I’m sure you have either sampled Hank’s Haute Dogs or at
the very least have heard about his gourmet encased meats. After all, Hank’s
Haute Dogs did make an appearance on The Food Network’s Diners, Drive Inns and
Dives, the Travel Channel’s Man Vs Food and the Cooking Channel’s Unique Eats along
with regular appearances on local food blog videos. But in case you’re just
emerging from your underground apocalypse shelter, Henry Adaniya or Hank first
made a name for himself in the 1990s in the Windy City with a ground breaking
fine dining restaurant called Trio which launched the careers of many celebrity
chefs including Gale Gand and Rick Tramonto, Shawn McClain and Grant Achatz.
Then after a 12 year run, he closed Trio in 2006 and moved to the birthplace of
his parents’ right here in the 50th. Then he proceeded to do exactly
what his parents did in Waikiki before they relocated the family Stateside,
sell hot dogs. But not just any hot dogs but haute dogs.
Haute Dogs
You can get your haute dog fix seven days a week between
10:00am through 3:00pm plus a “Hankfast” on weekends between 10:00am through
12:00pm, the only time you can order his Breakfast Dog, Ice Coffee Whip and
Breakfast Fries which are decadent French fries topped with sautéed garlic,
green peppers and onions, cheddar cheese, a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce.
A bit messy to consume but worth every calorie! But in the evening, he puts
those dogs to sleep for some haute cuisine.
The Good Table
For the past several years, Hank’s Haute Dogs have
participated in the Lanakila Meals on Wheels “The Good Table” event whereby
multiple restaurants “sell” tables on the same night with proceeds benefiting
the Meal on Wheels program to feed the elderly. Initially Hank recruited up and
coming local chefs to prepare gourmet meals in his hot dog kitchen but over the
past couple of years, Hank has been preparing these meals with his Haute Dog
staff. And over the years has expanded his Good Table from just 8 diners up to
the current four tables of six. But that still means just 24 diners get to
sample his non hot dog fair just once a year. So over the past year, he’s
offered monthly Diner (pronounced dee-neh for the French word for dinner)
changing the theme every 3 months from Italian to French to Mediterranean but
once again, these non-dog dinners were limited to 24 diners once a month –
better than once yearly but still leaving many diners out in the cold since
they would sell out the day of release. And he did have to put these Diner on hold
when he moved right next door to his new location. But as of last month, he restarted
his Diner selling 2 tables of six on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and also
plans a DinerWich placing the “Diner” protein in sandwich form for take-out or
consumption on his outside picnic tables. Hopefully, the 36 seats per week
along with DinerWich will satisfy the cravings for haute cuisine ala Hank.
The Trial Run
Since we’ve been supporting Hank’s non-dog effort since
their inception, he decided on a trial run of his Diner just to iron out the
bugs working in his new kitchen and space and invited us as “guinea pigs”… For
the record, I’m always up for being a guinea pig where food and wine is
involved. His Diner Italia menu looked like this:
Tomato and
Mozzarella
basil, sherry
vinaigrette
Spaghetti
Carbonara
Parmesan, egg,
pancetta, garlic
Braised Pork
Marsala
slow cooked 'Osso
buco' style, polenta fries
Espresso
Chocolate Cheesecake
BYOB Wine
suggestions:
Albana,
Trebbiano, Pinot Bianco, Barolo, Sangiovese, Pinot Noir
Since Hank’s Haute Dogs currently doesn’t have a liquor
license, the dinners are BYOB and Hank does provide a large ice bucket to keep
your chilled beverages cold. Hank also lists wines he feels would complement
the meal so you’re not left guessing. Real silverware and standard place
settings are utilized including one wine glass for those enjoying vino with
their meals.
Our meal started sliced baguette with a red pepper spread
similar to a Romesco sauce along with black olives. We then progressed to the
Tomato and Mozzarella salad with sliced cherry tomatoes with coarse shaved
mozzarella in a tangy vinaigrette. The pasta course in the form of Spaghetti
Carbonara followed – I thoroughly enjoyed Hank’s rendition as most carbonara
includes cream or milk as part of the sauce but Hank’s sauce was simply the egg
and rendered pancetta fat and olive oil. The final savory course was very
tender Braised Pork Marsala – I would say it was falling off of the bone but
these loin cuts were boneless to begin with but could easily be shred just with
the tines of the fork and the tomato Marsala sauce was divine on its own. And
his polenta fries were the best rendition I’ve sampled thus far. He said the
addition of cheese to the polenta helped give it a crisper exterior while still
maintaining the fluffy interior. And the Mrs. enjoyed his Espresso Chocolate
Cheesecake so much, she asked for one to take home (since I finished mine) to
which Hank obliged.
Since it was the inaugural Diner in his new location, I
made a Sourdough Rosemary Focaccia for Hank which he served with the pork
entrée. Of course, I didn’t know that local bread maker extraordinaire Chris Sy
(who is opening his own boulangerie in Kaimuki) would also be dining along with
local celebrity chef Russell Siu of 3660 on the Rise. It was reminiscent of a
wine tasting several years ago where I brought my sourdough loaf to Vino and
shared it with winemaker Bruce Neyers and his wife Barbara then later found out
that she managed and cooked at Chex Panisse alongside Alice Waters. I guess to
test your own cooking skills, you have to serve it to the best…
Getting Your Own
Diner
For starters, subscribe to Hank’s Haute Dogs mail list on
his website. His Diner for the month of March will focused on Diner Italia but
the April events will be Diner Provence. As you read this, we probably will
have already reserved our table for April and you should too. Tables of six are
$210.00 plus a $12.54 charge on Eventbrite.
Hank’s Haute Dogs
324 Coral St
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 532-4265
Monday – Sunday 10am – 3pm
Hankfast Brunch
Saturday & Sunday 10am – 12pm
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