Ma’ono Makes The List: 38 Essential Burger Restaurants Across The Country
We made the Eater National 38 Essential Burgers in America list! Here’s an excerpt:
“You know a burger’s good when the restaurant changes its name and entire concept, but keeps the burger on the menu. The Spring Hill burger (named after the original concept) is smoked ground chuck, bacon, a custom American cheese, lettuce and a special sauce (obviously) between two English muffins.”
Read the whole thing on the Eater National website: www.eater.com
Seattle Restaurant Week with Ma’ono Fried Chicken & Whisky
Join us for Seattle Restaurant Week. 3 courses for $28!
First Course Choose One
Hearts of Palm Salad, sesame brown rice crackers, red dirt, miso dressing
Pipikaula Poke, dry-smoked beef with scallion, green garlic, and pickled peppers
Broiled Akule and King Oyster Mushrooms in dashi broth, ocean greens, soft-cooked egg
Second Course Choose One
Kalua Pig Lettuce Wraps, green banana slaw, sriracha mayonnaise, boiled peanuts, long rice
Grilled Pohole Ferns and Crispy Tofu, coal-roasted sweet potato, black vinegar
Loco Moco, portuguese sausage and hamburger patty, fried egg, sawmill gravy
Third Course Choose one
Haupia Shake, whipped cream
Milk Chocolate Creme, macadamia beer nuts
Banana Spring Rolls, nutella, spiced caramel
Valentine’s with Ma‘ono!
We have prepared a special four-course Valentine’s Day Menu for you and that special someone. Reserve your spot now.
When: Thursday, February 14th
Where: Ma‘ono Fried Chicken & Whisky
Cost: $76 Per Couple (Wine Pairing $20 Per Person)
Reserve: Call (206) 935.1075 or visit our website
Menu
Reserve Your Spot
Make a reservation online or call us at (206) 935.1075
Superbowl Fried Chicken To Go!
We have fried chicken, sides and whole banana cream pies available for your Super Bowl Party this Sunday. Just place your order by 8PM Saturday night and your food will be bagged and boxed by 2PM Sunday for pickup. This year, skip the pizza rolls and the onion dip and watch the game in style.
Ma‘ono Gameday Menu
One whole fried chicken with sides $39
Garlic chili edamame $5
Spicy-hot kim chee $5
McEwen & Sons cheesy grits $6
Spam musubi $6
Spiced pork cracklings $5
Bacon fried rice $8
Portuguese sweet bread with pan dripping butter $4
Mac salad $6
Whole banana cream pie $35
More info about Fried Chicken and Sides on our menu.
Bottomless Mimosa Brunch Is Here
This Saturday Ma‘ono begins Bottomless Mimosas during Brunch, Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00am until 2:00pm. You buy your first mimosa for $12 (per person) and we will buy as many needed to keep your glass from running empty. As long as you are eating food (from our brunch menu) you will not see the bottom of your glass. Check out the Ma‘ono brunch menu for more info.
*In accordance with the Washington State Liquor Control Board, guests that seem intoxicated cannot be served bottomless mimosas.
ONO Mexican Beer Dinner!
In collaboration with The ONO Project, Chef Mark and Manny Chao of Georgetown Brewing are presenting a six-course Mexican feast and beer tasting. Each course from Mark will be paired with a beer from Manny—expect to taste a couple of beers you don’t see every day—or ever!
The dinner takes place at the brand new VUDE (Velvet Underground Dining Experience) space in South Lake Union and kicks off with a tequila reception. Please join us for this one-of-a-kind-event!
Details
Where: Velvet Underground Dining Experience
When: Saturday, Sept. 29 at 6:30PM
Why: Mexican Food & Beer!
Tickets: $150 at Brown Paper Tickets
Menu
Cordial - Tequila reposado, Aperol, lime leaf, coconut water.
Appetizer - Smoked clam salsa Mexicana
Pork crouton.
Roger’s Pilsner
Soup - Pork & rice meatball soup, epazote, salchichas, coal-roasted gold potato, avocado.
