town - Impressed and Frustrated, yet Hopeful
Gail Jennings
January 2006

[March 2007 Update: The service problems I addressed in this review from more than a year ago have largely been solved. While there might be the occasional bobble, these are now the exception. The restaurant has settled into its rhythm and vibe demostrating its unique spot in the Honolulu dining scene. Subsequent visits have made this restaurant one of my personal favorites thereby earning the HawaiiDiner.com designation "Our Favorites". Oh, and that less than appetizing breakfast, that's history too. All in all, town has evolved in the best possible way and I can happily recommend it.]

My description in the headline above captures the range of thoughts I had over the course of my meals at town, acknowledged by local food writers and food lovers as the 'hot spot' in Honolulu's current dining scene. From the day they opened their doors several months ago, they have garnered almost universal acclaim from local restaurant critics. The one exception was John Heckathorn whose statement in his review, "I hated it!" was cleverly parlayed by town into an advertisement in Honolulu Magazine juxtapositioned against written kisses from reviewers Lesa Griffith, Nadine Kam and Helen Wu. Early on I made a decision not to write about town until some of the fervor died down. Well, as one of two recipients of the 2006 Hale Aina award for "Best New Restaurant," the fervor is still going strong and I decided that I really should go see what's up.

Over the past few weeks I've eaten lunch, breakfast and dinner and stopped by for coffee at town. The one point that stands out from the myriad of details which I could share is that when they get something right, it's absolutely brilliant. When it works, it's some of the best food you can eat in Honolulu today. Conversely, when it doesn't, it is downright awful and that impression is magnified by the contrast with the good. And, there is an ongoing issue with service.

The best way I can describe it is thusly: town is like the sportscar you've always coveted and then, one lucky day, you get it only to discover that it's missing a door - it's still a great car but there is that missing door.

What was the best food? There were several: a side dish of bitter greens, golden raisins and pine nuts sauteed in olive oil with lots of garlic; slow roasted pork shoulder with soft polenta served in a large bowl which was so good I literally wanted to crawl into the bowl and immerse myself in the creamy richness, and salt cod brandade fritters with a malt vinegar mayo which were perfectly light, flavorful and worthy of praise. Soups are also a strong point for town and the carrot-coriander was delicious and lovely to behold, gently shimmering golden-orange in the bowl. And, I cannot fail to mention the absolutely fabulous job they do with french fries. Cut in shoestring style with the skins on and deep fried along with a variety of herbs like rosemary, thyme and basil - they are the best fries ever. Another excellent choice was the grapefruit-campari sorbet which is nowhere near as tart as one would think and completely refreshing.

The worst? Easily the breakfast we had one Saturday morning. Having had an interesting and tasty lunch there earlier in the week, my elevated expectations were not unreasonable. Without going into laborious detail, we ordered several items (see the items and more details in the photos) and none of them were anywhere near as good as what you'd find at Denny's. An example was the frittata, which featured fingerling potatoes and sun dried tomatoes, but there was nary a tomato to be seen. Never mind that it was dry, tasteless and unappealing. At this point I would not recommend visiting town for breakfast other than for the excellent illy brand coffee. Hopefully, they'll upgrade the quality and presentation of the food.

What about the service? Here again there is good and bad. It depends somewhat on who you get. A young lady who was serving us at lunch and during the disastrous breakfast did a good job. She was cheerful, attentive and graciously answered all of our questions. Then there is one glowering staff member that harbors some sort of hostility towards customers literally grimacing and snorting when asked for something as simple as pepper. He evidently didn't get the memo sharing the restaurant's philosophy of "...with aloha always!" And, finally, there was the young man who served us at dinner who, while pleasant to interact with, clearly hadn't a clue, forgetting several items and going missing in action more than once.

Just one example. After we ordered dessert, a medjool date and brown butter tart with mascarpone cream, we waited nearly half an hour. We believe he forgot as he kept looking at our table with this look on his face of "Why are they still here?" At some point he realized the error and came over to say they were working on it and it would be right out. Several minutes later he proudly presented a dish and told us he was sure we'd enjoy the salted pineapple. We told him that that wasn't a date tart and he asked "Are you sure?" It was actually quite comical as we pointed out that he had brought us the Hawaii Kai vanilla bean custard cake with salted pineapple. Finally, several more minutes passed and we received the tart which was good enough to make us forget the missing door - almost.

By way of contrast, I offer service experiences at the other "Best New Restaurant" winner of the 2006 Hale Aina award, Shokudo. Early on the reviews talked about uneven service from a disoriented and forgetful waitstaff. By the time we went there the service was very good and two subsequent visits with very large groups demonstrated service that was firing on all cylinders. And this is in a restaurant easily four times the size of town. If they can get their act together, so can town.

I have thought a lot about town and find myself torn about how to express how much I like it, how hopeful I am that they will be successful over the long haul and still be honest. There is a fine line I feel restaurant reviewers walk when they feel an emotional tie to a restaurant which can inhibit writing accurately about the dining experience. I spoke with a couple of writers and one told me frankly that they don't even mention service because this is Honolulu. I vehemently disagree with this, as I believe there are places here that offer excellent service and you can't just give a restaurant a pass on this aspect of a meal - particularly at this price point. Our lunch was $40 (for two), breakfast was $31 (for two though we ordered enough for three) and dinner was $85 (for two) without wine and before tip. [Editor's note: town recently got their liquor license but it might be a short while before they switch over from their present BYOB status. Call before you go.]

Part of the motivation to gloss over the not-so-pleasant details is the desire to see a restaurant which is doing something different make it in a place where our mid to fine dining range has been dominated by restaurants serving Asian and Hawaii Regional Cuisine. I am definitely in the camp favoring more diversity in our choices and willingly spend hard earned money to support such places.

To his credit and at what must be a detriment to his bottom line, chef/owner Ed Kenney is spending a great deal of money on quality ingredients and he purchases whatever he possibly can from our local producers of vegetables, fruits and meats. The menu changes daily and I know that this is not an easy thing to do and hit the sweet spot every time. Frankly, I can forgive the food bobbles but I don't understand the front of the house problems.

Regardless of the problems with service and the caveat about breakfast, town is well worth a visit. And, if they can find that missing door and put it on, there is no limit to how far they can go.

town
3435 Waialae Ave
Kaimuki, Honolulu
735-5900