Chef Mavro - Dining Well on Three Courses of Perfect Food & Wine
Gail Jennings
May 2005

A recent dinner at Chef Mavro's revealed a slightly different side to this famed fine-dining venue. Our first visit a few months ago was a major splurge for us and we enjoyed every moment of what was truly a memorable meal. That meal lasted more than three hours; between us we consumed more than a dozen different dishes, an equal number of wines and spent in the neighborhood of $300. It lingers still in our memories as an exceptional experience which expanded our culinary horizons. Thanks to that meal we are now more creative in our own cooking at home and we view ingredients in a more thoughtful manner.

This second visit was at the invitation of Donna Jung, Chef Mavro's PR person and real-life wife of George Mavrothalassitis. She wanted us to try a more affordable (for us and the average consumer) dining option, one which would be comparable in price to what you might pay for three courses plus a bottle of wine at any number of less notable restaurants, but would still give the diner the exceptional experience of Chef Mavro. We gladly accepted the invitation - the menu changes seasonally and they are currently well into their "spring" phase with dishes reflecting produce and food items in season right now. We were excited to again enjoy an evening of fine food, excellent wine and exemplary service.

The differences between our two Chef Mavro visits related primarily to the amount of time we spent at the restaurant and the size of each serving. We were there for under two hours and the portions were regular size instead of the smaller portions served in the multi-course menus. The service was uniformly outstanding. One of the things I like best about Chef Mavro's is that it is not one of those hushed and hallowed dining emporiums where you feel compelled to whisper and the staff is exceedingly formal. Each party of guests are treated with friendly respect regardless of attire, items ordered and number of persons. Surveying the crowd on this visit revealed the same diversity of patrons as our first.

We enjoyed the Three Course Menu ($56 without wine/$78 with 5 oz. wine pairings) which featured a nice range of seasonal ingredients from Hawaii and around the world. Along with everyone else in the restaurant, we started out with crusty country-style bread rolls with a nice sour bite to them and a charming amuse bouche of Hebe sashimi sprinkled with green onions and Hawaiian rock salt accompanied by delicate toasted brioche rounds. This was the same dish we enjoyed on our first visit and I was delighted to be offered it again.

The appetizer was Kahuku Shrimp Provencale Salad of baby spinach sauteed with bacon and Maui onion shavings and garnished with a poached quail egg. The wine pairing was Von Hovel, 2003 Estate Reisling, Mosel Germany. The shrimp was perfectly cooked but what really caught our attention was the poached quail egg. We speculated on how long would it actually take to perfectly poach the tiny eggs? The bacon and Maui onion combined with the liquid egg yolk, greens and shrimp to create a taste treat featuring the best elements of a warm spinach salad enhanced with luscious shrimp. Very nice. As experienced on our first visit, the wine pairing proved to be best when tried with the food. Tasted prior to the appetizer, the wine tasted too sweet but made a perfect match when joined with the food.

Our entree was the currently trendy Kurobuta (Japanese for "Black Pig") or purebreed Berkshire pork. Just as the Japanese developed a method for raising superior beef, they did much the same thing for pork by rearing Berkshire pigs in such a way as to result in wonderfully flavorful and tender meat. The best Ton Katsu in the world is made with Kurobuta and can be found at high-end specialty restaurants in Japan - if you get a chance to try it, don't miss the opportunity. Efforts by U.S. pork producers to create leaner pork has resulted in meat that is frequently tough and flavorless. Hence, I believe, the popularity of Kurobuta which is bursting with juicy meat flavor. But, I digress.

Chef Mavro's take on this wonderful ingredient was inspired. The exterior of the pork loin was very simply rubbed with sage before roasting and served as two medallions accompanied by a coconut-lime sauce, honshemeji mushrooms, glazed pearl onions and tender Jerusalem artichoke with a whimsical garnish of a house made chicarron, or pork rind. The sauce, which just whispered of coconut, was brilliant with the earthiness of the mushrooms and the sweetness of the onions. The artichoke was a solid supporting player and the chicarron, quite literally, added the perfect "crunch." The accompanying wine was a New Zealand Pinot Noir (Sherwood Estate 2004, Malborough) which my partner described as, "more complex than your average Pinot Noir - almost like a baby Cabernet"; that sounds about right to me. It was a fine match for the pork dish.

After feasting on the pork, we were ready to relax and rest for a moment before pressing on to dessert. But, here's the thing, at Chef Mavro's you never get a single dessert. You are always served what I like to call "pre-dessert", regular dessert and petit fours or chocolates to finish. So we really did need that breather. A few minutes later, the pre-dessert was presented and it was a delightful Champagne gelatin containing diced watermelon and bits of fresh mint. So good and completely refreshing.

Next came the wine to accompany the dessert. An intensely sweet Muscat (Paul Jaboulet Aine, 2001 Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, Rhone Valley, France), it was clear that we were going to need the citrus-based dessert to cut through the sweetness which was cloying. Once again, new pastry chef Hiromi Okura displayed her imaginative skills by creating a dense tart-sweet calamansi pudding accompanied by a "cloud" of slightly bitter blood orange with a swoosh of Hawaiian vanilla infused Volcano honey alongside. I told our server he could just bring me a bowl of the vanilla infused honey and a spoon and I'd be in heaven! A final touch was the bits of blood orange on the plate. This dessert truly celebrated the very essence of the citrus ingredients and deftly balanced them with the honey.

Truthfully, the final sweet course was unnecessary after that dessert but we ate it nonetheless. Perfect dark chocolate truffles, butter-coconut mochi and a Matcha green tea cream puff finished the meal. We looked at each other and smiled...it was good.

I am an unapologetic fan of this restaurant and I continue to be impressed by Chef George Mavrothalassitis' respect for ingredients and his philosophy that when the ingredients are exceptional, there is no need to mask, manipulate or overhandle them. This is the essence of elegance - nothing extraneous just pure simplicity that celebrates excellence.

So, the next time you're planning a nice dinner out with your beloved, consider Chef Mavro. Whether you go for the full splurge or the three course menu, you will walk away with a greater appreciation for the art of dining well. Your time and money will be well spent.