The Way to My Heart

Fois Gras with Fried Mushrooms

Having lived in New York City, Seattle, and Boulder, I have developed a distinct affinity for tourist towns. I love the mix of people from all over the country/world. I love the free events that take place on summer evenings. I even like the cheesy little tourist shops selling miniatures of the Empire State Building, smoked trout, or bits of Jimmy Hendrix's hair (apparently the shop proprietor went to high school with him in Seattle ... hey, you took hair samples from all your high school chums just in case they became rock 'n' roll legends, right?). But what I love the most, is the food. Anywhere that attracts lots of tourists develops a lively restaurant scene, and those of us who happen to live in these tourist areas get to take full advantage of all the amazing dishes.

In 2007, a little less than 5 million people visited Oahu. Needless to say, that is a lot of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. And in my own humble way, I like to think of all those tourists ordering meals as giving the chefs lots of practice ... for me. And my wife. And occasionally my kids(I have a twelve-year-old who would push an NFL linebacker out of the way for duck confit, a ten-year-old who is so picky she will eat almost nothing ... but she loves perfectly cooked octopus with a sweet and spicy sauce, and an eight-year-old whose favorite cake is red velvet).

Last month I had the opportunity to do some travelling (more on that later), and I had some great meals. However, I was travelling solo, and an amazing meal is simply not as amazing with no one to share it with.  So when I came home, I was eager to find a great meal I could share with my wife. We ended up driving down to Honolulu to visit a place called Hiroshi's. Hiroshi's happy hour deal is that, between 5:30 and 6:30 the entire menu is half price. So instead of ordering a couple of dishes and sharing like we usually do, we ordered six dishes (but stuck with sharing as per usual). We ordered Moi Carpaccio, fried Kona abalone, sous vide lobster tail on squid ink pasta, fois gras with fried mushrooms, seared sea scallops with an amazing butter sauce, and pork belly. So good.  We can't wait to go back.

Seared Sea Scallops with Butter Sauce

Sous Vide Lobster Tail on Squid Ink Pasta