Windward side of O'ahu

Blogger has not been playing nicely with me for a few days now, so it's taken a long time to post this. Merde!

Last Hawaii post - and about time! We got home over a week ago, after all. Nevermind that Conrad has to return there tomorrow either.

Anyway, one last drive to post on, some more photos to share. I've already covered part of this jaunt in a previous post about food, but tonight it's more beaches, water, mountains, and lush flora.

I'll make these descriptions brief - the fun food stories are in an earlier post, and for the most part, it was driving along, oohing and aahing for several hours on this day.

Kaneohe Bay.

Not the first place we saw poultry (mmmm, poultry) running wild. The sign in the photo below that tells you where.


The peaks overlooking Kualoa from a short distance away.

The islet commonly known as Chinaman's Hat (don't holler at me for that) off of Kualoa.


Kualoa, a popular beach with the locals, for swimming, fishing, and camping.


The rest of these are taken at a point identified on the plaque in the photos. The sea arch was a handsome sight (though seeing the cairns people had erected on it was not to my liking, I confess). Powerful waves against a rugged patch of rocky shore, and a good number of fishermen there. I stood for some while just meditating on the wash of water over the rocky shelves, and Conrad found it similarly soothing when he caught up to me.







That pretty much recaps the recent Hawaii trip. Conrad is back there right now, and I do miss him. Alas, it's back to transcribing notes from card sort sessions for me....

Honolulu scenes

Though we stayed in on Waikiki, a stone's throw from the beach, we were able to see other parts of the city. And not just the Ala Moana shopping center either!

Honolulu is interesting. That's faintly euphemistic. It climbs up several hillsides. Its business core of tall buildings is removed from its tourism core of tall hotels on Waikiki, giving the impression of two city centers from a distance. The architecture in many cases is dated and hasn't translated to modern times well. Traffic is a nightmare - a horrible, tragic incident on the day I arrived snarled up the freeway and the exits into the city, and the resultant time sitting in a cab from the airport took me the better part of an hour (I didn't time it) and cost $50.

But there is lush foliage all over and birds around. The sea and the sunsets over it are well worth some of the less-favourable aspects of the city. And in any case, it IS a big city chockful of tourists. For all its flaws, Honolulu is a rather likeable place.

So then, some scenes from around the city, starting with a morning on Waikiki.


These next several are from the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus - we strolled around and peeked in at the 50m pool. It's a rather concrete campus, as if the planners thought the flora would make up for deficiencies in architecture. Still, we enjoyed poking around. And goodness knows I've seen other campuses with as much concrete! Oh, the bird? A type of cardinal. Not a native species, and kind of a shock to see in Hawaii of all places. The photos of me? I just think I look kind of trim in it. I AM vain, remember?









The Capitol is also unlike any other I've seen. From a distance, it's an odd box shape. However, look more closely. The rounded part you can make out in the first shot is one of the two houses, and the shape is meant to reflect a volcano (or so Conrad said). Unseen from a distance are the reflecting pools surrounding much of the building and adding the notion of an island state to the architecture. Meanwhile, once in the inner courtyard one can see how the "hallways" in the upper levels are open air. The two houses are glassed in, and peeking in from the courtyard, I noted some stunning woodwork inside. Also, look at the columns - palm trees! It's all done a little literally, and it doesn't look great from the end of the block, but it was interesting to wander about.




The older structure here is the Iolani Palace. We didn't pay to get in - maybe another time - but walked around it, admiring it, and heading on from there to the main branch of the Hawaii State Public Library system.

Simpler dining on O'ahu

Second food O'ahu food post, and this time, it's more about the less-refined dining. Heck, you might be surprised.

Well no, you shouldn't be. If it tastes good, I'll put it in my mouth. No naughty comments from you Remley!

On the Friday night we joined Doug and Leifor dinner at a place that gets rave reviews in the guidebooks and from Conrad, but really, it's pretty nondescript: Sidestreet Inn. On to the food!

Ahi tuna belly. Nice, not super.

The sizzling Korean pork. SO. DARN. GOOD.

Blackened ahi tuna.

Pork ribs in a lilkoi (passionfruit) sauce.

All was quite good, and we ate eagerly. Four dishes down, and then we thought we would have a fifth. Whoops. Not as good. Chicken gizzards. Normally I rather like them, but these were kind of tough and chewy and had no flavour other than being fried. The seasoned salt was good, though.