Belgian Ale
Tacos - Crispy pork shoulder tacos, brined cow’s milk cheese, smoked tomatillo, corriander crema, sweet onion with cilantro.
Manny’s Pale Ale
Meat - Charcoal-grilled skirt steak, grilled scallion, pickled sweet & hot peppers, griddled corncakes filled with pork fat fried beans.
Salad - Cucumber & shrimp salpicon, chicory, peppers & dried chilies
Oktoberfest
Cheese - Banana leaf tamales with Beecher’s jack.
Mexican bitter chocolate, sweet potato and oregano salt.
Supperchop Red Ale
Dessert - Dolce de leche rice pudding with mango, corn pops and horchata.
Tickets Still Available
Purchase yours at Brown Paper Tickets
Spring Hill’s Fried Chicken Wears a Hawaiian Shirt
Seattle Magazine reviews Ma‘ono.
“The chicken harks back to tropical family picnics, and the rest of the Ma‘ono menu hits notes of the pidgin Pacific Rim cuisine that thrives in the islands: flame-lashed strips of short ribs, redolent of sweet soy in the Korean style ($12), eggy, irresistible Portuguese-style buns ($4) (both shown aboe), and sesame and chile-kissed ahi tuna pokē ($12)—a Hawaiian take on sashimi.”
Read the whole thing on seattlemag.com.
The Unstoppable Fried Chicken
Bethany Jean Clement from The Stranger visits Ma‘ono and has much to say:
“First: Yes, the fried chicken is really, really good. If it’s not the best fried chicken you’ve ever had, you’re a very lucky individual. It’s burnished brown, with a thick, crunchy crust and lush, flavorful flesh. Fuller probably takes four or five extra steps to make it so.”
Read the whole article at The Stranger.
We’re Getting Back To Our Hawaiian Roots.
Spring Hill Restaurant & Bar is now Ma’ono Fried Chicken & Whisky. Same chef. Same location. Same commitment to good food. Just a different approach and a brand new menu. Inspired by Hawaii and perfect for sharing, our new menu encourages you to have a bit more fun with it all. And the best part: our famous fried chicken is now on the menu every night of the week. Ma’ono begins February 8th.
Thank You
We also want to thank everyone for supporting Spring Hill over the years. It’s been a great run. But, it’s time for something different. Join us before the switch to enjoy Spring Hill one more time. If not, see you at Ma’ono Fried Chicken & Whisky soon!
Mark & Marjorie.
Serious Eats: Favorite Burgers of 2011
Our burger is #4 on Serious Eats A Hamburger Today Blog. Truly an honor! Here is what they had to say….
Our Favorite Burgers of 2011
Adam Lindsley, Portland correspondent: This burger is unstoppable. It’s also a ridiculous 19 bucks (only 17 bucks at brunch). While the price makes me swoon, so does the peerless quality of the burger. After the initial bite pierces the salty crust on the thick patty and releases the fatty juices pocketed within, the beef continues to stay incredibly moist for the remainder of the meal in a feat of magic worthy of Houdini. Oh, and it’s topped with the best cheese on any burger anywhere: a blend of Teleme and Beecher’s Flagship.
The slide show is here…which includes Seattle’s Local 360!
Monday Night Fried Chicken is Back
We have received such a flattering amount of requests to bring back Monday Night Fried Chicken Dinners, we are re-introducing our fried chicken.In hopes of keeping the dinner interesting, we will be serving our Fried Chicken Dinner Hawaiian-style. And we named it.
ma’ono Monday night pop-up will serve Spring Hill’s fried chicken with the choice of 4 different preparations; original, Korean, Japanese or Chinese. Included in the dinner, guests will also get SPAM musubi, won bok kimchi, cucumber namasu (lightly pickled cucumber with ogo seaweed), macaroni salad and rice.The cost of the dinner will be $98.00 for 4 people and $49.00 for 2 people (tax and gratuity not included). There will also be an a’ la carte section on the menu that will offer wood grilled items that include kabli short ribs and Portuguese sausage, as well, fried rice, stir-fried komatsuna and ice cream.
