VINO HAPPY HOUR ”at the bar seats only”…
We are offering a 50% discount on VINO food for those SITTING at the VINO bar from 5:30 to 6:30pm on a first come first served basis. ALL orders must be in by 6:30PM. This Special will be good only when VINO is open for regular business. It is a great opportunity to have a bite to eat instead of fighting the traffic.
“Locally Grown” Menu… @ Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas
Chef Hiroshi Fukui will feature a new “locally grown” menu each month
Sundays & Mondays (only) $35 per person (not including tax & gratuity)
Starting March 7th …
First Course
Sizzlin’ Snapper Sushi
chiffonade ginger, cilantro, tobiko, chili aioli & soy reduction
Second Course
Teriyaki Maui Cattle Beef Springroll
Nalo tender greens, Hau’ula tomato, Big Island hearts of palm with sweet chili vinaigrette
Main Course
Panko Crusted Mahimahi
garlic chips, cilantro, fettuccine & saikyo miso-kim chee sauce
Sweet Course
Vanilla Roasted Pineapple Carpaccio
dulce de leche ice cream
Call now for reservations and be sure to mention that you are having the
Locally Grown Menu to ensure we don’t run out!
UPCOMING EVENTS…
Tuesday March 16th—Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas Contemporary Kaiseki
Wednesday, March 3rd “Winetasting at VINO” 6:00PM
Here are some really cool wines from a handful of winemaking revolutionaries from around the Mediterranean basin. Each is really creating quite the stir. We have worked very hard to get these wines & hope you enjoy them.
2006 MAXIME MAGNON “La Demarrante” (France)
“Magnon is the southern Foillard. The wine’s fruit is delicious, lovely and deep. It is not inky, alcoholic, or torturously tannic. There is a lot of wine in the wine, and every moment is created to please. You have an impression of little wild berries giving their all, and an incredibly silky texture.”
Kermit Lynch
2008 GRAMENON “La Sagesse” (France)
100% Grenache from organically farmed, 60 year old vines. This is as pure & delicious a southern French wine as we have run across. We should nickname this winery as “Au Naturale Central….for their passion & dedication of producing wines as naturally as possible”.
2006 DUPERE BARRERA “Tres Longue Maceration” (France)
Harvested by hands, stomped by feet, manual wooden press, no imported yeasts, no irrigation/chaptalization/acidification/fining or filtration. Never even pumped! Nothing but a blend of Syrah, Cabernet, Carignan, and Mouvèdre from Provence. Raised two years in barrel, bottled by gravity flow when the cycle of the moon was right. Kermit Lynch
2007 NUMANTHIA “Termes” (Spain)
One of the new hotshots from Spain. Their meteoric rise to superstardom was really fueled by their selection at the Top of the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 wines a couple of years back. This is no flash in the pan.
2004 TOMMASO BUSSOLA Amarone della Valpolicella (Italy)
Here is the latest winemaking phenom of Italy’s Veneto wine region. Ripe, highly glycerol, but NOT
over the top.
There you have it….five wines….two ounces each, $45 a person (not including tax or gratuity).
By Reservations only….533-4476 or email Nicole nmadosik@dkrestaurants.com
Come join us for this unique wine adventure.
Thursday, March 11th “Farmer’s Market Dinner”
seating starts at 5:30 PM—individual tables
VINO Chef Keith Endo has been going to the KCC Farmer’s Market the past few weeks. He & DK Kodama have been cookin’ away, using the Hawaii Ranchers Hawaiian “Red Veal”. It is an effort to help brand this high quality, more natural minded, locally raised product.
In between, Keith found a bunch of terrific, locally grown products from a handful of small, mom & pop farmers. So, here is his chance to show them to you all. To make it even more fun, Keith invited DK Steakhouse chef, Jason Miyasaki to come down to cook a couple of courses as well. So, we will present the Keith & Jason Show….featuring homegrown produce & homegrown culinary talent.