The next day, our shopping day, was where I saw this treat at a Foodland grocery store: spam musubi.Yep, spam. It's very very very popular in Hawaii. Laugh all you will, but Lei told us that it's enjoyed a great deal there. No, I didn't consume the whole thing - it was cheap enough to not worry about wasting it, and I wasn't all that hungry, really. Oh, in the photo? It's wrapped in plastic, not lacquered or anything.


Sunday, and we were driving up the Windward Coast of the island when we happened upon this right at about 11:55 AM. Lunch! We got in line, ordered, and waited.


To wash it down, a coconut.

Ahhhh, very very garlicky shrimp. We reeked of it the rest of the day. It was so worth it!






When we got to Haleiwa, we stopped for a mai tai at a place recommended to us. Fine enough, but we'd had better. Still, nice to stop!

Haleiwa seems to be shave ice central, and we had to try one of those as well.


This, my friends, is the Local Mix (with an unseen amount of sweet red adzuki beans in the center): pineapple, mango, and li hing mui (dried salted plum). And I can assure you, it was good. Conrad and I devoured it in, oh, two minutes, I think....

Finer dining on O'ahu

First of two posts regarding dining last weekend in and around Honolulu.

Let's do the fine dining first; it's what people expect from me and Conrad, I think. We try not to disappoint.

Up first, dinner at Orchids on the Thursday night I arrived. I LOVED this meal, helped in no small part to exhaustion from the travel and the time change as well as the cocktails. But still, it was tasty, and sitting on a patio with the waves just beyond was delightful. We started with the special ahi tuna seared on the outside.

We then split the Island Greens and Tomato.

My main course was the Herb Crusted Opah with Grilled Asparagus and Kahuku Eggplant, finished with a Light Citrus Curry Butter. The eggplant was the perfect sop for the sauce, and I would have licked my plate if I were at home.

Conrad opted for the Sautéed Wild Salmon served with an Edamame and Tomato Ragout on Tangerine and Ginger Sauce

Dessert was a surprise. The pot de creme caught my eye, flavoured with chai. Well, it was a little bland, but the accompaniment was terrific: chocolate banana pavlova. Yum!

Saturday we stayed in the city and before doing some shopping, we dined at Mariposa at Neiman Marcus. Yes, it's in a department store in a mall, but it's quite fine. For starters, out comes a little cup of chicken consomme (meh) and a popover with a papaya and pineapple butter - tasty, and good for dessert!

Conrad ordered the special of diver scallops with tortelliniwhile I opted for the lobster club sandwich. And a glass of champagne, of course!

Handsome, isn't he?

Saturday night we met some of Conrad's colleagues for dinner at Duc's Bistro in Chinatown. We caught a cab. A long one.

Duc himself greeted us, though I'm sorry that this other guy crossed through the shot without looking to see what we were up to.


Conrad enjoyed the filet of basa nonpareiland I enjoyed the venison that was one of the specials.

The food was not as prettily styled as at Orchids, but you know what? It was quite good. We had a fun evening of it, and especially the Earthquake Petit Sirah. See? happy!

Again, not super beautifully plated food, but the ginger cheesecake was a good finish alongside a latte for me.

Our last night in Honolulu, we went back across the street to Orchids. Both of us dressed in great new silk shirts, looked pretty, and set out for a tranquil evening to end the trip.


We sat down in time to catch the sunset over the ocean, and otherwise put the camera away for the rest of dinner. Sometimes, you know, we just like to eat!

this is what Jeph grew up eating

More food photos to come, have no fear. As if we didn't photograph every single morsel!

(actually, we didn't, but many photos still to come!)

The NBF, in case it's never come up, graduated high school in Hawaii. A military brat, go figure. His background gives him a particular affinity for such things as Twiglets (oh wait - Jeph, is that right?) (Allison, you like them too?), kim chi, and these treats:




Is this what we call taking one (or two) for the team? Prizes to anyone who can identify these - other than Jeph, that is!

:-)

waiting at SFO, drizzle outside

So many photos from O'ahu to blog, and maybe those three or four of you who look at this thing will be happy to know that I didn't spend my short vacation chained to the laptop, uploading photos. They can wait for the days ahead instead.

But for the hour or two that we cool our heels at SFO, awaiting the flight to Chicago (coooooold, wintry Chicago)? Time enough to post a photo or two from yesterday (and Conrad, walking the beach at Kualoa) and just say that given my druthers, I'd really want to be back there right now.

around the eastern tip of O'ahu

Alright then, now that we're home (as of 1:15 this morning, and don' even get me started on whining about how they switched us over to a Ted plane, ergo, no business class on the way home - rough life Peter!) and I'm awaiting Conrad for dinner, I can post some pics of the weekend that was.