Reservations will be available by contacting Spring Hill at 206.935.1075 or online at our website.
Reservation deadline: Thursday preceding Monday. Unfortunately, we will not be able to accommodate reservations after Thursday for the following Monday.
Menu
Choose One or Two Styles…
Original Recipe (Spring Hill)
Korean Gochujang & Hot Chilies
Japanese BBQ Sauce & Furikake
Chinese Hot Mustard & Toasted Sesame
comes with…
Won bok kimchi, macaroni salad, Spam musubi, steamed rice, cucumber namasu
Bento Plates from our Apple Wood Grill
Comes with steamed rice with furikake, macaroni salad, cucumber namasu 15.
Kalbi Ribs
Housemade Portuguese Sausage
Rainbow Trout
Sides & Dessert
Wood Grilled Kalbi Ribs 10.
Wood Grilled Housemade Portuguese Sausage 10.
Spam Musubi 4.
Curry & Bacon Fried Rice 7.
Stir-fried Choy Aged Shoyu, Lemon, Bonito 4.
2 Scoops Popcorn Ice Cream 4.
Happy Hour Update
Our hours, menu and availability for happy hour has changed.
When: Tuesday through Saturday 5:00pm until 7:00 pm
Availability: Bar & dining room
Menu:
BEVERAGES
bottle beers
chimay, pères trappistes white ale (11.2 oz.) 4.
paulaner hefeweizen (11.2 oz) 3.
full sail, amber (12 oz.) 3.
draft beers
(18 oz.) 3.5
georgetown brewery manny’s pale ale
georgetown brewery roger’s pilsner
georgetown brewery lucille ipa
glass pour wines 6.
tumbler drinks 4.
FOOD
crispy pacific fried oysters harissa mayonnaise, lemon 6.
chicken-fried veal sweetbreads honey mustard, ranch, & barbecue sauces 6.
potted chicken liver pate jelly whole wheat waffle 5.
wood grilled bavette steak cashel blue cheese, pickled garlic scapes with parsley, steak sauce 8.*
french fries dips 3.
dinah’s cow’s milk cheese whole wheat cherry newton, smoked hazelnuts, baguette 5.
chiogga beets sansa apples, bacon, hazelnut labne 5.
butter lettuce citronette, breakfast radish, tender herbs, parmesan, hazelnut ‘soil’ 5.
fall vegetable tasting smoky flat-bread 11.
Fund Raiser & Auction Dinner for VPC
Come to the Table to feast, fete and celebrate in support of Volunteer Park Cafe on our quest for a happy neighborhood restaurant. The last year presented us with some battles, but we did not give up. Neighborhood love! Many of you have offered support and help and we would like to host a dinner and auction to celebrate and give thanks for helping us to get back on track.
We hope to see you at the table!
Details and reservations here at Brown Paper Tickets
Mark Bitterman’s “Salted” Book Dinner
Sunday, September 18, 2011 at 6:30pm
Spring Hill Restaurant & Bar and The Meadow will be partnering for one evening to share the many interesting and wonderful salts procured and documented in Mark Bitterman’s recently released, James Beard award winning book, “Salted” – a manifesto on the world’s most essential mineral.
Chef Mark Fuller and crew, in colllaboration with the J.B.A. winner Mark Bitterman will be offering a multi course, family style dinner showcasing the spectacular and often unexpected world of artisan salt.
The dinner will be hosted by Mark Bitterman, Selmelier of the Portland-based specialty food shop The Meadow, Myra Kohn and Marjorie Chang Fuller.
menu
Cordial: black plum sangria, maboroshi plum salt.
King clam sashimi, lemon peel relish, amabito no moshio seaweed salt.
spruce needle salt cured Loki sockeye salmon, everything bagel, glacier tomatoes, whole milk cheese curds with black diamond salt.
Newaukum Valley Farm beets roasted in salt, herbed citronette, new crop nashi apple, burrata.
