Dining in Hawaii : New Wave of Specialty Cuisine Hits Big Island

Once a week Mrs. Lu hikes a treacherous trail to the bottom of the Waipio Valley to gather fern shoots--luscious, fiddle-headed vegetables used in salads.

On the slopes of Mauna Kea, Nancy Lindsey grows poha berries--tart berries similar to a Cape gooseberry, and combines them with pineapple or papaya to create delectable preserves.

And in the green, eucalyptus-studded countryside of Honokaa, Richard and Laura Spiegel process a delicate white honey from nectar gathered by bees in oceanside kiawe groves.

These entrepreneurs are part of a growing creativity of food and flavor that has hit the Big Island of Hawaii. Encouraged by bright young chefs in the hotels and restaurants along the Kona/Kohala Coast, farmers on Hawaii are growing such specialties as Waimea lettuce and Kamuela spinach in the mineral-rich volcanic soil.

Lamb and veal are organically grown, and abalone is farmed in the waters off the Kona Coast. Long famous for its macadamia nut orchards and Kona coffee plantations, the Big Island is now at the center of an emerging Hawaiian cuisine that combines innovative techniques with the best of locally produced ingredients.

Rave Reviews Earned

Chief exponent of the new cuisine is Peter Merriman, who served a three-year stint as chef at the Gallery restaurant at the Mauna Lani Racquet Club. In December he opened his own restaurant, Merriman’s, in Waimea.

“I describe what I do as American regional cuisine that comes from Hawaii,” he said as workers put the finishing touches to the Hawaiian Art Deco decor of the new establishment. “It’s not the traditional island dishes such as poi and chicken luau. But I take ingredients that are grown here on the island and give them a new twist.”

One new twist that was a favorite at the Gallery and is also served at Merriman’s is wok-charred ahi, an appetizer of fresh tuna, raw in the center and lightly charred on the outside. It was served here before being copied by mainland chefs. Other appetizers are kalua pig pate and pineapple poki --raw tuna marinated in soy sauce and spices and served with pineapple and nori (fresh seaweed).

“They’re growing fresh seaweed here now that is wonderful,” Merriman says. “In fact, the local farmers provide us with almost everything we need--fresh vegetables and herbs. There’s a farmer in Waimea who is raising veal the old-fashioned natural way, and Kahua Ranch is providing me with excellent fresh lamb. And catfish is being raised off the Kohala Coast.”

Four Ways With Fish

Whether it’s mahi-mahi, opakapaka or any of the seafood that is caught locally, the fresh fish of the day can be prepared any of four ways. On our visit the choices were baked in filo and served in a saffron/dill sauce, broiled and served with a fresh tomato/herb sauce, steamed in ginger or sauteed with lemon and capers. Desserts feature such local ingredients as macadamia nuts and fresh coconut. All of the entrees are under $20.

Other chefs on the island are also making the most of Hawaii’s bounty. Daniel Thiebaut, executive chef at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, features local produce in The Garden restaurant, a quietly elegant room decorated with hand-carved wooden bowls from South Pacific islands.

We began with a Waimanu breadfruit soup, similar to a squash soup but smoother and richer. Waimea lettuce was crisp and fresh, and a smoked chicken salad was topped with Mrs. Lu’s fernshoots. Roast loin of wild boar in a pineapple and ohelo berry glaze was flavorful without being overly strong. And Mauna Kea lau-lau, fresh fish flavored with ginger and steamed in ti leaves, was tender, slightly sweet and heavenly.

Dessert highlights were a chocolate haupia , a pudding-like combination of chocolate and coconut, and a strawberry gratin, a creamy concoction layered with fresh strawberries and topped with a passion fruit glaze. Entrees from $20 to $32; appetizers, soups and desserts $4 to $9.

Other hotels along this coast also feature regional specialties. Meals at Kona Village are for resort guests only, but the Friday night luau--one of the best and most authentic in the islands--is open to the public at $46. The Kona Provision Co., in the new amusement park-like Hyatt Regency Waikoloa, serves salads, sandwiches and local seafoods in a setting overlooking the Pacific, from $7 to $14.