And ahhhhh. Quelle fin de semaine! Gorgeous, sunny, warm, lotsa good food, lotsa photos. Many postings to come, I promise!

Let's get some scenery posted first off. I know, I know: where are the food photos? But bear with me on this, and let's get some sun, sea, and greenery up first.

Friday morning we were up at not too early a time. Quite funnily, I crashed - badly - at 8:30 the night before after swearing I would make it to 9:00. Nope. No chance. I was out like a light and spent 11 hours asleep, more or less. But we were in a dawdling mood in any case, so after a relaxed breakfast at the hotel we set out eastward. I'd spent one night in Honolulu in 2006, and Conrad has been there a lot lately, and we both wanted to see more of the island itself. So then...

Palm trees. Duh. But gee, do they look great at this time of year. A photo from Kapiolani Park.


Below Diamond Head.


Hanauma Bay. Very high on my list of "reurn-to" places. I badly want to go snorkeling there.

Views above and near the Halona Blowhole and Halona Point.



Views above and near Makapuu Beach.



Food, sort of. The guidebooks pointed us to a deli in Kailua, but in its place was this little takeaway place. We rather liked the look of it, so we ordered some lunch and took it up to...

...Kailua Beach Park. Lunch at a picnic table, then a stroll in the waves.

After that we decided to head back to the city in order to be ready for dinner with Lei and Doug. The views along the Pali Highway were quite something in places.


A lot of tourists stop here: Nuuanu State Park. Not nearly so windy as we were led to think, but great views to Kaneohe Bay!



All that, and yet the mileage was quite small - O'ahu isn't all that big an island, and the roads are fine. Best of all - lots of sun but no burn!

Rubbing it in

Another quick post - so much to see and so much to not worry about doing while we have a few relaxing days on O'ahu. We just had a morning stroll along the beach and will doon get breakfast. I think the Iolani Palace is our only solid plan for the day before dinner. Nonetheless, only a photo or two for now, and rest assured that I will blog a whole bunch more (including food photos) in days to come.

I've seen a few e-mails (yes, I check them) regarding the bitter cold weather Chicago has been hit with this weekend, and it makes us especially glad to be here. Yahoo Weather indicates that it's about -16 Celsius right now. Um, brrrr. For us, yesterday, it looked like this:

Kailua Beach, after lunch. Yes, you may scorn me for rubbing it in, those of you in the MidWest.

:-)

where in the world are Peter and Conrad?

Hmmm, do these photos help?




More to blog later, but for now, it's breakfast and then some road-time sightseeing.

Le Bec Fin

Tuesday nights at conferences has become the traditional night for me to dine out with RAD. Formerly my department head, he remains good dinner company and a fellow foodie. Man, do I hate that tag for all that it fits!

Conrad was tempted to come out to Philadelphia simply to come to tonight's restaurant (he's in Honolulu instead, poor soul), Le Bec Fin. Long regarded as one of the best in the city, it lived up to its reputation, I think.

But back up a moment: I didn't report on last night's dinner. There's good reason for that. My date, it turns out, took a too-lengthy nap and slept through our appointed time to meet. After 35 minutes of sitting at Matyson without him (and not opening the bottle of Quail's Gate Pinot Noir I'd brought to Philadelphia with me), I went ahead and ordered. AJ's loss, sadly for him. The smoked sweetbreads with fried poached eggs were a magnificent starter. Stunning. The fragrance filled the restaurant, tantalizingly. Yum! After that, the chicken breast was merely fine while the butterscotch pudding was excellent comfort food. I should go back there, and I highly recommend it.

Okay, back to tonight!

We stuck with the four course menu and supplemented it with a cheese course after the salad. RAD started with a vodka cocktail while I went for a white Bordeaux, but with dinner we shared a bottle of a Sancerre that somehow evoked lime and apple blossom (honeysuckle, perhaps?) for me. It was a great selection, and we dug in to our food happily.

First up, a little amuse-bouche. Not memorable, in fact, but no matter.

RAD's crab cake.

My cassolette of snails in a Champagne and hazelnut garlic butter sauce - good and garlicky!

RAD's sauteed grouper filet, panisse flavored with orange, snow peas julienne, red bell pepper sauce.

My salmon confit in olive oil, braised celery and fennel, jus de poulet flavored with star anise. The star anise was not so strong, and the fish, topped appealingly with roe, was cooked so perfectly that embellishment with sauces seemed kind of beside the point.

