Put mega-sized winter melons to full use

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• April 17, 2018

A winter melon is a daunting proposition. It’s huge. The average Chinatown-market melon is around 10 pounds. Bring one home and you’ve got several meals in one giant melon package. Read more

History meets high-rise at Peter Merriman’s new restaurant

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• April 17, 2018

This year marks two milestones for Peter Merriman: the 30th anniversary of his first restaurant, Merriman’s Waimea, and the opening of the first Merriman’s in Honolulu, which opens in June and will have a staff of 120 under executive chef Jon Matsubara. Read more

Curb fennel’s strong flavor by baking into gratin

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• April 10, 2018

Fennel is a white bulb from which emerge several thick stems and fluffy dark green fronds. It is common in Mediterranean cooking; not so much in Asian. It’s high in fiber, vitamin C and other positive nutritional elements, but many people are immediately put off by its strong anise, or licorice, flavor. Read more

Pick your part of this pineapple cake

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• April 3, 2018

This recipe requires time and ambition. It came to me on five pages and at first frightened me, but I have since made friends with it in all of its complexity. Read more

Kelvin Ro’s donation helps keep Culinary Institute on track

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• March 27, 2018

For more than 20 years, chef Kelvin Ro has been a primary fundraiser for the Culinary Institute of the Pacific’s efforts to build a new campus and restaurant on the slopes of Diamond Head. This year, Ro is putting up some cash of his own — $1 million, part of it to be paid directly by him, the rest out of the profits of his business. Read more

A fishing tale from the Fish House

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• March 20, 2018

Mina’s Fish House is billed as a “line-to-table” restaurant that prides itself on ultra-fresh seafood. Read more

Matsubara to lead new Merriman’s

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• March 20, 2018

Jon Matsubara will the executive chef at Merriman’s Honolulu, set to open in June in the new Anaha complex in Ward Villages. Read more

A classic cutlet satisfies those plate-lunch cravings

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• March 20, 2018

Beef cutlet is a dish that comes in many forms. Read more

Merriman’s Honolulu names executive chef

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• March 20, 2018

Peter Merriman has announced the chef who will run his new Honolulu restaurant: Jon Matsubara, aveteran of several high-end Honolulu restaurants. Read more

Korean tradition merges with Irish holiday

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• March 13, 2018

I looked at the calendar and realized St. Patrick’s Day was close, and I looked at the avocados and realized they were all ripe at one time. Putting two and two together, I got: green. Read more

Chef shares North Carolina heritage through cooking

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• March 6, 2018

Chef Vivian Howard hosts the PBS television show “A Chef’s Life,” while Chef Ed Kenney does the same on “Family Ingredients.” Hawaii’s Les Dames d’Escoffier chapter brings the two together this month in Honolulu. Read more

Final respects to Colin Nishida, and a last recipe

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• March 6, 2018

When I inherited this food-writing gig, I also inherited a pile of reader requests. A number were for the pork chops and fried rice at a hideaway I’d never heard of called Side Street Inn. Read more

Founder of Side Street Inn created after-work haven

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• Feb. 28, 2018

Colin Nishida, founder and chef at Side Street Inn, a beloved gathering place for many of Honolulu’s top chefs, died Sunday at age 61. Read more

Grand Restaurant Group dances into Hawaii

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• Feb. 27, 2018

It was a case of right town, right time that made a 79-year-old hotel the launching point for Hula Hulas, a restaurant chain headed for expansion to all the state’s major islands. Read more

Suisan Co. enjoys renaissance with poke’s ascent

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• Feb. 27, 2018

The global poke craze means different things to different people, but for the venerable Suisan Co., it means nothing less than a renaissance of its Hilo Bay waterfront market. Read more

Suisan marks 110 years in business, and counting

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• Feb. 27, 2018

The original Suisan was a fish market founded in 1907 by the Sui San Kabushiki Kaisha hui of 50 Japanese immigrants. One of the members, Kamezo Matsuno, eventually bought out the others, and the company has been in family hands ever since. Read more

Side Street Inn founder dies

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• Feb. 27, 2018

Colin Nishida, founder and chef at Side Street Inn, a beloved gathering place for many of Honolulu’s top chefs, died Sunday at age 61. Read more

Sweet potato, mochi are pretty in purple

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• Feb. 20, 2018

Okinawan sweet potato mochi merges one of the world’s great flavors with one of the world’s great textures. Read more

Hawaii chefs and restaurants are named James Beard semifinalists

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• Feb. 16, 2018

Two Hawaii chefs, a baker, a bar and three restaurants have been named semifinalists in the 2018 James Beard Foundation Awards. Read more

Hawaii chefs and restaurants are named James Beard semifinalists

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• Feb. 15, 2018

Two Hawaii chefs, a baker, a bar and three restaurants have been named semifinalists in the 2018 James Beard Foundation Awards. Read more

Veggie Dog barks about the new year

• By Betty Shimabukuro
• Feb. 13, 2018

Veggie Dog is a scaled-down version of a Prosperity Salad, also called “yusheng” or “yee shang,” part of the new year’s tradition in Malaysia and Singapore. Read more