By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Nancy Silverton of La Brea Bakery cuts into a loaf
as her breads debut at Foodland. Observing are Jodie
Minamishin, director of baker operations, and Richard
Field, owner of R. Field Wine Co.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Ivan Ige retrieves crabs from the boiler at 99 Ranch Market.
Dungeness crab, flown in from Seattle and Vancouver,
may be cleaned and boiled at the market for no extra charge.
The same service is offered for all seafood.
R. Field brings upscale
By Kekoa Catherine Enomoto
gourmet products
to the grocery store
Star-BulletinSlice through the ruddy orange skin of an elephant heart plum into its ruby-red, subtly fragrant flesh. Bite the juicy meat. A sensual burst of flavor spreads over the palate. Such is the transcendent taste adventure now possible at the corner grocery store.
It's the upscaling of Hawaii supermarkets, a la Larry's Market of Seattle and other West Coast stores. Southern California health foods and organics are more evident. Bille-Cart Brut Rose champagne at $55 a pop is down the aisle from cases of cellophane-packaged saimin.
It's entertainment for those who enjoy shelf prowling as much as cooking. Moreover, you can sample to your palate's content.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Swiss chocolate truffles sell for $1.25 apiece at
R. Field Wine Co., now tucked into Foodland's
Beretania Street store.
"We allow our customers to taste within reason anything they want to taste," says Richard Field of R. Field Wine Co., which three months ago teamed up with Foodland, moving into the Bere-tania Street store.Fresh baked La Brea breads of Los Angeles are available starting this week at a baker's dozen of Foodlands: Ala Moana, Beretania, Hawaii-Kai, Kaneohe, Market City, Mililani, Pupukea and Wahiawa on Oahu, and Princeville, Kihei, Lahaina, Pukalani and Kona on the neighbor islands.
Rex Howell-Smith of R. Field says at this month's tasting of La Brea breads, La Brea Bakery's renowned chef Nancy Silverton said "it was the best reaction to a tasting she's ever had -- the sellout of breads, the enthusiasm, the number of people."
The collaboration of specialty store cum supermarket combines upscale foods with the buying/-delivery power of a 50-year-old, locally owned chain.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Seasonal produce such as green and white asparagus
fill the shelves at R. Field.
The TV Food Network may contribute to the fact that finer foods, as Field said, "don't necessarily belong only in Kahala or Ala Moana anymore, everybody expects better quality now."R. Field Wine Co. holds court in a corner of Foodland Beretania. The ambience is one of Liberty House track lighting and Byron's II wine cabinets. Pastels and gold-foiled packaging preside, as in the boxes of Copper River salmon. Cellophane-wrapped gift baskets offer delectable arrays.
And then there are the flavors -- substantial flavors.
"What I really want to see is even the most discriminating chef coming to us for pastry, candy, meats and fruits," Howell-Smith said. "There's no hesitation on my part, if it's inferior we just don't carry it. The goal is substantial flavor and quality.
"I'm very passionate about this, the same with wines."
And, the upscaling is evident throughout the store in veal chops, prime beef cut to order, organic beef, organic milk and organic cheese. Also, shelves of flavored oils and vinegars and specialty sauces, and imported desserts reposing in display cases.
Field feels the impact also; he said he's tripled sales of Nalo Greens at $9 a pound, and doubled sales over his Ward Centre site.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Richard Field, left, and Rex Howll-Smith, both of
R. Field Wine Co., look through a book of wine
and champagne grapes.
His own favorites include four Big Isle products -- Hawaiian Vintage Chocolate, Langenstein coffee, Puna goat cheese and Waimea tomatoes -- plus Nalo Greens and prosciutto of Parma, Italy.Heirloom tomatoes at $5.32 a pound top the favorites of Howell-Smith, formerly a manager for Ritz-Carlton and Hyatt hotels and private chef to the late Doris Duke. His produce preferences also include the elephant heart plums for $2.39 a pound, seedless Concord grapes for $3.96, dried morel mushrooms and the Nalo Greens.
His food favs include exquisite Swiss chocolate truffles at $1.25 each; Delicae Gourmet espresso jelly (micro-melt and drizzle over lamb chops) at $2.99 for a 2.5-ounce jar; Stuzzidea Picante, a tomato-chile "caviar" at $7.99; and his store's selection of balsamic vinegars, olive oils and olives.
Foodies can look for Howell-Smith's hand-picked Italian panettone to kick off the November holiday season. Meanwhile, savor a deep-ruby elephant heart plum and other taste adventures at the corner grocery.
Sample Black Sphinx dates and two wines -- Moscato d'Asti and Vinas del Vero, at this week's free tasting: R. Field Wine Co.
Place: Foodland Beretania
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
99 Ranch Market offers yellow chives for $8.99 a pound.
The Hong Kong delicacy is served up in stir-fries and salads.
