CHEW ON THIS
Restaurant Report

Burgerland
quietly reopens

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By Betty Shimabukuro
betty@starbulletin.com

Depending on your perspective, this is what has happened at the corner of Campbell and Monsarrat avenues in Kapahulu:

>> Burgers are being served again at the Burgerland drive-in site.

>> Or Kelvin Ro, chef/owner of Kahala Moon, is back in the restaurant biz. This means the Moon's ultrapopular portobello mushroom is back, too.

The Grill opened without public notice last weekend, but given its highly visible location (and a large "Now Open" sign), it was quickly discovered.

"We don't have time to, like, practice," Ro says. "We're so discombobulated."

Ro's Kahala Moon closed two years ago, and Ro went on to a position with Kapiolani Community College's culinary program.

He says he conceived of the grill partly at a student's suggestion that a restaurant be opened near KCC where recent graduates could polish their skills before seeking jobs in the larger world. His 10 employees are recent graduates and current KCC students.

The menu is basically char-broiled sandwiches and a few plate lunches. He'd wanted to stick with sandwiches, "but people want their plates; they want their rice."

Standards such as teriyaki chicken, steak and burgers are offered, but also ahi steak with wasabi sauce, grilled chicken on foccacia, grilled vegetables with pesto and the portobello, as a burger.

Ro says he wanted to follow up the upscale Kahala Moon with a more casual, grill-oriented restaurant. "I just think grilling is healthier than frying, and the concept has healthier alternatives."

The Grill is only Part 1 of Ro's plans for the site. In October he plans to open a gourmet market featuring fresh seafood, a bakery and Hawaii-grown produce. Prepared foods will be sold, to be grilled or stir-fried at home.

The Grill is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Call 732-0077.

Academy food and wine fest

The Honolulu Academy of Arts' annual Showcase food and wine festival takes place 6 to 8:30 p.m. next Sunday in the academy courtyard.

Guest chefs are Mike Nevin (of the academy's Pavilion Cafe); Roy Yamaguchi and Ronnie Nasuti (Roy's); Alan Wong, Lance Kosaka and Mark Okumura (Alan Wong's); Ivan Pak and D.K. Kodama (Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar); Hiroshi Fukui (L'Uraku); Chai Chaowasaree (Chai's Island Bistro); Wayne Hirabayashi (Kahala Mandarin Oriental); Darryl Fujita (Halekulani); Cyrus Goo (Cafe Laufer); Philippe Padovani (Padovani's Restaurant); and Doug Lum (Mariposa).

Tickets are $75, to benefit children's art programs. An art sale and auction are also part of the event. Call 532-6099.

Sake session scheduled

A sake sommelier will guide diners through the intricacies of this Japanese wine at a sake-pairing dinner, 6 p.m. Aug. 21 at the Momoyama restaurant in the Sheraton Moana hotel.

Sommelier Hiromi Iuchi is with the Sake Service Institute, which imports and promotes the brew.

The nine-course menu includes beef shabu shabu, buta kakuni (marinated pork), broiled butterfish and bara sushi (seafood and vegetables on sushi rice).

Sakes to be poured: Ai San San Ken, Minowamon, Shoin, Ohtouka and Ginkobai Plum. Cost is $45. Call 931-4678.

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