Formaggio

Quick pau hana the other day at Formaggio Wine Bar in Kaimuki.  You can tell it's a wine bar because the menu has four pages of wines, plus daily wine specials, and one page of food, with a couple of daily specials.  One thing that's kind of fun is that you can basically make your own tasting flights with any of the wines on the menu, because they do 2 oz tastes in addition to 6 oz pours.  So Umami tried the "Interesting Whites," described as follows:

• Hugl, Gruner Veltliner ~ Niederosterich, Austria 2007 Gruner Veltliner is the flagship grape of Austria marked by it’s crisp acid and slight white pepper aromas. Martin Hugl focuses on green (eco-friendly) harvesting to produce higher quality wines. 2oz taste 2.99 6oz glass 6.99 bottle 27.96
• Beaulieu, Picpoul de Pinet ~ Languedoc, France 2007 One of the best pairings with Medditeranean seafood, a light Medditeranean white. Picpoul is the grape, taste of lime zest, and exotic grapefruit 2oz taste 2.75 6oz glass 6.99 bottle 27.96
• Domaine De Couron Rose ~ Coteaux De L’Ardeche, France 2007 Real men love pink...Great on its own, better with food.  This approachable wine carries ripe fruit flavors and thirst quenching freshness. Dry Rose? Absolutely! 2oz taste 2.50 6oz glass 6.99 bottle 27.96

They were all on the dry side, including the rose.  But the picpoul was the most interesting of the three, more complex, with a bit of wood, maybe?

Paired the flight with the Fennel Fennel Pizza ($12.99), which is their Margherita (mozzarella, vine-ripened tomatoes, basil and extra virgin olive oil) topped with Fennel and Fennel Sausage. 

Fennel Fennel Pizza

It's good stuff, thin, crispy crusty, rustic with tomato, cheese, sausage, and fennel.  If you like fennel (and Umami does), this is the pizza for you.

Next, a glass of Mollydooker 'The Maitre D', which is a big cab from Australia.  Paired it with the "Baked Lobster 'Mac' n' Cheese" ($16.99).

Baked Lobster 'Mac' 'n Cheese

This is obviously, absurdly decadent.  It's chunks of lobster & Bowtie pasta tossed in lobster cream, with a crust of baked cheese.  The lobster was unfortunately a little dry, but overall it was adequately creamy.  Honestly, one of those things that has to be tried "just because."  Fortunately, it comes with a nice side of greens . . . because unless you're a twelve-year-old mac and cheese freak, the lobster cream and cheese combination is lethal!

Dessert was out of the question after all that, but it was a fine meal nonetheless!

Formaggio Wine Bar

Market City Shopping Center (lower level, across from Kaimuki HS)

2919 Kapiolani Blvd.

Honolulu, HI 96826

808-739-7719

http://www.formaggio808.com/