Casual Treatment

For a casual treatment of local specialties there’s We’re Talk’N Pizza, a pizza parlor in Kawaihae. Plants and changing art exhibits decorate the room. Started last year by David L. Palmer, a former chef at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, the restaurant features such pizzas as Di Mare, with scallops, bay shrimp, clams and calamari; Greek, with black olives, sweet peppers, feta cheese and wilted spinach, and Al Pesto, with fresh basil pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and eggplant.

Palmer’s wheat flour crust--made with virgin olive oil and local honey--is the best we have had. Desserts--a mango cheesecake and pecan pie--were exceptional. Pizzas cost $4.95 to $9.95 (small), $7.95 to $15.95 (medium) and $11.95 to $21.95 (large).

For breakfast there’s the Terrace restaurant at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel. Order malasadas , deep-fried Portuguese doughnuts that are light as a cloud and habit-forming. They’re served every day but Sunday and Monday when Horio, the malasadas chef, is off. (He won’t share his recipe.)

Or try the Kamuela Bread Depot in Waimea, where local ranchers and business people gather in the morning to drink coffee and devour Georges Amtablian and Louise Belt’s paniolo bread and huge, sticky cinnamon rolls.

Also popular with residents is the Edelweiss, where chef Hans-Peter Hager, who used to work at both the Mauna Kea and the Mauna Lani, serves such German specialties as Wiener schnitzel and roast pork with sauerkraut. Most entrees are under $20. Another former hotel chef, Bree Bernd from the Mauna Kea, has just opened Bree Gardens, also in Waimea.

Most Memorable Meal

Yet of all the meals we had on the Big Island our most memorable was at Teshima’s, a small Japanese restaurant on the side of Highway 11 near Kona. Red lanterns were hung around the room and the sultry air was cooled by ceiling fans. We sat at a formica-topped table decorated with anthurium blossoms and listened as the restaurant’s owner, 82-year-old Mary Teshima, reminisced.

“During the war the American soldiers would come here and I would make sukiyaki for them,” she said. “They were all homesick, and my husband and I were like a second family to them.

“I would write to their mothers on the mainland, and they would write back; of course, we couldn’t mention anything about the war. Now some of the soldiers still come back. They come to the window and say, ‘Is Mary still living?’ Well, here I am.”

Mary, known to everyone as “Granny Teshima,” is about four feet tall and has the energy of a volcano. She sat and talked with us while her granddaughter Trudy brought out plates of sashimi.

“During the war it was difficult to get salt and rice,” Granny said. “I had to give all the rice to my customers, and my children had to eat potatoes. But they learned to like them.”

While listening to her stories we ate some of the best Japanese food we’ve ever had. The sashimi, freshly caught and flavorful, was followed by crisp, light tempura. The flavors in the sukiyaki were rich and the tofu was perfect.

Granny told us the secret of the tofu: “They make the tofu across the street. It’s fresh every day.”

Special Dessert Treat

After we finished the meal, which cost about $15 each, Granny announced that she had a special treat for dessert: chocolate mousse. We were doubtful, but not wanting to appear rude, we said we’d love to try some.

It was incredible--rich, dark, thick chocolate mousse that could hold its own in the finest French restaurant. It seems that a young woman named Jane, one of Trudy’s tennis partners, makes mousse and always brings some by for Granny Teshima to serve.

Recommended: Edelweiss, Kamuela, (808) 885-6800. The Garden, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Kohala Coast, (808) 882-7222. Kamuela Bread Depot, Kamuela, (808) 885-6354. Kona Provision Co., Hyatt Regency Waikoloa, Kohala Coast, (808) 885-1234. Kona Village Resort, Kaupulehu-Kona, (808) 325-5555. Merriman’s, Opelo Road, Kamuela, (808) 885-6822. Terrace restaurant, Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, Kohala Coast, (808) 885-6622. Teshima’s restaurant, Honalo, (808) 322-9140. We’re Talk’N Pizza, Kawaihae, (808) 882-1071. To order: Puukapu Farms ( poha preserves), P.O. Box 243, Kamuela, Hawaii 96743, (808) 885-6896. Volcano Island Honey Co., P.O. Box 1709, Honokaa, Hawaii 96727, (808) 775-0806.