Whole fish cooked in the coals then bathed in Kauai saltwater, komatsuna bundles with pickled ogo.
Bread service, whipped pan drippings, red alder smoked salt.
Horseradish salt crusted prime rib of beef, pot roasted patina potatoes, corn on the cob, hot & sweet pepper pickles, Walla Walla onions, natural juices.
Little Giant’s handmade chocolates & brown butter mochi with haleakala ruby salt, shinkai deep sea salt & djibouti dew salt.
The cost of the dinner including wine will be $86.00 per person (tax and gratuity not included)
reservations will be available by contacting Spring Hill at 206.935.1075 or email us at [email protected]
Spring Hill & Guardian Cellars
Juice Salon #2
First Tuesday Wine Sessions
September 6th
The Juice Salon is a monthly wine and food event to introduce guests to different styles and varietals of wine, as well as the culinary innovation of Spring Hill. We will highlight a different winery and winemaker every first Tuesday of the month.
The Juice Salon will be hosted by Spring Hill Wine Manager Richard Gonzales, Jr. and will feature winemakers in a fun environment combining food and wine, followed by a Q&A session. Small bites will be paired with local wines featured by West Seattle wine shop, Bin 41.
The Juice Salon will be held in the front of the restaurant with limited seating and will run from 5:45pm through 7:00pm. Reservations through Spring Hill are required. The price is $40 per person (does not include sales tax or gratuity).
When: Tuesday, September 6, 2011. 5:45 pm
Who: Jerry Riener from Gaurdian Cellars in Washington
Wines to be served:
2010 Angel, Sauvignon Blanc, Columbia Valley
2009 Chalk Line, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Columbia Valley
2008 Gun Metal, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Columbia Valley
2008 The Alibi, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Red Mountain
“The focus at Guardian Cellars is to continually strive to produce the finest single varietals and blends from Washington vineyards.” –Jerry Riener
Call for reservations: 206.935.1075
Juice Salon Wine Sessions
Announcing: Juice Salon
First Tuesday Wine Sessions Beginning August 2
The Juice Salon will be a monthly wine and food event to introduce guests to different styles and varietals of wine, as well as the culinary innovation of Spring Hill. We will highlight a different winery and winemaker every first Tuesday of the month.
The Juice Salon will be hosted by Spring Hill Wine Manager Richard Gonzales, Jr. and will feature winemakers in a fun environment combining food and wine, followed by a Q&A session. Small bites will be paired with local wines featured by West Seattle wine shop, Bin 41.
The Juice Salon will be held in the front of the restaurant with limited seating of up to 25 guests and will run from 5:45pm through 7:00pm. Reservations through Spring Hill are required. The price is $40 per person (does not include sales tax or gratuity).
Juice Salon #1
When: Tuesday, August 2, 2011.
Who: Steve Brooks from Trust Cellars.
What Wines:
2010 Riesling, Columbia Valley
2010 Cabernet Franc Rose, Columbia Valley
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
2008 Syrah, Walla Walla Valley
Call for reservations: 206.935.1075
West Seattle Summer Fest!
West Seattle Summer Fest is a FREE 3-day street fair, hosted by an organization of local area merchants, the West Seattle Junction Association. Now in it’s 29th year, West Seattle Summer Fest is host to dozens of bands, hundreds of merchants and artists, and over 30,000 attendees.
FESTIVAL HOURS:
Friday: 10am – 10pm (Vendor sales until 6pm and food vendors until 8pm)
Saturday: 10am – Midnight (Vendor and food sales until 8pm)
Sunday 11am – 5pm (Vendor and sales until 5pm)
For the weekend we will have outdoor seating! Outside, we will be serving carnitas tacos, wood grilled corn, sangria & ice cold beers! We will begin serving at 10:00am on Friday.
Our patio will seat 36 people and is practically right in front of the stage for ALL of the live music this year!
Monday Night Fried Chicken FAQ
Q: Are you still serving Monday Night Supper & Fried Chicken Dinners?
