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New Eats: Arancino at The Kahala Hotel

By Catherine Toth Fox • June 17, 2013 • Food

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Today a new upscale restaurant will open at The Kahala Hotel & Resort, and I guarantee it will change the way you look at Italian cuisine.

Arancino, which operates two more casual eateries in Waikiki, will occupy the 3,800-square-foot space vacated by Tokyo Tokyo at the post resort in East Honolulu. It will offer a course-style dining experience with innovative Italian dishes using ingredients both imported from Italy and sourced locally in the Islands.

And when I say innovative, I mean dishes like lightly fried foie gras and white truffle Parmesan risotto balls, fresh housemade tagliolini with uni (sea urchin) sautéed in a sweet garlic wine cream sauce, or a house made Hamakua tomato sorbet with a sweet tomato compote and gelee.

Yeah, I said all that.

Last night the media had a preview of the dinner menu, a five-course prix fixe with a wine pairing for each dish. Cost is $100 for five courses, $85 for four.

Here’s what our meal looked like — and why you should book reservations now:

Arancino

Arancino
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This new Italian restaurant will open today at The Kahala Hotel & Resort. It's the company's third location in Honolulu, this one being more upscale and offering a more fine dining experience.

Arancino, The Kahala Hotel & Resort, 5000 Kahala Ave. Hours: 11:30 a.m. for lunch, 5 to 10:30 p.m. for dinner daily. Phone: (808) 380-4400.

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About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

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4 Comments

  • Reply David Jackson June 18, 2013 at 1:14 am

    A special occasion place! Spent $100.00 at the grocery store two nights ago and had enough food to feed an army of rednecks. Having said that, the chef must be a patron of the arts, beautifully presented, very colorful, and such a mix of flavors. I for one think that a splurge every now and then is worth it. Maybe that will be my Hawaii vacation splurge this year. How much Boston’s can someone eat?

  • Reply Annoddah Dave June 18, 2013 at 5:55 am

    CAT: Aaaiiiyyyaaahhh! Fuud Pix! Tenks! Wow, Japanese doing Italian and making the plates look like art pieces that is so cool. Normally when dining I know where to start, this takes the whole visual thing to another level…you almost can taste it by looking at it. Am sure the aroma was as exciting. The only thing lacking was sound?? Maybe the tinkle of “bell” peppers would have been the extra touch. BTW, how is the name of the restaurant pronounced?

  • Reply matt June 18, 2013 at 11:27 am

    glad to see they’re conscious of locally sourced products. imo, Hawaii has such great produce and such great potential for growing almost anything that it’s a shame when you see restaurants going outside the islands for the bulk of their menu.

  • Reply Eric June 18, 2013 at 8:57 pm

    Presentation has that frou frou Japanese look. How Italian tasting was the food? Lots of times Japanese fusion loses the original country’s taste making it bland.

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About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

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