Appetizer
Local Snapper Carpaccio
Hau’ula tomato, Maui onions, Kahuku sea asparagus, micro cilantro & local citrus ponzu
Salad Course
“Everything in the Garden Salad”
Big Island hearts of palm, Kahuku corn, Ho Farms grape tomatoes, Maunawili greens, Nalo Farms baby bok choy, Kahuku japanese eggplant, Pit Farms baby organic carrots, Skinny Cow feta cheese & more
Fish Course
Steamed Big Island Butterfish
Hiraoka Farms broccoli rabe, Nalo Farms yellow potato gnocchi, Ewa sweet corn salsa, roasted Hau’ula tomato vinaigrette & Ma’o Farms organic cilantro pistou
Entrée
Hawaii Ranchers Hawaiian Red Veal Cheek
Ma’o Farms organic rainbow chard, sun-dried Hau’ula tomato,
Hamakua mushroom risotto, & rosemary jus
Dessert
Frankie’s Nursery Fruits
$45 a person (not including tax, gratuity or wine).
Reservations will be taken….533-4476 or email Nicole nmadosik@dkrestaurants.com
Otherwise, this special dinner will be offered on a first come, first serve basis,
in addition to the regular VINO menu.
Thursday, March 11th “Winetasting at VINO” 6:00PM
Star Paso Robles winemaker Hilary Graves comes to VINO!
As VINO regulars know, we are HUGE fans of the incredible wine movement happening in the sleepy town of Paso Robles. There is a growing group of new age winemakers growing a wide assortment of Mediterranean inspired grape varieties in the limestone laden hills & then fashioning some very tasty, interesting & unique wines. We are thrilled one of these winemaking phenoms will be joining us in VINO on this night…….Hilary Graves of Graves Winegrowers. As you will see her wines are tasty, provocative AND very elegant & classy. Her red wines are actually black, yet incredibly UN-heavy & suave. Amazing!!!!! She will be bringing her new, not yet bottled Grenache Blanc & a fabulous Mourvedre based pink wine for us to try, in additional to 3 of her stellar 2006 red wines. We love her wines & think you will too.
There you have it….five wines….two ounces each, $35 a person (not including tax or gratuity). By Reservations only….533-4476 or email Nicole nmadosik@dkrestaurants.com
Wednesday, March 17th “Winetasting at VINO” 6:00PM
“Big Red” was such an incredible night!!!! Thank you Bruce Liebert for the suggestion. There was, however, one question left unanswered…..why was there no Cabernet? So…..here we go again….BIG Red night, “the Sequel” (inclusive of Cabernet).
So….here is how we will look to change it up a bit. We will again taste five wines…..but this time BLIND. Hopefully this will provide some very different insight to everyone Here is the line up……
2004 BEHRENS & HITCHCOCK “Everything but the Kitchen Sink”
Here is your chance to experience the mastery of superstar winemaking maestro Les Behrens.
It took us over 10 years to get his wines to the Islands.
2004 SELENE “Chesler”
This is one of the very best wines made by one of our absolute favorite winemakers, Mia Klein. Mia’s career has spanned at least 5 decades in a male dominated wine arena & includes consulting for such trophy wines as Viader, Dalla Valle & Araujo. Here is her VERY own.
2005 RELIC “Artefact”
I first met owners Mike Hirby & Schatzi Throckmorton at Behrens & Hitchcock (where she is still General Manager). Relic is THEIR own wine…as they put it “Modern wines the old way”. Here is one of the first we were actually able to get…..60% Cabernet, 30% Petite Verdot & 10% Syrah (for pizzazz). This is certainly one to keep an eye out for.
2001 ANAKOTA Cabernet Sauvignon “Helena Dakota Vineyard”
The Helena Dakota vineyard stands 750 feet high in between Mount St. Helena’s two grandest peaks. This 12.4 acre Knights Valley “mountain” vineyard possesses slopes up to 15 degrees. One can certainly taste this is a “mountain grown” wine.
2004 LEGACY
the goal here is to combine boldness with elegance, using ultra premium Sonoma born fruit, including Stonestreet’s much heralded Alexander Mountain fruit. This sure gets a lot of press & accolades!
