Uncle Clay's House of Pure Aloha as the finishing touches were being built into its Aina Haina home. I figured it would be just one of many stops on the warm-weather shave ice circuit.
By Nadine Kam I first spotted the Jawaiian Irie Jerk truck zipping from place to place before I noticed it had settled in the parking lot next to Century Center. The site is not in an easy place to pull into unless you're headed Ewa on Kapiolani. Every time I saw it, I was en route elsewhere and told myself I'd check it out some other time. Some other time soon stretched into five years, and my first trip to the truck came at an Eat the Street event early this year.
By Nadine Kam Every entrepreneur dreams of overnight success, but empires are generally built over time. For restaurants, a type of business often perceived as least likely to survive five years, a second outpost can take a long time to materialize.
By Nadine Kam The franchise ideology is one of standardization, addressing the sort of diner who never wavers from his/her favorite dishes and who doesn't appreciate many surprises.
By Nadine Kam The first wave of tep­panyaki restaurants in the United States focused on steak and seafood, a marriage most Americans in the 1960s understood.
By Nadine Kam Maybe it's because I'd just returned from East Coast escapades that I was searching for ways to keep the post-vacation glow alive, and SHOR American Seafood Grill, the Hyatt Regency's third-floor dining spot, provided ample excuse to kick back and relax in the open air.
By Nadine Kam Everyone has an opinion, but finding someone to trust isn't easy. When it comes to opinions about food, I always apply my litmus test: 12th Avenue Grill or Town? Contemporary neighbors, but a world apart in style and spirit, the answer tells me everything I need to know.
By Nadine Kam Whenever there's a line, you can be sure that I'm going to steer clear of it (unless it's work-related). I've never believed in followingthe crowd and never will, so I'm always curious about others' attraction to lines.