Camille (and the Food Trucks) vs. HPD

Umami had a retirement luncheon (alas, not his own) to attend today at lunchtime. If not for that, he might have got to see KHON filming this segment:



Hopefully, they can get it all worked out.

Season's Greetings, Umami From

From our Galaxy to Yours, Holidays Happy, Hope you Have!

Elle's Birthday Pizza

Elle enjoyed her first visit to Round Table so much, she wanted to go for her birthday.  So, without further ado, here's Elle's birthday pizza:  Original Crust Italian Garlic Supreme ($21.59 for a medium).  Good stuff.

(Don't you love the background?  That's the color of the table top.)


Round Table Pizza
Enchanted Lake Shopping Center
1020 J Keolu Drive
Kailua, Hawaii  
808-261-4644

2011 Lego Advent Calendar

Umami exhibited poor impulse control while Christmas shopping the other day, picking up not one, but two, 2011 Lego Advent Calendars.  Yes, regression to childhood is now in full swing, but, really, how could he pass this up?

You know you want one . . .

The box says, "Includes Exclusive Yoda Minifigure!"  Yoda in a Santa suit!

Inside, there are 24 separate compartments, one for each day leading up to Christmas.  Where's Yoda?  After 13 days, still no sign of the wily Jedi master.

The top lid folds down, to reveal this scene

There are rebel pilots and wookies:

Space craft:

X-Wing!

And droids:

This IS a droid you're looking for

Umami figures, Lego + Star Wars + 2011 Edition = Collectible = Excuse to buy two.  $43 at Lego Store, so call it entertainment for $2 a day.  You could do worse.

Cold Ginger Chicken Cake Noodle

Sandy, the lady who owned Yuki Lunchwagon, apparently retired earlier this year and passed the reins of her lunchwagon to new ownership.  Now called Golden Bowl, the lunchwagon is on the same site as Yuki's and, for the most part, kept the same menu.

Recently, however, they've been adding new items.  One day, they had a Cold Ginger Chicken plate and a Teri Chicken Cake Noodle plate.  Since you can mix any two items, Umami ordered a mix:  Cold Ginger Chicken and Teri Chicken Cake Noodle.

There must have been a miscommunication, because what he got instead was Cold Ginger Chicken Cake Noodle . . .

Cold Ginger Chicken Cake Noodle

It's an odd mix, but the chicken was fine, and had lots of the ginger and green onion.   The cake noodle, alas, was so-so, hard, and luke warm.  Maybe the chicken cooled it off.  Would be better off just getting the chicken plate.  Maybe next time.

Golden Bowl Lunchwagon
Lauhala Street between Queen's Hospital and Board of Water Supply, on the Ewa side of the street.  It's the one closest to the street.

Quick Pics: Umami's Ornament for Honolulu City Lights 2011

Just a pic of the ornament Umami made for Honolulu City Lights 2011:

Honolulu City Lights 2011 Ornament

Because the theme is "holoholo" (i.e., to go out gallivanting), everyone was to make an ornament using a slipper.  Umami takes his reimagining very seriously, hence this marvel of "what-the-hell-ish-ness?!"

Looking at it now, perhaps Umami was inspired by R.E.O. Speedwagon, who he just saw in concert . .  .?

Inspiration?

It was definitely inspired by Journey's "Infinity" album cover . . .

Inspiration

Regardless, it'll be on one of the trees in the Honolulu Hale Courtyard, December 2, 2011 - January 1, 2012.   Trees are still being set up, but it looks to be a fun set of trees!

Honolulu City Lights 2012
Honolulu Hale and Civic Center Grounds
http://honolulucitylights.org/

Quick Pic: Round Table Pizza

Umami and Elle wandered over to Enchanted Lake for lunch . . . Umami had a craving for a pizza from Round Table, and Elle had never been.

Pizzatatoes - with Olives, Ham, Onions, Jalapenos

First up, Pizzatatoes ($6.25 for four), which are potato skins.  Elle likes potato skins.  It's interesting:  Round Table lets you choose any pizza topping for these, so when asked, Umami and Elle chose Olives, Ham, Onions, and Jalapenos, expecting that each skin would be loaded with all four toppings.  Nope, instead, each skin comes with one of the toppings!  So be warned.  But the skins were fine.

Chicken & Garlic Gourmet

The Chicken & Garlic Gourmet ($14.49 for a small) has chicken (duh!), garlic (duh!), and mushrooms, Roma tomatoes, red and green onions, Italian herb seasoning, three cheeses on a creamy garlic sauce.  From the name, and without reading through all of the ingredients, Umami thought this would be a relatively low fat choice.  It's obviously not.  But it is delicious, and Elle liked it so much that she wants to go back for her birthday.  So they'll be back (and paying more attention to the ingredient lists next time!)!


