Chef Mavro

Earlier this year, I got interested in gastronomy. Gastronomy is the art of preparing, cooking, and eating good food. I've been following the San Pelligrino Top 50 restaurants in the world, and a bunch of Youtube video on those restaurants have been popping up. I guess it interest me so much that I wanted to see what Hawaii had to offer. There are a few other list that are respectable: AAA and Gayot. Guess what restaurant made both list: Chef Mavro. Being interested in this gastronomy thing, I figured we give it a try. One problem, it was super expensive. A dinner at Chef Mavro can cost up to $400.

I was torn what to do, but we ended up going for the gusto and reserving a table at Chef Mavro. The occasion we were celebrating was our 13th anniversary. 13 years, who knew we would last so long. Our reservation was set at 6:45pm, but we came early in case there was traffic. The restaurant is located on South King Street, not the greatest of locales.

As we entered the parking lot, the valet attendant really didn't do anything. He tried to open our door, but it was last minute. He escorted us to the restaurant which was nearby.

Upon entering, we were shown our seat in an empty restaurant. The restaurant is nice, but not spectacular. It is meant to be a romantic restaurant with low lighting. Our waitress greeted us. Her name was Ahu. She had a box of white truffles to show us, it looked great. Those truffles probably cost $1,000 per pound.

The menu is fixed, but Ahu said it could be flexible. It was obvious that the 6 course menu was the signature, the 4 course didn't look as appetizing. We both chose the 6 course tasting menu, in addition, I ordered the wine pairings.

The third course was Lobster. Apparently Keahole Lobster is expensive and from the big island. The sommelier came and poured some Chardonay 2013 to compliment the butter poached lobster. I tried to cut it with the knife, but it wasn't cutting. I made a mess, but it went in my stomach, so all was good.

Lobster w/ pumpkin agnolotti

The fourth course was supposedly the best course. Lamb with all of these chutney's. I remember an apricot chutney, chick pea chutney, and some other ones. The wine was Doumaine Faury 2013. This course was visually appealing and tasted great.

Lamb w/ chutney's

The fifth course was the most underrated course. The goat cheese was whipped on top of li hing mui granny smith apples. This to us was the most creative dish. Taking a local flavor and pairing it with something different. There was a lot of goat cheese, but after finishing the dish, it made me want more. The wine paring was a 2012 Pinot Noir, my favorite wine.

Fall menu

Our busser offered us bottled water or tap water or as she put it "chilled local water".

The pre first course was the amuse bouche ~ watercress and radish vegetables with mayo and soy. The mayo was made into a form. At first, it didn't appear like a good starter, but it became interesting dipping the peppery watercress with the mayo and soy. Just like at home when we mix mayo and soy, it was a great simple concept by Chef Mavro.

goat cheese w/ li hing mui apples

The pre dessert was a gelee watermelon. This cleaned our palate.

watermelon gelee

amuse bouche

The last course was chocolate from Wailua Chocolate Company. The plate consisted of coffee cream, cardamom ice cream, and thick rich chocolate. It was a great dessert. They also gave us an anniversary cake, white, dark, and milk chocolate all rolled into one.

The sommelier came to the table and presented the first wine. Cheateau Gravas 2011, it appeared to be a sweet white wine. Michelle had a taste and loved it. The Foie Gras Parfait came a little while after. Michelle was thrown back by the taste, it tasted like eating butter. What made it interesting was that it had a sweet gelee on top that resembled jelly. After a while, I didn't like the rich taste of the foie gras, so I asked for extra bread and spread it like butter. It made a lot of sense, just like butter and jelly on toast. Chef Mavro came out at this time, but didn't come to our table. The restaurant was getting pretty busy.

chocolate dessert

foie gras parfait with brioche toast

The second course was Soupe De Rouche. To us, this was one of the best dishes. Onaga finished with a fish broth at table side. The wine pairing was a Domaine Ott 2014, it was a sweet white wine. This was a well put together dishe, it even had saffron in the broth.

anniversary cake w/ gold topping

soupe de rouche with tasty crouton

bill not including tip, we tipped just under 20%

I do say that it was a great tasting menu. The six courses were great. The best was probably the soup or the goat cheese, the worst was probably the foie gras. The wine pairing was great, although pricey at $95. I was red and drunk.

5 Diamond Award AAA - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B686xYP_1YFwM09naWtlb19vdDg

Gayot Top 40 - http://www.gayot.com/best-restaurants/finestrestaurantsusa.html