Photograph by Mark Kocina
Executive chef Justin Wong prepares a meal at the Hawaiian Pacific Grill on N. Santa Cruz Avenue.
Hawaiian Grill cooks up the piquant flavor of the islands
By Suzanne Cristallo
The "aloha spirit" lives in Los Gatos. Tucked away down a short alley across from Wells Fargo Bank on N. Santa Cruz Avenue, the just opened Hawaiian Grill caters to a hunger in the Hawaiian natives living nearby and locals who have developed a taste in their travels for island regional cuisine.
There's standing room only on busy lunch hours in the small eatery, which once was California Bentos and for a brief time, Tower Pizza. Up to 10 customers can be seated at small tables inside the brightly painted orange and yellow restaurant, or at several tables outside. But, mostly, it's take-out.
Gordon Lam, food coordinator for the grill, says, while the cuisine is very familiar to him, it is fairly new to "mainlanders." He grew up in Honolulu eating the regional food, which consists of lots of fresh fish and salads and traditional "plate lunches" of fish or chicken, a scoop of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad.
"In Hawaii, we're a very diverse people--Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese ..." he says, and the food reflects those many influences.
While raw fish is mostly associated with Japanese sashimi, Hawaiians relish it as well. Lam says the restaurant has plans to bring in ono, a sweet white fish, and opakapaka, a marine fish living in the deep waters around the islands and sometimes referred to as "pink snapper." But, first, there must be customer demand for it. "It's very expensive to bring them here. We require that it be absolutely fresh and don't want any spoilage," he says.
For now, Lam serves sautéed mahi mahi, seared ahi and grilled salmon. "Our mahi is dipped in egg batter, so it's very light and tender," he adds.
Chef Justin Wong brings 20 years of experience in regional cuisine with him from Kauai, where he cooked at the Omoide restaurant in Hanapepe. He's also a diver, and used the skill in Kauai to bring in the kind of fish he hopes to prepare here, such as the opakapaka.
The recipes for the plate lunches, which run $7.95 to $10.95, are Hawaiian. There's Lahaina lemon chicken made with a zesty "secret sauce," beef or chicken teriyaki and also kalbi--beef short ribs marinated in teriyaki sauce for 24 hours before cooking. The accompanying scoop of macaroni salad alongside the rice is mild. "One customer who claimed not to like macaroni salad because it usually is sour and salty, raved about ours," Lam boasts.
There are also chicken and beef kabobs for $4.75 and a variety of such salads as Caesar, Hawaiian Chinese chicken (a darker dressing with a little bite) and a spring mix.
Once a month, the Grill will offer a special of traditional Hawaiian fare which will include lomi lomi salmon, poi, chicken long rice, lau lau (fish or pork steamed in a banana leaf wrap)and haupia, a coconut pudding.
A grand opening is planned by owner Jeremy Wong, who also owns a restaurant in Honolulu and at Hanapepe, Kauai, where Chef Wong (no relation) worked. It begins with a 6:30 p.m. dinner of traditional fare on June 30. Hula dancing commences at 7:30 by the Hula Halau O Pulani, a Santa Clara dance group, accompanied by musicians playing ukuleles, drums and guitars. The alley normally reserved for parking will be blocked off for the event.
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