Round Table Pizza
Enchanted Lake Shopping Center
1020 J Keolu Drive
Kailua, Hawaii  
808-261-4644

Quick Trip Pics: Duran Duran in Vegas

Duran Duran Poster in the Hard Rock

Umami and Elle had a quick jaunt to Vegas for a Duran Duran concert at the Hard Rock and "Frozen Fury XIV," an NHL pre-season game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Colorado Avalanche.  Oh, and there was food, too!

Fix - Pork Prime Rib

Umami had the Pork Prime Rib ($41) with Carmelized Onion and Apple Bread Pudding at Fix (in the Bellagio).  It's two beautiful ribs, with a thin layer of fat, wrapped in bacon, that's cooked to just the right tenderness to preserve the essence of pork flavor (and juices).  Umami's never even heard of such a thing before, but now will visit when he can.  After all, you always get a beef prime rib, but when have you ever had pork?

Fix - Seabass

Elle's Seabass with Risotto, Baby Shrimp, Lobster Broth ($44) was very good.  The fish was nicely crisped on top, and the risotto appropriately creamy.  But because neither Umami nor Elle eat a lot of red meat, the Seabass paled in comparison to the sheer decadence of the Pork Prime Rib.

Simon (front) and John (left rear)

Duran Duran was playing The Joint, which is the concert venue at the Hard Rock.  Umami and Elle were in standing in the pit, maybe twenty feet from the stage.

Simon and John

Umami's favorite Duran Duran song is "Come Undone" . . .

. . . which they played!

Joe's Bloody Mary

Umami's been to Joe's Seafood Prime Steak and Stone Crab many times, but has never tried their Blood Mary.  It's a thick, hearty drink.  Love the shrimp and cocktail olive garnish!

Todd English's Olives is in the Bellagio, in the long shopping corridor called Via Bellagio.  Umami's always wanted to try it . . .

Olives - Breads, Olives, and Two Tapenades (Green and Black Olives)

Olives - Chilean Sea Bass w Risotto and Scallops

Olives -Wild Mushroom Fettucine

Olives - Panna Cotta

Really, a fine meal.  Olives' Sea Bass was a stronger dish that Fix's, with a richer risotto and scallops.  The fettucine appears to be a smallish dish, but is intense and loaded with umami.

Elle had never seen a live hockey game, so was excited to see Frozen Fury XIV, an NHL preseason game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Colorado Avalanche.

Warmups

It basically serves as a home game for the Kings, as their jersey-clad fans drive up for the weekend.  Unfortunately, the Kings went down two early in the first period and never really got into the game.  But there was a fight in the stands and then a big fight on ice late in third period, so Elle got the full NHL experience.  Good fun.

Finally, breakfast at Bouchon, another regular stop for Umami.

Roast Chicken and Waffles

Roasted chicken, bacon and chive waffles, Tahitian vanilla bean butter, maple syrup (for the waffles), sauce chasseur (for the chicken). The waitress explained that the sauce chasseur was like a brown gravy, and, in true local style, Umami wasted no time in deboning the chicken and pouring the sauce all over it . . . soooo good.

So that was Duran Duran in Vegas 2011, a quick, but very fun trip.  Visited some old favorites and, maybe, found some new ones (Hello, pork prime rib!).

Fix
Bellagio
3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South
866.259.7111 or 702.693.8865

Joe's Seafood Prime Steak & Stone Crab
Forum Shops @ Caesars (Las Vegas Blvd End, Street Level)
3500 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 792-9222
JoesLVCS@leye.com
www.joes.net/las-vegas

Todd English's Olives
Bellagio
3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South
866.259.7111 or 702.693.8865

Frozen Fury XV

No date or venue yet . . . but Umami wants to go!  

Bouchon
The Venetian Resort-Hotel-CasinoVenezia Tower (to the right as you face the registration desk)
3355 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
702.414.6200
Reservations can also be made online through OPEN TABLE.

The David Eyre Pancake

The David Eyre Pancake

Umami first ran across this recipe in a collection called "Aunty Marialani's Go Cook 'em," a huge .pdf file of recipes assembled by someone with a great deal of affection for local food and Rap Reiplinger:

The David Eyre pancake recipe came from a Honolulu Star-Bulletin article, "Chef makes entrance with luscious pancake," which in turn cribbed it from Craig Claiborne's 1966 article in the New York Times. 