We didn't take photos of the simple salad, though I will say it was dressed just wonderfully if simply. On to the cheeses, and we were invited to have as many of the 12 or more selections as desired. Don't ask me to name them! Up first, RAD's cheeses,then mine.

Dessert came on a cart,
and it was another matter of selecting what we liked and having a sample, as many different ones as we liked. So, then my desserts.

By this point, he was having a French red dessert wine, while I held back and finished the glass of Gevrey-Chambertin I had ordered. Yes, we drank well tonight to boot!

And good gosh: petit fours!

So, I am well fed and contented. The food last night was arguably more interesting, but there's not two ways about it, tonight was food prepared immaculately and delightfully well. A gorgeous room and good company. I am, indeed, happy with the caveat tha I wish Conrad had been here to enjoy it, too!

Susanna Foo

A briefer post than the last, sort of. More photos - food ahoy! - but less text save for descriptions.

I have to thank Chris and Ronnie for treating me to dinner. We had a quiet window nook table, and that gave us ample opportunity to catch up. Now if only we can get them to come back to Chicago so we can treat them to a dinner or two there!

Susanna Foo was our choice for Saturday night. I'd heard about it on my last trip to Philadelphia, and given that the owner has a Library Science degree as well, I rather wanted to go. Ronnie owns a Foo cookbook, too, so that made her especially interested. Chris? He has come to like a wide variety of good food, so he was quite willing.

I wasn't disappointed, though I had the curious feeling of wishing I'd had some of the other dishes I saw. No, mine was very tasty, I can promise, but I was torn between 4 or five regular menu entrees plus one of the specials, and fine as mine was, I wish I'd been able to taste some of the other things I saw on the menu or at other tables. Ah well.

Unusually for me, I opted for a cocktail at first, the Renoir, a concoction of elderflower cordial, Sauvignon Blanc, and soda water. Fun, and good, though I switched to a glass of a Shiraz with my main course.

The menu on the Web site is not up to date, so I don't have detailed descriptions for everything, alas.

My caramelized foie gras with pineapple foam.

Ronnie and her spring rolls.

Chris and his shrimp and Granny Smith apple potstickers.

My WuXi Beef Shortrib.

Chris' Szechwan Seafood.

A blurry shot of Ronnie's duck.

Ronnie's trio of citrus desserts.I didn't have dessert either - wow, what is wrong with me - but just sipped my wine slowly.

Philadelphia story so far

I couldn't resist the title, sorry. I'm corny, and there's an oh-so-tenuous connection to the movie for me.

I've not blogged in several days. Last week was a very busy one in Chicago leading up to my trip here to Philadelphia on Friday. Conrad is not with me - he's in Honolulu right now, and I am busy with events at the ALA Midwinter Meetings. Back to Chicago on Wednesday, but still more to do.

I'll separately blog the dinner on Saturday with Chris and Ronnie, but to otherwise give you a sense of what I've been doing:

• Task force meetings, vendor presentations, visiting exhibits, two candidates' forums, and attendance at a Round Table social.
• Swim practice with the Philadelphia Fins - the swimmers I met were all very very welcoming, and I delighted by that and sorry I couldn't go for dim sum with them.
• Dinner last night at Amada with my roomie, Martin, and David from Houston. I forgot to bring the camera, but it's just as well as sometimes it's nicer just to be able to go and dine. Funnily enough, the host was one of the Fins, and he recognized me from the practice earlier that day. The food, I should add, was outstanding. We all settled on the chef's selection of tapas, and there were multiple highs like the piquillos rellenos (crab stuffed peppers), the garbanzos con spinacas (chickpeas with spinach - marvelously garlicky!), albondigas (lamb meatballs with shaved manchego), and the madre e hijo (chicken breast cooked sous-vide style with fried egg, fingerling potatoes, and black truffle). We all had the wine pairings with it (including a Portuguese red that had a delicious scent of violets) and shared two desserts of which the Manchego (sheep cheese)Mousse with Pistachio Shortdough, Apple Crumb, and Apple Cider Sorbet was my favourite.

Above all, though, I want to highlight Saturday's visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Good gosh but that's a magnificent building with a remarkable collection.

