Local Ingredients

I first sampled the cuisine of Chef Ed Kenney shortly after he opened his first restaurant, Town in the heart of Kaimuki about 12 years ago. It was a wine dinner for about a dozen or so diners where Chef Kenney graciously allowed us to bring our own bottles of wine. It was at Town where I first sampled a mixed platter of unique frites or batter coated fried items but unlike the usual calamari, his frite platter included fried long beans, thinly sliced cauliflower and thinly sliced lemon including the peel. The acidity from the lemon along with slight bitterness from the pith cut through the fried batter and refreshed my palate between bites and left a lasting impression in my food memories. Fast forward to October 5^th where we once again sampled the unique, local cuisine of Chef Kenney at the annual Good Table fundraiser for the Lanakila Meals on Wheels program.

Chef Ed Kenney

If you frequented Waikiki in the 1960’s and 1970’s, you may have seen Chef Kenney’s parents – Ed Kenney Jr and Beverly Noa - performing at either the Royal Hawaiian or Halekulani hotels. Thankfully, Chef Kenney took a different path into the culinary world starting with formal training locally at the Culinary Institute of the Pacific culminating with the opening of Town in 2005 then the Kaimuki Superette in 2014, Mud Hen Water in 2015 and Mahina & Suns just last year. And if you are a regular viewer of PBS, you’ll notice that Chef Kenney is starting his second season as the host of Family Ingredients highlighting food cultures in various countries.

Well after Alan Wong and Roy Yamaguchi made Regional Hawaii Cuisine a buzzword but well before the latest generation of local chefs like Andrew Le, Chris Kajioka and Mark Noguchi made a mark on the 50^th’s culinary scene, Chef Kenney quietly stamped his own identity starting with Town. His mantra of “Local first, organic whenever possible, with Aloha always” placed an emphasis not just on purchasing local products whether it was Mao Farms produce, Pono Pork or Kualoa Ranch oysters but also highlighting traditional foods not usually seen on restaurant menus like pa’i’ai (freshly pounded taro root) or ulu (breadfruit). He’s also the only chef in the 50^th who follows the Monterey Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program recommendations which places an emphasis on sustainable and safe seafood and it doesn’t hurt that he’s one of only a handful of chefs who cures their own charcuterie.

Town

Though I thoroughly enjoy the “on the menu” items at Town, one of my most memorable meals was a Whole Hog dinner that Chef Kenney created as a fundraiser auction item for the local culinary programs. It consisted of traditional pork dishes like sausages and pork belly but also included panko coated and fried trotter (pork feet) cakes, pasta made with pork’s blood and grilled pork heart and lardo (cured pork back fat) crostini and dinner concluded with a whole roasted pig head that diners shredded for pig head tacos – a luscious blend of crispy skin and succulent, gelatinous meat! Though that dinner was some 6 years ago, I can still literally close my eyes and smell and taste every single dish.

Then 2 years ago, I attended another special dinner once again created by Chef Kenney using products considered invasive pests in Hawaii. This Invasive Species Dinner featured gorilla ogo – a fatter, faster growing ogo that tends to overwhelm any other seaweed but is just as delicious as thinner ogo used for poke and namasu, wild boar – no explanation needed as I’m sure you’ve already seen these hairy, black ruffians on the side of the road which contribute to avian malaria, ta’ape or blueline snapper which inhabits all of Hawaii’s reefs and mangrove wood. No we didn’t consume the wood but Chef Kinney used slices of mangrove as a base to cook opah (moonfish) the way cedar planks are traditionally used to cook salmon.

Mud Hen Water

Mud Hen Water (MHW) is the literal translation of the street fronting the restaurant. Waialae breaks down to “wai” or fresh water and “alae” or the endangered mud hen which supposedly populated the area before the development of Kaimuki. It sits “kitty corner” to Town (and the Kaimuki Superette sits right next to Mud Hen Water) giving Chef Kenney three restaurants within a one block area. The vibe at Mud Hen Water is a little more casual (though Town isn’t stuffy or formal by any stretch of the imagination) though the menu seems to highlight more local products and new interpretations of ethnic classics like Pig Face and Kim Chi Omelette, MHW’s take on the classic Filipino sisig or chopped, fried and spiced pork head and belly, Yaki o Pa’i’ai or their take on grilled mochi served with shoyu, sugar and nori using freshly pounded taro in place of the mochi or Cold Ginger Rabbit Terrine or a twist on the classic Chinese cold ginger chicken substituting locally raised rabbit. And though I’m not a dessert person, I’ve already “borrowed” their Miso-Butterscotch Rice Pudding creating my own chocolate natto rice pudding with natto caramel sauce for the annual Natto Day dinners… Though I do give Chef Kenney credit for the inspiration.

The Good Table Menu

Amuse Bouche

radish, mint and sesame

beet poke

yaki o ulu

The radish was single bite that perked the palate with the pickled carrot contrasted by the toasted sesame seeds while the beet poke with roasted beets, smoked macadamia nuts, ogo and sesame oil on mashed avocado has been one of my faves since we first dined at MHW and the yaki o ulu simply substituted grilled breadfruit for the grilled pa’i’ai on the usual menu.

Soup

Kauai shrimp canh chua

Like a milder version of hot and sour soup, the broth was rich but not salty with just enough heat to tickle the back of your throat (versus hot and sour which burns the mouth). Since two fellow diners had shellfish allergies, our server actually ran across the street for two bowls of soup that was being served at Town so they didn’t miss the soup course.

grilled whole opakapaka

I’m not sure what the opakapaka was seasoned with but just the fish by itself had a very savory flavor – almost umami-like – that went way beyond grilled fish. It’s almost like the opakapaka was marinated because that savoriness was present in every bite.

Sides

Chinese 5 spice carrots

pohole salad

buttered ulu

hapa rice

The burnt bread sauce served over the carrots was almost like the traditional Sauce Romesco in Spain using old bread, toasted almonds and rehydrated red peppers and would have been my favorite side dish but the buttered breadfruit with black bean, sour orange and cilantro was hearty enough to almost be a vegetarian main course.  And blanched fiddlehead ferns (pohole) are always good.

Dessert

Guava clafoutis with coconut sorbetto

These clafoutis were almost pancake like, like Dutch babies with flecks of guava which paired perfectly with its local fruit partner, coconut.

So once again, we enjoyed another spectacular meal created by Chef Ed Kenney and staff! And though these meals were created as fundraisers for worthy local charities, we also sampled the regular menu items at both Town and Mud Hen Water and they are just as spectacular!