If you’re craving pasta, check out Cucina Moon in McCully Shopping Center. The biz is known for its housemade pastas and sauces.
New dishes on the menu include salmon with fresh tomato, Genovese bacon with pesto and gnocchi with creamy cheese sauce and lemon. The menu changes monthly, but signature dishes like Bolognese (homemade beef ragu sauce, Parmigiano cheese, black pepper and Italian parsley) are mainstays.
End your meal with housemade vegan gelato (there are 32 rotating flavors). Options include chai, POG, pistachio, lemon, lychee and more.
Cucina Moon is open noon- 2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. (closed Wednesdays and Sundays). No reservations accepted; first come, first served. To learn more, follow the biz on Instagram (@cucina_moon_).
Affordable Japanese wagyu
Gyu-Masu (725 Manawai St.) just opened in Kapolei and offers Japanese wagyu at reasonable prices. Its wagyu is sourced from a Toriyama farm in Japan.
The restaurant offers A4 or A5 wagyu in its entrees. You can get a 6-ounce wagyu tenderloin ($63.50) or 6-ounce wagyu striploin ($55.50). The eatery also offers USDA-certified Angus beef with choices like porterhouse, filet mignon, rib-eye and New York strip steak. Steaks come with housemade sauces (lemon ginger, Japanese steak sauce, and wasabi shoyu) for dipping.
There’s also a variety of seafood dishes like miso-baked salmon, lemon butter lobster tail, shrimp tempura, bacon mushroom scallops and more.
Save room for the Japanese souffle cheesecake with strawberry drizzle for dessert.
For more info, follow the biz on Instagram (@gyu_masuhawaii).
Kung Hei Fat Choi
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii has been celebrating the Lunar New Year with a weekend full of activities in Chinatown Cultural Plaza for more than 50 years. This year’s event, which kicks off the Year of the Wood Dragon, takes place 5-10 p.m. Feb. 2 and 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Feb. 3. The event features more than 40 food, craft and cultural booths, activities for keiki, and Chinese lion dancing and entertainment.
Participating food vendors include Hott Potstickers, L&L Franchise Inc., Hawaiian Honey Cones, Legend Seafood Restaurant, Olay’s Thai Lao Express, Sama Sama, Blue Truck Tiger Sugar, Miss U Food Bar, Grand Kona Coffee and Bing Bros. Attendees will also have the option of picking up jai, which is perfect to eat during Chinese New Year as it represents long life, wealth and prosperity.
The organization also holds its popular Choy Cheng event 6-8 p.m. Feb. 2 during which chamber representatives and the Narcissus Queen and Court will join nine different lion dance groups to visit merchants throughout Chinatown and wish them good luck for the new year.
Visit chinesechamber.com.
Hawaii in a glass
Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui, Hawaii (4100 Wailea Alanui Drive)’s exclusive all-suite and villa resort, completed its innovative redesign of its lobby and resort/community cultural center with the completion of its new bar/restaurant, Pilina, which held its grand opening Jan. 19. The establishment boasts ample seating and will be the largest ocean-facing bar on Maui.
Pilina features an aina-based food/ cocktail concept of the new cultural center, and is described as “Hawaii in a glass.” All menu items showcase local culture and its signature cocktails feature 100% Hawaii-sourced ingredients.
Pilina’s dinner menu showcases a hot rock bar with items such as ahi, king salmon, Hokkaido scallop, lobster tail and A5 wagyu, to name a few. The menu also includes a fresh selection of raw and slightly cooked items as well (which can be found on their lunch menu as well) with items such as ahi crudo, nigiri and its signature rolls. Pilina also has an omakase with a six- and 10-course tasting menu.
Visit pilinamaui.com.