I had the opportunity on Saturday morning to attend an early morning lecture by the author and photographer of a book called Rocky Stories. The Museum steps, you see, are featured in the Rocky movies thanks to the iconic scene in the first film where Rocky runs up the steps and celebrates with a solitary jig at dawn at the top. Tourists and others come to Philadelphia to see the steps and do the same run/jig. Okay, I get it. It sounds hokey to me in so far as I've never seen the movie, but you know what? The two men speaking put together what sounded like a fascinating book about everyday people and celebrations of their personal triumphs. I fell for it and bought the book and got it signed.

A handful of hours later, and I was meeting Chris and Ronnie on the steps, admiring the city view before heading inside.
The weather was quite fine - sunny and around 12 Celsius - and the view is terrific. I hadn't seen them since they visited Chicago the year after their wedding, so it was great to catch up as we wandered through the galleries.Afterwards, it was a nice stroll back to the city center and on to the restaurant for dinner. But that will keep for the next posting, I think.

comforting food (Mexican flavours)

I think this may count as our first dinner party of 2008. Congratulations us!

:-)

Bryan and John came for dinner tonight.We hadn't seen them since before the holidays thanks to their cruise through the Hawaiian Islands for Christmas. SO nice to hear about their trip and catch up with the two of them. And, of course, to feed them.

I set out some small things to nibble on:tomatoes, little crostini (store bought, sorry - I wanted to make today relatively easy on us), a couple of cheeses (the hard wedge is the Neals Yard Dairy English Cheshire Appleby and the soft half-round is Langa Bonrus Sheep and Cow's Milk),a dish of a caramelized cauliflower and shallot puree, and a dish of olives. We opened a bottle of Joie Noble Blend and quickly dove in to conversation.

Dinner was a simple affair. I think I've mentioned before how bloody lazy I am, and today was no different. A one-pot main course: a stew of pork and black beans with a sauce made from tomatillos, some poblano, cilantro, and chicken broth. I topped each dish with a bit of sour cream (stirred with lime juice), some shredded jack cheese, and a sprinkle of green onion and radish.
Conrad has a bad habit, I should say, of capturing me when I'm busy in the kitchen, and vain creature that I am, I wish he wouldn't!


Alongside the stew were biscuits.
Biscuits for Bryan - a man from The South. Brave of me. He was very nice about them, and they were fine enough, I think. Not standard biscuits but made using some masa harina.

After that came a green salad with a dressing of lime, charred garlic, and oregano.

Conrad had told me that the guys were bringing dessert from the bakery at Cafe Selmarie. Alas, wires got crossed, and I found myself planning dessert on the fly. Keeping with the idea of easy, lazy, comforting foods and Mexican flavours, I sent them into the living room after dinner and whipped up some Mexican Chocolate souffles.
Not too bad an effort, all things considered!

NYE

Honesty compels me to admit that New Year's Eve is pretty much my least favourite celebration of the year, and if it wasn't for past experience suggesting that ringing in the New Year at Yoshi's would be delightful, I'd otherwise be content to stay home and order in Thai food or sushi.

Nevermind me, I'm a curmudgeon at times. We had a very good time last night, dining with our friend Frank at the bar at Yoshi's. Yoshi had made up a set menu for the revelers, and we enjoyed it greatly.

Kaiseki style appetizer: baked half shell oyster florentine on a bed of spinach with Mornay sauce and domestic sturgeon caviar; sea scallop mousse terrine with crab meat and sauce remoulade; duck liver mousse pâté coated with black truffle. Yes, those are little diced bits of aspic. Yoshi and his team spent much time on the meal, and I fear that details like the aspic get lost on most people. The pâté was a highlight, I should add.

Soup: lobster consommé matsuyake dobin-mushi. Because, of course, I only like the pricey mushrooms. After eating the solids with chopsticks, we consumed the consommé through the spout of the kettle.


Salad: Hawaiian kampachi salad with wasabu microgreens and blood orange vinaigrette.

Entrée: combination of roasted Wagyu beef rib-eye steak with smoked red wine sauce and half lobster with motoyaki sauce. The red wine sauce kills me every time.


Dessert: combination of tres leches, pumpkin crème brûlée, and fresh berries. The cake? Super moist and another high point. A great way to close the meal.

The three of us shared a bottle of the San Simeon Pinot Noirand otherwise caught up on our holiday travels. We hadn't seen Frank since before Christmas, so we had a present to give him as well.

And then, 2008. We all cheered and hooted and got caught up in the spirit of it.
Once we'd rung in the New Year, we walked home. The snow had abated some but not entirely. Conrad and I were in bed before 1:00, contented.

Also, I think this sweater/tie look is kind of cute on me. Ah yes, I start 2008 as vain as ever!