EXTRA! EXTRA! PIZZA SHOP TAKES NEWSPAPER THEME
The latest mainland pizza chain to make inroads in the island will be Pizza Press, opening Friday at Pearl Highlands Center.
The California-based chain takes as its theme Roaring ’20s-era newspapers, calling its staffers “editors” who “publish” pizzas “hot off the press.” The pies are named as publications —The Times, The Tribune, The Chronicle, for example — or customers can customize from a list of more than 50 ingredients. Gluten-free dough and vegan cheese are available.
The Pearl Highlands franchise is owned by husband-wife team Phil and Sarah Nguyen, who moved to Hawaii four years ago from Orange County, Calif. It was there that they encountered the original Pizza Press, in Anaheim. Phil is a manager with Hawai‘i Gas; Sarah works in sales for HFM Food Service. This will be their first foray into restaurant ownership.
Pizza Press, founded in 2012, has more than 30 locations in seven states, mostly in California.
Hours at Pearl Highlands: 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays, until midnight Fridays and Saturdays. Call 744-7771.
CHEF SERVES UP A FEAST IN HUMBLE LOCATION
Chef Jon Matsubara plans to open a restaurant in Chinatown early next year, and in preparation he’s giving the new menu a spin at a pop-up that’s a family affair.
Feast is open for lunch inside the Cafe Anasia sports bar, 2227 Beretania St., owned by Matsubara’s brother and sister-in-law. His wife, J’mi, and mother, Arlene, are out front serving customers, and with him in the kitchen is Jenny Malone Moss, his sous-chef since he was at Bloomingdale’s at Ala Moana Center.
Matsubara has opened four high-profile Honolulu restaurants as executive chef: Stage, Azure at the Royal Hawaiian, Forty Carrots at Bloomingdale’s and most recently Merriman’s Honolulu in June. But he’s ready, he says, to strike out on his own.
For now, Matsubara’s schlepping his food in and out of Anasia’s small kitchen, clearing out so the bar can open at 2 p.m. He’s still managing a sophisticated-casual menu that might best be described as local-style upscale. It covers burgers, “sammies,” salads and bowls, with daily specials. Prices run about $10 to 15.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays (but closed this Friday for a special event). Call 840-0488. For a menu and updates follow @feast808 on Instagram.
RUN, RUN, RUDOLPH!
Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Rudolph, the whole lot of them, may be the heroes of Christmas Eve, but in some circles they’re just tasty.
Deer, reindeer, venison — find them in a couple of places:
>> Maui Nui Venison views Maui’s Axis deer not as Santa’s helper but as an invasive species that’s a danger to the ecosystem. And also delicious. The deer are “harvested humanely and in the wild,” Maui Nui says, then processed into jerky products free of nitrates and monosodium glutamate.
Maui Nui introduced its jerky bars in 2015, but has just released venison jerky sticks and a peppery version of its original bars. The new line — complete with a new packaging design — was developed in partnership with Fisher Meats, an Indiana-based maker of processed meats.
On Oahu, find the jerky at Nico’s Pier 38 and at Forage Hawaii booths at farmers markets (go to foragehawaii.com for locations). Or order online at mauinuivenison.com. A 1.5-ounce bar is $5.95; a 2.5-ounce bag of the jerky sticks is $7.95.
>> Hank’s Haute Dogs has its annual holiday Reindeer Dog available through Tuesday. The quarter-pound dog is made of lean caribou (the same species as reindeer) and beef, flown in from Anchorage, Alaska. It’s $8.95 at Hanks locations in Salt at Our Kakaako (532-4265) and the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa.
— Betty Shimabukuro, Star-Advertiser
5 BUCKS, 5 TOP RECIPES: LAST CALL
Friday is the deadline to order this year’s Top 5 “By Request” recipes. Cost is $5 per set, with all proceeds going to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Good Neighbor Fund to support families in need.
To order: Include a self-addressed, stamped, legal-sized envelope for each set. Mail to: “By Request Top 5,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu, HI 96813. No fax or email orders. Make checks to the Good Neighbor Fund. Include an additional donation if you like; we’ll pass it on.
The recipes: Plate Lunch-Style Beef Curry Stew, Stuffed Winter Melon Slices,
Flamingo-Style Beef Cutlet, Animal Cracker Furikake Snack Mix and Thank Goodness PBJ Bars.
