The idea of resilience is abstract, easy to talk about, but most of us are accustomed to going about our daily business without facing obstacles that test our resolve. … Until now.
Many are having to find new paths to make it through the pandemic, facing the resilience test and trusting that even as some doors close, others will open.
Lance Kosaka was shocked and saddened when he learned in May that Top of Waikiki, where he was executive chef, would close rather than try to ride out a pandemic with no foreseeable end date. By then it was already clear that control of the disease would not come in months, but possibly years.
“It felt surreal, it still does,” said Kosaka, who had worked there for six years. “I loved working for the Mau family. They are really good people and took care of their employees. I’m sad that it’s over, not just personally, but from a historic point of view.”
The unique revolving restaurant had weathered the ups and downs of the economy for 55 years, but with Waikiki streets empty, it was unlikely people would find their way up to the 21st-floor spot.
But word spread quickly, and in a few days Kosaka was offered the executive chef position at 53 by the Sea, where he was tasked with menu reinvention to address a range of needs. In the current climate, no one tactic is enough to ensure a restaurant’s survival, so he started experimenting with formats.
“The whole idea is to generate more income to bring back more staff,” he said. “The more we create, the more we’re able to take care of everybody. That’s our goal.”
First to be introduced was a takeout menu with family-style options, including a now-popular pastry box of cookies, muffins, scones and other confections. Then came weekly weekend Gourmet To-Go themed dinners. To date, Mexican, Korean and Indian cuisines have been featured, as well as paella, Southern barbecue and a surf-and-turf dinner of pan-roasted striploin and garlic- butter lobster tails.
On Sept. 26, two days after the restaurant reopened for sit-down dinner and Sunday brunch service, the restaurant made its first foray to the FarmLovers Kaka‘ako Farmers Market, where breakfast sandwiches sold out in no time, sending Kosaka back to the restaurant to make more.
“It was good to get out into the community, because you see people who never heard of us or people who have dined at the restaurant but didn’t know we had reopened. It was a good experience to see how supportive people were.”
A return to the restaurant feels like a homecoming, with a welcoming view of the ocean and Diamond Head. Simply staring at the ocean delivers a sense of calm and normalcy, though the wearing of masks, temperature checks and providing contact information is now standard. And like every other restaurant in town, abbreviated menus tell a story of scarcity that has come with ever-changing service mandates.
“It’s not as easy as turning a light switch on and off,” Kosaka said. “When we get the word we can reopen, everybody’s calling the distributors trying to get product, but the distributors don’t have a lot of product either, because they don’t want to get stuck with unsold food (if) everything shuts down abruptly.”
The best times to enjoy the view with bites and sips are during happy hour and Sunday brunch. The brief happy hour menu comprises such universal favorites as hamachi ceviche ($18) marinated in soy, lime and sesame sauce with the bite of red onion and Thai chiles, and 53’s poke ($19) with spicy soy and jalapenos. Also offered are goat cheese bruschetta ($12), garlic chicken sliders ($12), andagi- battered Kurobuta sausage ($9) and french fries ($5 plain, $8 Parmesan truffle).
The elegant brunch is a treat at a time when many major hotels known for these Sunday morning rituals are closed.
A pastry basket ($12), recently filled with cranberry scones, strawberry muffins and chocolate muffins, is a welcome sight. If carbs are your thing, there are also fluffy buttermilk pancakes ($10) topped with fresh fruit, whipped cream and simply served with maple syrup.
Those seeking savory fare will find the elegance of salmon tartine ($16) featuring citrus-cured salmon, soft-scrambled eggs, red onions and capers, or a rustic hash ($17) of roasted potatoes, delicious housemade pork sausage, bacon and Portuguese sausage topped with a TKG egg (for Tamago Kake Gohan, treated to be salmonella free).
Additional options include a loco moco with caramelized onion jus, TKG eggs and crispy shallots ($22), a seafood Benedict with butter- poached king crab and lobster ($42), and shrimp and grits ($22).
The dinner menu is of similar length, also opening with 53’s poke ($19) and hamachi ceviche ($18). Rich, creamy lobster bisque ($18) with lobster tail and claw meat and milk foam is not to be missed.
A couple of salads, three seafood dishes and three meat dishes round out the menu. These include cioppino ($58), pan-roasted New Zealand king salmon ($38), sweet and savory braised short ribs ($37), prime filet ($58) and grilled prime rib-eye ($58).
Who can afford this kind of dinner now? Around me were couples celebrating anniversaries or escaping from their kids, though not so much they weren’t willing to make a FaceTime call home.
53 BY THE SEA
53 Ahui St.; 536-5353
>> Dinner: 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays to Sundays
>> Brunch: 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sundays
>> Happy hour: 2 to 5 p.m. daily
>> Takeout: 53bythesea.com
Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.