A: Sorry, we are no longer featuring Monday Night Supper or Fried Chicken Dinners. The final Monday Night Supper and Fried Chicken Dinner is on July 11th, 2011.
Q: How do I get a reservation for fried chicken before it is gone?
A: You can call the reservation desk at 206.935.1075 and ask to be placed on our waiting list and hope there will be a cancellation. There are two (2) dinners left, June 27th and July 11th. July 11th is the final Monday Night Supper available for fried chicken.
Q: Will you be serving fried chicken on Monday, July 4th?
A: No. We will be closed to celebrate our independence.
Q: If I make an online reservation after Monday July 11th, for a Monday, will I get fried chicken?
A: Unfortunately, you will not.
Q: What will you be serving instead?
A: We will be serving our dinner menu.
Q: Why would you stop serving fried chicken?
A: Our fried chicken dinners are not gone for good.
May 21, 2011 is Judgment Day. Last Meals?
Feared by many, God will soon be destroying the earth for the sins of mankind. The bible guarantees it. We should all know what our last meal will be. Choose, but choose wisely. Here is what the people at the Seattle Weekly Voracious would do. Well, the Surly Gourmand anyhow:
Surly Gourmand, Spring Hill
If the world was ending I would go to Spring Hill and have the bacon cheeseburger. It’s an opulent and stupendous half-pound of awe, served medium rare with a droopy caul of melted white cheddar and slabs of thick-ass bacon and finely shredded lettuce. It comes with fries which are actually fried in SUET. It’s $19, but what the fuck do I need money for if the world is ending? After washing that monster down with several single malts, I’d rush off to your mom’s house to propose to her. When she gets all teary-eyed and says yes and all that, I’d laugh and say “Sike, bitch! We’re not getting married, the world’s about to end any seco-”
We appreciate your taste Surly! Thank you.
Follow the Surly Gourmand on twitter @surlygourmand
Here is the original Voracious post.
Deviled Egg Recipe
Mise en Place
equipment:
- sauce pot with a lid
- gram scale
- plastic or light weight cup
- tammy (drum sieve) or fine sieve
- food processor
- rubber spatula
- piping bag
- bowl scraper
ingredients:
- 1 dozen large eggs
- 50 grams egg yolk
- 10 grams white distilled vinegar
- 6 grams lemon juice
- 3 grams Tabasco hot sauce
- 7 grams diamond brand kosher salt
- 0.5 grams ground black pepper
- 6 grams sugar
- 15 grams water
- 260 grams rice oil or other neutral flavored oil
method:
- Place the eggs in a high sided sauce pot and cover with cold tap water 1″ above the eggs.
- Place the pot over high heat and set an 8 minute timer. Depending on how hot your burners are, the pot should be close to boiling.
- After 8 or so minutes the water should be at a soft boil. Cover the pot with a lid and remove from the heat. leave the eggs in the covered pot for 12 minutes.
- Pour off the hot water and jostle the eggs around inside the pot to crack the shells and cover with ice and water. Allow the eggs to chill for 10 minutes or so.
- Split the hard cooked eggs down the center lengthwise and separate the whites from the yolks.
- Reserve the cooked whites in the refrigerator.
- Push the cooked yolks through the fine mesh sieve and then place in the food processor bowl.
- Place the light-weight cup on your scale and zero the scale. Measure the ingredients, zeroing the scale between ingredients. Measure and reserve the oil separately.
- Add the scaled ingredients (EXCEPT the oil) to the food processor along with the sieved yolks. While the food processor is running, slowly emulsify with the rice oil. Allow the motor to run until the mixture is very smooth.
- If you would like to pass the filling through the sieve one final time, it will remove any of the larger granules of ground pepper.
- Place this mixture in a piping bag and fill the hollow whites.
eat em’ up!!
