Chef Michael Mina had a lot at stake when he opened his first Hawaii restaurant, Stripsteak, at the International Market Place last year. Beyond the matter of culinary reputation, its success would provide him with a good reason to keep returning to his favorite destination on the planet. Prior to the opening, he was already a five-time-a-year visitor to our islands, the only place he could unwind easily, he told me at the time.

Since then he’s bought a house here and made Waikiki the testing ground for his first multibrand, street dining concept, The Street Honolulu: A Michael Mina Social House. The idea is to bring the street-food party indoors, allowing people to browse the drink and food hawkers, sampling bites from the handful that tempt them most.

A leafy pattern projected on the polished concrete floor creates the ambience of a tree-lined street where friends can gather around communal bar tables, with a few booths and a single picnic table. If it works here, the Street will be the template for other markets.

Inspired by the street markets of Asia, the 6,900-square-foot space serves as a theater for elevated fast fare, with 13 restaurant concepts by chefs and celebrities nurtured by the Mina Group, plus a few local purveyors.

Portions are generally huge, making it difficult to cover much ground in a single visit if going the full entree route. Considering the multitude of grazers who prefer variety, Mina has introduced a VIP Street Party Hawker Crawl card, available from any vendor. For $37 it allows diners a choice of seven select dishes from throughout the market. Each vendor offers one of its dishes daily as a chalkboard Hawker Crawl special. The cost breaks down to about $5.50 per dish. The dishes are smaller than regular portions, so diners can wade in and sample from several vendors en route to discovering their favorites. If you can’t eat seven dishes in one sitting, no worries, the cards are good for a month.

Community means offering something for everyone, and The Street does a good job of catering to both veggie- and meat-eating crowds and all those in between. My go-to spot because I love Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cuisine is Mina’s own Little Lafa, which draws on his childhood in Cairo.

The menu focuses on lafa, an Egyptian flatbread, layered with veggie and meat options. These include harissa-grilled chicken ($12.99) with red onion labneh (yogurt cheese), muhammara (pepper dip), pickled vegetables and tahini lime dressing; chermoula (spice marinated)-roasted salmon ($14.99) with fennel and pickled corn; and Yemenite short rib ($14.99) with tomatoes, cabbage, mango and green onion aioli. The lafas are presented flat, like a pizza — eat yours that way, or follow tradition and fold it in half to form a sandwich.

Equally alluring are vegan side dishes ($6.99 per order) that can be ordered a la carte to customize a mezze platter. These include delicious hummus; the spicy eggplant dip baba ghannouj; roasted cauliflower, eggplant and edamame-fava bean falafel; tomato salad; kale tabbouleh with cashews and golden raisins; and more. I am always looking for healthful dishes to balance my extreme working diet, and these fit the bill. I am most enamored of Mina’s tongue-burning avocado spiced with schug (Middle Eastern chili relish). It’s strictly for people with a high tolerance for heat, and I can’t get enough of it.

If you skip the lafa, any entree can be ordered as a plate with matbucha (tomato salad), Egyptian koshary (rice and lentils) and a choice of two mezze dishes, for $14.99 to $21.99. A lafa, single mezze item and drink combo is $19.99.

THE OTHER CONCEPTS

>> Adam’s Nana Lu: This pizzeria by chef Adam Sobel includes dishes made from his grandmother Nana Lu’s recipes. Beyond pepperoni and Classic Grandma (margherita) standard pizzas, a creamy clam pizza tastes like clam chowder, with the crust substituting for croutons. Pizza slices are $5.99; a whole pan is $29.99. Giant meatballs ($8.99) in marinara sauce and crowned with a turban of ricotta are another claim to fame, as are red bell peppers stuffed with a savory herbed breadcrumb and pancetta mixture. Each $7.99 pepper is a meal in itself.

>> Aloha Ice: This elevated dessert bar is the work of MW co-owner and pastry chef Michelle Karr-Ueoka. Along with a menu of baked goods is her fresh fruit shave ice that tastes exactly like biting into a strawberry or ripe mango. Can’t feel guilty about desserts like this.

>> Chocolate Bar: This boutique is where kamaaina can treat themselves or travelers can pick up local chocolates including Madre Chocolate’s artisanal bars, Chocole‘a confections and Philippe Padovani’s Manoa honey lilikoi ganache and Grand Marnier ganache truffles to carry back home.

>> International Smoke: Chef/author Ayesha Curry’s rib joint pays homage to barbecue, as defined in specific regions around the globe. St. Louis-, Korean- and Chinese-style hoisin ribs fill a hunger for meat and can be accompanied by green papaya slaw or Korean-style potato salad. In addition to the St. Louis ribs, the pastrami is winning rave reviews.

>> Kai Poke: Though born and raised in the Bronx, Gerald Chin delivers poke that’s palatable to the local diner, with a few extra ingredients, such as pine nuts, compressed watermelon and Okinawan purple sweet potato, that add more texture and interest. Build your own bowl or choose one of Chin’s creations. Some examples are the Baja bowl ($12.99) with nairagi, sweet corn, jicama and delicious chipotle mayo; and the “Spicy Seoul” ($13.99) with salmon, kochujang, water chestnuts and kim chee.

>> Maui Onion Burger: David Varley’s patties and buns come in wide ($14.99) and junior ($8.99) sizes. Though not as thick as at most burger specialists, the burger — seared on the outside, moist on the inside — is winning over diners with its juicy, homemade flavor. Sides include regular and sweet potato fries, fried pickles ($4.99 each or for a mix of all three) and some of the biggest onion rings you’ll ever see. Some have mistaken the hapa brown ale-battered Maui onion rings ($5.99) for doughnuts.

>> Mindful Greens: Those striving to be kinder to their bodies will find six creative salad options here, at $9.99 each. Two of the most popular are caramelized carrots and spinach with chickpea chole, toasted cashews and coconut, and roasted shiitake with shredded napa cabbage and sesame-mandarin dressing. Add a protein to any salad, from a super grains mix ($1.99) or teriyaki tofu ($3.99), to herb-roasted American wagyu beef ($8.99), rotisserie chicken ($4.99) or king salmon ($7.99).

>> The Ramen Bar: Ken Tominaga provides a modern (read: San Francisco) twist on a short roster of Tokyo shoyu, Hokkaido miso and Tokyo shio ginger chicken ramen, at $12.99 each. Or, on a hot summer day, go cold with a refreshing yuzu-splashed Hiyashi chuka ramen topped with tomato, cucumber, shrimp, juicy chashu and wakame. Not in the mood for noodles? Try a rice plate, with protein options of ginger pork ($13.99), grilled salmon ($14.99), yuzu garlic prawns ($12.99) or tempura chicken ($12.99).

THIRST QUENCHERS

>> Beer: A central beer and wine garden, highlighted by Hawaii brews and TV screens, is turning into a gathering place for weekend sports enthusiasts.

>> Lamill Coffee: Craig Min offers artisanal coffee and teas in this space fronting Kuhio Avenue.

>> Indie Girl: This juice bar’s array of daily tonics includes smoothies, cold-pressed juices and elixirs, plus kombucha on tap. I love the Liver Love juice of apple, burdock, turmeric, ginger, lemon and cayenne; and Flow, with apple, celery, cucumber, kale, spinach, ginger and lemon ($11.99 each).

>> Myna Bird: This tiki bar was created in the spirit of Don the Beachcomber. The bar is lined with an array of ingredients — dried fruit and coconut, cinnamon sticks and flowers — that go into the colorful and picturesque tropical libations.

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