Umami's been meaning to try it for some time and finally gave it a try one Sunday morning before the early football games.  The recipe is super simple:

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
Pinch of ground nutmeg (Umami didn't have nutmeg, so used cinnamon instead)
4 tablespoons butter (It's a lot of butter . . . can probably be cut down to 2 or 3 tbsp)
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
Juice of half a lemon
Fig or blackberry jam, pear butter or any kind of marmalade, for serving (optional) (Umami says:  you won't need it).

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the flour, milk and nutmeg and lightly beat until blended but still slightly lumpy.

2. Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet with a heatproof handle over medium-high heat.  (Umami used a 12-inch cast iron skillet.)  When very hot but not brown, pour in the batter. Bake in the oven until the pancake is billowing on the edges and golden brown, about 15 minutes.

3. Working quickly, remove the pan from the oven and, using a fine-meshed sieve, sprinkle with the sugar.  Return to the oven for 1 to 2 minutes more.  Sprinkle with lemon juice and serve (with jam if you want, but you really shouldn't, the lemon and sugar are awesome as is).

Serves 2 to 4, though Umami and Elle, armed with a fresh pot of coffee, finished it off with no problem whatsoever.  Very easy, even at 6:30 on a Sunday morning.  Highly recommended.

Quick Pic: Koa Pancake House Fried Rice Loco Moco

Fried Rice Loco Moco

Umami realizes now that is actually a combination of two of his favorite comfort foods: Fried Rice with Eggs Over Easy and Hamburger Steak with Brown Gravy. The memories of childhood had him swooning . . . and then the lunch had him ready for a nap. $7.45 for the whole extravaganza.

Interesting note: There is some attention to seasoning here . . . the gravy had a bay leaf in it!

Koa Pancake House (Hawaii Kai Towne Center)

Koa Pancake House
Hawaii Kai Towne Center (near Ross Dress for Less!)
333 Keahole St.
Honolulu HI, 96825
Phone: 808-396-7000
Fax: 808-396-7799

Conquer, Oppress & Raze - Week 5 Preview

The Teeth won their last two games, defeating Big Island Sausage 162 - 98 and, in a torturous game that went down the final minutes of Monday Night Football, defeating the previously unbeaten 1MOR4ME, 114-106.  It was a costly win, as The Teeth lost wideout Andre Johnson to a knee injury for at least three weeks.  


Net result?  A four way tie for first, with The Teeth standing second.

Team	W	L	T	PCT	GB	Strk	Wks	PF	Back	PA
SpankYouVeryMuch	3	1	0	0.750	0	W2	1.5	552.0	0.0	474.0
Don Meinel's Teeth	3	1	0	0.750	0	W3	1	543.0	9.0	443.0
1MOR4ME	3	1	0	0.750	0	L1	1	518.0	34.0	400.0
Miller Lite	3	1	0	0.750	0	W3	0	418.0	134.0	343.0
Be A Man(ning)	2	2	0	0.500	1	W1	0	460.0	92.0	434.0
Mr. Cheerful	2	2	0	0.500	1	L1	0	456.0	96.0	444.0
da effbombs	2	2	0	0.500	1	W1	0.5	423.0	129.0	444.0
Terrible Teabaggers	2	2	0	0.500	1	L1	0	418.0	134.0	438.0
(Don's Favorite) Big Island Sausage	2	2	0	0.500	1	W1	0	399.0	153.0	468.0
G' lers	1	3	0	0.250	2	L3	0	381.0	171.0	473.0
The Only Dawn/Don That Matters	1	3	0	0.250	2	L3	0	380.0	172.0	497.0
Knuckle Dragging Troglodytes	0	4	0	0.000	3	L4	0	449.0	103.0	539.0
Standings Updated as of: 10/6/11 2:40 AM EST

Week 5 brings the first set of byes for NFL teams.  The Teeth's next opponent is Miller Lite, also 3-1, also riding a three game winning streak:

QB  Ben Roethlisberger

RB  Matt Forte

RB  Maurice Jones-Drew

WR  Brandon Lloyd

WR  Steve Smith

TE  Jared Cook

K  Rob Bironas

D/ST  Chargers

Barring any last minute trades, injuries, changes of heart, or overthinking, The Teeth will have Percey Harvin sub for Andre Johnson; they'll field a lineup of: 

QB  Matthew Stafford

RB  Ryan Mathews

RB  Darren Sproles

WR  Percy Harvin

WR  Calvin Johnson

TE  Rob Gronkowski

K  John Kasay

D/ST  49ers

Should be a good one.