Seattle Restaurant Week
We’re already into our second round of Seattle Restaurant Week. Join us next Sunday thru Thursday for Mark’s $28 three-course menu:
Appetizers
3 Kumamoto oysters cucumber vinegar
Beetroot salad spring onion, fresh milk curds with sea salt, tarragon
Butter lettuces Breakfast radish, tender herbs, parmesan, citronette
Entrées
Wood grilled flat iron steak charred green garlic, buttered gold potato, cured butter, cauliflower
Sautéed halibut english peas, pea tendrils, mint shoots, cavatelli, smoked king clam crumbs
Roasted hen of the woods hominy grits with Beecher’s jack cheese, soft egg, english peas & fava beans, spring sorrel
Dessert options
Valrohna hot chocolate toasted-oatmeal raisin cookie
Buttered popcorn ice cream powdered butter & caramel
Introducing Brunch Bar
We have cooked up our new Brunch Bar menu for a casual brunch best eaten at the bar. The Brunch Bar is the perfect solution for those who prefer to dine casually or are in the mood for a quick weekend nosh.
Brunch Bar Features
sausage beignets maple syrup
deviled eggs alder smoked trout, arugula
biscuit sandwich kassler ham, fried egg, hand-crafted american cheese
steak tartare poached egg, crostini
fresh whole milk curds fennel pollen, honeycomb, smoky toast
french fries & dips honey mustard, ranch, bbq
biscuit and sausage gravy
butter lettuce tender herbs, radish, parmesan, citronette
apple beignets vanilla sauce
hashed brown potatoes
popover jam or nutella
Brunch Bar Beverages
coffee drinks add kahlua, jameson, bailey’s irish cream, or frangelico
bloody mary chili-infused vodka, mortadella, pickled vegetables
grapefruit cooler grapefruit, lillet, sparkling wine
currant affair vodka soaked currants, crème de cassis, sparkling wine
Brunch Bar will be served a la carte at the bar only. The Brunch Bar begins at 10am at the bar counter and is seated on a first come, first served basis. Brunch Bar dishes range in price from $4 to $9. Our full brunch menu will also be available at the bar.
Reservations can be made for our dining room from 10am to 2pm. Please call 206.935.1075 to reserve a table.
The Brunch Bar will be offered every Saturday and Sunday.
West Seattle for Japan
Please join us in a fundraising day to benefit Japan disaster victims on Sunday, March 27, 2011. West Seattle businesses will be donating a portion of their proceeds from this day to Peace Winds Japan and KnK International. We hope you’ll come in for brunch and dine out to support this cause!
Red, White, Unite
On April 6, 2011, we will be participating in Red, White, Unite - a fund raising effort at various Seattle Restaurants where we will donate 10% of our total sales on this date to Peace Winds America for disaster relief in Japan. Please join us and dine on this date to assist in this fund raising effort.
Winners
Congratulations to:
Eric Barnes
BJ McKasy
&
Virginia Phillips
You have each won a fried chicken dinner for four people on the Monday of your choice until July 11th, the final Chicken Dinner and Monday Supper.*
Thank you to every one who came out to see us. We look forward to seeing you all again soon!
—Mark, Marjorie and the team
*Winners: We will be contacting you with the information you provided. We will then send a certificate & confirmation number for when you are ready to make your reservations. Please hold on to your certificate number, you will need to have it to make your reservation. Reservations need to be made by Thursday for the following Monday. Also, please keep in mind, beverages, tip and tax are not included with the dinner.
Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner…For Real
Come dine with us and leave your contact information (phone number and email address) and the phrase “fried chicken lottery” on a comment card for a chance to win 1 of 2 gifted fried chicken dinners for you and three of your fried chicken fiending friends.
We will be drawing the winning names February 28, 2011. The dinners will be hosted on the Monday of the winners choice up until the last Monday supper, July 11, 2011. Please note that beverages, tax and gratuity are not included.Make Reservations
Good Luck!
Mark & Marjorie
Stiebrs Farms Cage Free Eggs
We are proud to tell you that we are serving 100% organic eggs laid by hens that are raised without cages from Stiebrs Farms.The Stiebrs family has sold eggs in the Puget Sound region since 1953, not long after Jan and Zelma Stiebrs arrived in the area from Latvia with the dream of owning their own business. Stiebrs Farms is now four generations strong.
