KOLOA, Kauai » Krizpin Oades finally has a room with a view.
Specifically, a kitchen with a view, all the way to the sea. "Toward sunset you’ll see the owls come out," Oades said during a recent interview at a table overlooking that vista.
"It’s the only restaurant I’ve seen in my 20 years of being a chef with a window in the kitchen. … Makes the job a little bit nicer and makes you appreciate where you’re at."
Where he’s at is the Shops at Kukui‘ula, the resort complex where in March restaurateur Roy Yamaguchi opened Eating House 1849 and put Oades in charge.
The restaurant was designed as a tribute to the plantation-style cooking of Yamaguchi’s grandfather Rokuro, known as "Henry," who owned a tavern on Maui in the 1940s. It is further a tribute to Peter Fernandez, said to have opened Hawaii’s first "eating house," in Honolulu in 1849. That’s a little-known piece of local restaurant lore, noted by author John Mariani in his "Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink," published in 1983.
Yamaguchi, in a separate interview on Oahu, conceded there may have been other, earlier places in the islands where a person could pay for a meal, but he was drawn to the Fernandez legend. "That’s my story and I’m sticking to it."
It’s the thought that counts, and Yamaguchi’s thought was to create a casual eating place where "plantation meets industrial meets modern." Having opened more than 30 Roy’s restaurants — the most recent in Okinawa last week — Yamaguchi was after something different at Eating House.
So instead of the upscale Pacific rim cuisine of Roy’s, Eating House reflects Hawaii’s mixed plantation heritage — Portuguese, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Korean … with, as Yamaguchi says, "a Roy’s oomph to it."
Assigned to carry out that vision is Oades, 37, who attended Mililani High School and the Culinary Institute of America in New York, then went to work for Nobu Matsuhisa in Manhattan. He did an externship at Alan Wong’s in Honolulu, moving on to Roy’s in San Diego in 2001. "I kind of have the trifecta of Nobu, Alan and Roy," he said.
Much of the Eating House menu is deceptively simple: sandwiches, salads, rice and noodle dishes, easy to share, family style. But all involve the complexity of a Roy’s dish — that "oomph" that comes with layers of bold sauces and seasonings. Rustic but subtly powerful.
Key to many of the dishes is the Spanish influence of the Eating House version of sofrito, the Spanish mother sauce of tomatoes, garlic, onion and spices. It shows up in such dishes as paella, localized with Portuguese sausage, and Garlic Kekaha Shrimp Piri Piri, for which the sofrito is bumped up with fish sauce and chilies.
Personal to Oades are the Filipino comfort dishes of his own heritage, and he notes that his lumpia — made with pork and tofu — surprised him in becoming an especially popular item.
Also on the menu: Sizzling Rainbow Tetsuyaki Poke, a mash-up of Hawaiian and Japanese flavor concepts applied to kampachi, ahi and salmon slices served smoking in a skillet; Steamed Clams Cataplana, a Spanish dish with Portuguese sausage and Hamakua mushrooms; the Hapa Burger, made of beef and wild boar, both sourced on Kauai; and a rich and sumptuous ramen with a spicy, sesame-tinged broth —"Roy’s baby," Oades calls it — quickly becoming a signature dish.
Also key to the dining experience is the decor, a simple yet sophisticated, bright and quirky approach to plantation-era charm. Oades said Yamaguchi and his wife, Denise Hayashi, took particular interest in those details.
Clear, old-fashioned light bulbs hang from boat pulleys throughout the dining room; cowbells have been turned into lights over the bar. Galvanized metal boxes that many will remember from their grandparents’ kitchens are fused into display shelving. And in the bathrooms, bare, bulky pipes have been turned into faucets and fixtures.
For all the plantation detail, what you won’t find at Eating House is a dish that Yamaguchi originally had seen as key to the menu — his grandfather’s chicken hekka.
"I decided not to do it because I wouldn’t have been paying respect to my grandfather. I would’ve messed it up. I would have bastardized the heck out of it," Yamaguchi said. "Let it stay in heaven."
MAKE IT YOURSELF
Much of what is served at Eating House 1849 is too complex for home cooking; this rustic vegetable side dish is an exception.
CRISPY BRUSSELS SPROUTS & CAULIFLOWER
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
8 ounces Brussels sprouts, cut in half (about 1-1/4 cups)
8 ounces cauliflower florets (about 2-1/2 cups)
2 ounces toasted pine nuts (about 6 tablespoons)
2 ounces golden raisins (about 6 tablespoons)
1 ounce minced shallots (about 1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons brown butter (see note)
1/4 cup lemon juice
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Pinch minced parsley
Balsamic vinegar, for drizzling
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
Heat oil to 350 to 375 degrees. Deep-fry Brussels sprouts and cauliflower until golden brown.
Toss immediately with pine nuts, raisins, shallots, brown butter and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, then top with parsley, balsamic vinegar and panko. Serves 2.
Note: To brown butter is to cook it until its water evaporates and the milk solids begin to brown. It produces a nutty flavor. Heat butter in a heavy saucepan or skillet over medium heat until foamy, stirring occasionally, until foam subsides and butter turns golden.
Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving (not including salt to taste): 750 calories, 52 g fat, 11 g saturated fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 220 mg sodium, 70 g carbohydrate, 10 g fiber, 27 g sugar, 14 g protein
Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S. Email requests to bshimabukuro@staradvertiser.com.