There you have it….five wines….two ounces each, $45 a person (not including tax or gratuity). By Reservations only….533-4476 or email Nicole nmadosik@dkrestaurants.com
Wednesday, March 24th “Winetasting with Van Williamson” 6:00PM
Mark your calendars. Vanimal is coming to VINO. As regulars well know, there is NO ONE like Van. He is truly one of the “larger than life” characters of the Californian winemaking scene. PLUS…his Zins are really good…….wild, hearty & full of character, like him…….& so soulful….like few others can even hope to achieve. It is by no mistake that these wines truly stand out. There is something really magical about this winery’s culture…..from the vineyards to the Van himself, which all have a real Old World-ness about it all, in every phase.
“Edmeades is pure Mendocino: intense, challenging, out of the box. It may be just across the Sonoma County border, but a totally different state of mind prevails. To capture the soul of these cool, rugged vineyards, our approach is traditional and our methods decidedly low tech. We believe in doing things naturally: native yeast fermentations in small open-top bins, hand punchdowns, minimal manipulation, no fining or filtration. The simplicity of our methods allows the soil and climate of each site to be clearly articulated in our wines”.
We have been eagerly awaiting the release of their 2007’s. Avid wine-ers have read about what a sensational vintage this truly is for California…& we are most thankful to Van & his local connection, Michael Hopkins for this opportunity to see first hand.
It all makes for a VERY special evening. Here is the line-up…….
2007 Zinfandel “Perli Vineyard”
Planted at 1500 feet elevation, 10 miles from the ocean, this is certainly one of the steepest, most radical vineyards I have seen (as much as 60%)…comprised mainly of rock.
2007 Zinfandel “Shamrock Vineyard”
This absolutely breathtaking 2.1 acre parcel is perched at 2800 feet above the fog-line. The resulting wine’s youthful bravado makes this a powerhouse of intensity & character.
2007 Zinfandel “Pfiffero Vineyard”
Planted in the 1930’s, this vineyard gives its Zin such incredible exotic, rose petal perfume along with rich, bordering unctuous, ultra-ripe fruit with an almost surreal mouth-feel. Quite the experience.
2007 Zinfandel “Zeni Ranch”
Planted in 1917 high up the Mendocino Coastal Ridge, 5 miles from the ocean. Zeni is always a “dark, brooding beast of a wine with layers of Old World funk”.
2007 Zinfandel “Ciapusci Vineyard”
Planted at 1800 feet elevation back in 1878, this is one of the area’s oldest vineyards & generally yields less than 1 ton per acre naturally. In addition the vines get continuously pounded by the cold, powerful winds gusting in from the ocean 5 miles away. There is magic in this wine. It is one of those special bottlings one should experience at least once.
There you have it….five wines….two ounces each, $45 a person (not including tax or gratuity). By Reservations only….533-4476 or email Nicole nmadosik@dkrestaurants.com
Wednesday, March 31st “Winetasting at VINO” 6:00PM
People ask me all of the time….when do you schedule winetastings? The simple answer is….when I have collected the right group of wines which will provoke some kind of thought to the participants. We really want tasters to walk away having experienced something worthy of experiencing. Sounds simple, but it really isn’t… there are months with no tastings. Lately though VINO has been having a lot of tastings, & that’s because we have been fortunate to find some really cool wines. Here is the latest.
The theme for this one is the Grenache grape variety. Over the years, really good Grenache based red wines have been far & few in between. This grape REALLY needs to be challenged in the vineyard for it to produce an interesting wine….rather than just a lush, VERY fruit driven example. Here is a line up of 5 worth checking out……
2006 KENNETH-CRAWFORD Grenache “Larner Vineyard”
Larner Vineyard is one of 2 Californian vineyards which have shown the great potential Grenache has in California. New age Pinot specialists Joey Gummere & Mark Horvath have crafted a very elegant, suave, delicious rendition which will lead off this flight.
2007 VILLA CREEK Garnacha “Denner Vineyard”
the limestone hillsides of Denner Vineyard in Paso Robles is the other vineyard whose Grenache also really stands out. Here is the heralded 2007 from Chris Cherry & his highly acclaimed Villa Creek project.