All Stiebrs eggs are Certified Humane by Humane Farm Animal Care. Never caged, the hens live in clean, well-lit, roomy barns and are free to run, preen and socialize outdoors as they wish.
Flavors of Hawaii
Come in for happy hour to check out our pupu platter for the Seattle Met and Hawaiian Islands Flavors of Hawaii event! on January 6, 2011.
Our happy hour pupu platter will feature crispy kalua duck with cabbage, tuna poke and bulgogi beef bavette. Only featured for one day, come and get it! On january 28, 2011 at tom douglas palace ballroom, join in the fun of pupus from Spring Hill, Wild Ginger, Joeys and Dahlia Lounge plus a four course dinner by Tom Douglas.
Purchase tickets for this event here.good luck chefs! you’re going to need it! 
Our Day with the Okamotos’ and Kauai Sea Salt
The art of salt-making in earthen pans is still practiced here by families descending from ancient saltmakers. ‘Makanui’ is the Hawaiian bloodline that allows our family to harvest salt. The salt is considered like ‘gold’ on the islands and can only be gifted, never sold. The Okamotos’, uncle ‘biggie’ and auntie Colleen (Makanui) harvest, dry and age the salt from their home in Kekaha, Kauai.Our last trip to Kauai, Marjorie and I spent the whole day with auntie Colleen and uncle Biggie.
We ate kalua pig, fried chicken wings, musubi & coconut shrimp. The weather was perfect for lounging in the backyard spending time together and talking about our lives, family and food. Our cousin Jason arrived home from boar hunting as we lounged. Without effort, he rounded up the 8 of his 13 hunting dogs. The dogs so well trained they hardly noticed we were there as they shuffled by us into their kennel. Jason managed to bring home one smaller sized boar.
Between visiting, Biggie spent his time in the garden where he grows pineapples, scallions, tropical flowers, taro leaf and such. His latest project is a hibiscus tree that he had grafted several different colors of hibiscus flowers. We are looking forward to see the results in March when we head back to help prep the salt beds for harvest in the summer.Colleen later invited us to a birthday party that was being thrown for a baby’s one year celebration. Lots of people, lots of pu pu’s. We had the usual items like ahi poke, egg rolls, noodles, sushi and some fried squid. Then we had some of the truly local grinds you will never see at the buffet line. Local pickled plum (ume) from Koke’e in the Waimea Canyon, blood meat which is an interpretation of blood sausage; stir fried chopped pork shoulder finished with pigs blood and seasonings and stir fried local fern shoots. These were different than the fiddlehead we see here in the NW but long and tender shoots with a slight curl on the end. There were delicious tamales made from banana wrapped in banana leaf. Another item that I cannot remember the name of was eaten raw. This was made from tiny fish. They would cut the tails off and roll a pin or bottle over the fish to extract just the meat. The meat is pulverized when extracted and mixed with crunchy vegetables and seasonings. This mixture is sometimes fried for fishcakes but is very popular eaten raw & considered a delicacy.
As we left to return home, the Okamotos’ sent us off with more food such as mangos, ‘opihi (a delicious mollusk that grows on rocks around the tide pools) & sea salt from Hanapepe salt ponds. Colleen & Biggie, thank you again for your generosity.
Mark
Ring In 2011 With Us!
New Years Eve 2010
Five Course Menu $115.
Champagne Pairing $62. T.B.A.
canapés
salmon caviar - sour cream & onion potato crackling
gougeres
first course
american sturgeon caviar - smoked gold potato custard
second course
fattened duck liver terrine - oatmeal streusel, buttermilk, spiced persimmon
third course
gnocchi with larsen’s creamery butter - périgord truffle
entremet
green apple sorbet
fourth course
mulling spiced duck breast - crispy smoked confit, preserved ramps, bowyer farm’s prunes, salsify, yolk
fifth course
popcorn ice cream - powdered butter, caramel corn, preserved cherries
mignardises
chocolates
(We ask the entire table to participate)
À la carte menu will also be available