Mini Garden Noodle House, the heart of Chinatown, is expanding to the Big White Way of the supermarket. 99 Ranch Market
offers Asian specialties
at rock-bottom pricesFor two dozen years, Mini Garden has offered cheap, satisfying, fast fare during all hours of the day and night at the corner of Hotel and Smith streets. Now the Garden is serving up its cauldrons of boiling, rich broth and miles of thin, Hong Kong-style egg noodles at a satellite site in the food court of 99 Ranch Market -- a harbinger of Chinatown "gone Safeway."
Saturday's opening of Mini Garden Express is a Hawaii manifestation of a Western-states trend. 99 Ranch Market is the largest purveyor of Asian foods in the West, with more than 30 super stores in cities stretching from Los Angeles to Phoenix, the Bay area and Vancouver.
"We are a specialized niche supermarket specializing in Asian foods, especially Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian countries, including Japanese and Korean," said Hiroshi Kobayashi, general manager of Sunrise USA Inc., Hawaii franchisee of 99 Ranch Market.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Duck tongues, not something you'll find at your neighborhood
Safeway, go for $10.99 a pound at 99 Ranch. They're served
deep-fried as a pupu or stir-fried.
To counter aging Chinatowns across the country, "Our concept is to provide cheap, reasonable prices in a very clean, comfortable atmosphere to the public," he said.The largest 99 Ranch Market in Milpitas, Calif., is some 50,000 square feet in area with more than 40,000 square feet of selling space, Kobayashi said.
"We have such buying power; therefore, we can provide the cheapest Oriental food," he said.
Hawaii's 99 Ranch Market is a 40,000-square-foot Mapunapuna warehouse with 450 parking stalls on nine acres of Damon Estate land. More than 30,000 items are offered in the store's 34,000 square feet of selling space.
A far wall showcases an enormous seafood section that would impress even Neptune. Its centerpiece is a busy hub where customers continually choose fresh fish and shellfish, which rubber-booted employees will clean and fry or boil -- for free.
Fish fryer Dennis Kunihisa said Filipino customers queue up with whole Taiwanese tilapia. They bring their own rice (or buy two scoops for 50 cents at the deli), take their freshly fried fish to the adjacent food court, and grind.
99 Ranch Market can go through four cases of tilapia in a day, Kunihisa said, as well as 7 gallons of frying oil every other day. The seafood frying/boiling service operates from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, with peak demand at noon Saturday and 5 p.m. workdays.
Also sought after is fresh Dungeness crab flown from Seattle and Vancouver. The 1-1/2 to 2-pounders jostle for position in huge glass tanks.
"We have all different selections of fish and our price is very good. For example, Dungeness crab is $3.99 a pound. One week we sold 3,300 pounds," smiled Kobayashi, 51, a jovial, baritone-voiced man who giggles in the letter S, as in "S-S-S."
The 99 concept is sheer diversity, at reasonable prices.
"No mattah how fah" she has to travel to get there, a Kalihi woman by the expansive meat cases avowed that 99 prices can't be beat.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
White Leong puts out freshly broiled chicken at 99 Ranch Market.
The meat department features whole black chickens for soup at $7.99 a pound, duck tongues at $10.99 (a stir-fried or deep-fried pupu delicacy), goat at $3.99 and pork neck bones at $1.59.The adjoining produce section offers yellow chives, a Hong Kong delicacy, for $8.99 a pound (good in stir-fries and salads), garlic chives for $3.99 and bittermelon for 99 cents.
Island Fresh produce includes sweet corn at 4 for $1, Williams bananas for 59 cents a pound, Korean daikon for $1.39, taro corms for $1.49 and, all at 99 cents a pound: baby bok choi, choi sum, Korean melon and Chinese red spinach.
Both an on-site bakery and Chinese deli feature Chinatown-style items, such as manapua for 85 cents each, duck feet at 5 for $1, cooked tripe for $2.99 a pound and roast turkey tails at $1.99 a pound, or about 50 cents each.
Grocery items include basil-seed drink (it resembles green fish eggs) at 79 cents a can, jasmine tea at 100 bags for $3.29, chilled Taiwan-made taro buns at $1.79 for 10, tofu noodles for $1.69 and the ubiquitous Coca-Cola at a below-cost $1.99 for a 12-pack.
Roger Chen of Taiwan is board chairman of the 14-year-old parent company, Tawa Corp., based in Buena Park, Calif.
"He feels Hawaii is a very important market," said Kobayashi, a three-decade isle resident who has retained some accent from his birthplace near Kobe, Japan. In Los Angeles, only 20 percent of the population are potential customers, he said, in Hawaii it's more like 80 to 90 percent.
Meanwhile, Mini Garden Express opens with a glassed-in open kitchen tiled in gleaming white, green and burgundy. A noodle chef boils the starchy strands before customers' eyes while they choose from a dozen toppings, such as shrimp won ton, duck roasted over lava stones and opu (pig stomach). Noodles or look fun in soup with one choice costs $3.95; two choices, $5.60.
The name comes from the Chinese word for 99, jiu jiu, which translates to longevity: 99 Ranch Market