2005 ALTA MARIA Grenache “Nielson Vineyard”
Most people have not heard of this surprisingly low keyed winery. Cheryle & I ran across it one year at the Hospice de Rhone Wine Festival upon the recommendation of Chad Melville. We were WOW-ed. Winemaker Paul Wilkins, despite doing stints at Alban (& its hedonistic styled wines), chose instead to crafted a much more elegant, refined, classy style. ALL 44 cases of it.
2008 DOMAINE GRAMENON Cotes du Rhone “Laurentides”
One of the hottest, new winemaericks in southern France. Their 1000 feet elevation, old vine parcels are planted in calcareous clay soil. The domaine is the reference point in the south of France for biodynamically grown wines made with minimal intervention and minimal sulfur. Traditional, natural vineyard methods are used: winter plowing, laying bare the roots of the vines in spring, mowing of weeds, applications of compost and steer manure. No chemical herbicides are used. Crops are voluntarily limited in order to obtain wines with more character. This is Grenache in its purest form.
2006 DOMAINE CHARBONNIERE Chateauneuf-du-Pape “Vieilles Vignes”
This is a real showstopper! A brooding, soulful, yet majestic & classy, old vine red. WOW!
There you have it….five terrific wines….two ounces each, $42 a person (not including tax or gratuity). By Reservations only….533-4476 or email Nicole nmadosik@dkrestaurants.com
Now On to Wines…
Someone recently asked why we change the wines by the glass so often. The answer is to try & experience the WORLD of wines. If we change two wines a week, that means 104 new wines to try for the year. That is, after all, the fun part of it all…..isn’t it?
2007 FILLABOA Albarino NEW By The Glass
Spanish Albarino’s are really starting to become popular across the country. The very best we’ve run across is the Fillaboa from Rias Baixas near the Portuguese border. We love Fillaboa’s striking, riveting minerality coupled with its wonderful floral nuances. We also love how fresh & alive this white is on the palate……which by the way makes it ideal for the VINO dinner table.
2005 CASTILLO LABASTIDA Rioja “Crianza” NEW By The Glass
Rioja is a standout appellation for world-class Spanish red wines. As is the case in other regions, Rioja can come in many different styles. Here is your chance to sample a delicious, casual, food friendly rendition……one we think is most apropos with VINO & its foods.
2007 NUMANTHIA “Termes” NEW By The Glass
Here is another chance to sample a Spanish red wine. Numanthia is the icon of the Toro appellation, which is situated in the North West of Spain in Castilla y Leon region, close to the Portuguese border and crossed by the River Duero. This is a hotter than hot, fabulous, contemporary Spanish red, who has had a meteoric rise to superstardom in just a few years. It seems like only yesterday, the 2005 Numanthia Termes was selected # 1 in The Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines. Mega-intense & concentrated, this is a REAL black thoroughbred, well worth checking out.
VINO Wine of the Month
(price good for March only)…
2004 SELENE “Chesler”--$85
One of my all time favorite winemakers from the Napa Valley is Mia Klein. Her illustrious career has now spanned at least five decades AND her wines are better than ever! To put this in better perspective, think about how many of her contemporaries have either retired, fallen by the wayside or passed away. Furthermore, she has done all of this as a female in a very male dominated arena.
Mia’s most special attribute is undoubtedly her character, and I strongly believe her wines reflect that. Although she has made quite a reputation for her Selene label via a top notch Sauvignon Blanc and a truly superb, incredibly elegant, well-textured Merlot, for me her crowning jewel is the Chesler bottling. It is a VERY elegant, highly refined, seamless Cabernet Franc based Napa Valley red and here is the stellar 2004.
I am always so astounded how a supremely gifted winemaker like this gets so little accolades & acclaim even though she has consulted for BIG name-ers like Spottwoode, Araujo, Viader & Dalla Valle. Her work is a HUGE reason for their world wide acclaim & resulting success! Well, this is her own project & something well worth checking out. I believe she & her wines are the REAL deal and this wine should show you why. Then, compare what you are getting in terms of quality & price to all of the other high profile Napa Cabs….You will be amazed!