Let's see...it appears that I have not written a restaurant blog since October in Centralia, Washington. That is not to say that I have not been dining at excellent restaurants, both casual and upscale since then...quite the contrary. I sampled near all Tom Douglas' restaurants in Seattle (my favorites were Dahlia Lounge and Palace Kitchen), I have had outstanding food in Portland and other Pacific Northwest cities, but I have been a bit busy.
You see, I have moved to Kauai, and now I live on an island. And though I have had some outstanding food thus far, I was torn on whether to blog about dining establishments here on my new island home...
But last week I decided to move forward...and what I have decided is that I will only do reviews that are positive, restaurants that I would recommend to others, restaurants that I intend on frequenting myself.
My dining experience last week was nothing short of stellar. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Rum Fire.
Let me start my saying that I am a Concierge at a major hotel on the North Shore of the island. And upon occasion, we are invited to restaurants to 'sample' their cuisine so we in turn then recommend the restaurant to our hotel guests. My evening started like this...walking into the Sheraton Kauai in Poipu and looking for the restaurant...I had heard some buzz and anticipation around the opening, as there is a Rum Fire in Waikiki which is a very hip and cool spot...but that is Waikiki. Surely Kauai would not be able to create and produce such an establishment. The entrance to Rum Fire is shown in the picture above...hmm...enticing, alluring, but this is Kauai.
Walk in to the restaurant...what to look at first? The spectacular and overly large hip and cool bar? The spacious dining area? The open kitchen? Or beyond all of that to the 270 degree panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean?! So I walk in and we sit at the bar...swanky. That is the word that comes to mind, and I do not use that word lightly. There is a minimum criteria for swanky, and it has absolutely been met. Oh yes, I am starting to feel happy, for I have have not felt the swag of swanky for a while...
But all the swanky in the world cannot persuade me to like a restaurant...for at the end of the day, I love good food. I am willing to pay for good food, I am willing to consume lots of calories for good food, but my total pet peeve is wasting money or calories on food that is not outstanding.
Leanne Kamekona, Executive Chef. She runs the kitchen here, this is her dining experience. She is a lovely woman, whom I had the privilege of meeting when I was there, and her vision and creation of this menu is brilliant. The small plate menu is profuse, so it is conducive to ordering lots of pupus to share. We started that night with three different flatbreads, seared ahi, beef and Japanese pear. Ribs, sliders, shrimp lumpia, and three different mini tacos, ahi poke, spicy beef and shrimp ceviche. Abundant and absolutely amazing, all of them! Tastes that are so different, yet so compatible. My favorites were the ahi flatbread, shrimp lumpia and ribs...to die for.
Truthfully, I easily could have stopped eating at this point. However, we all ordered entrees as well. I ordered the Hawaiian Paella, a beautiful and elegant dish of chayote rice, Kauai prawns, a local fish, portuguese sausage and fresh corn and tomato. Fresh and delicious. I had colleagues who ordered the Bacon and Beet Salad, Crab Crusted Opah and Kona Kampachi Nishime. All dishes looked amazing, all dishes presented artfully...oh wait, there is still dessert...
Dessert came in waves as well...my favorites were the S'Mores, served in a little glass pot, and Taro Malasadas with a fresh local honey. The other desserts looked wonderful, but I did not possibly have room for even a bite.
I am happy to have resurrected my restaurant blog. But I am happy to have had such a worthy and fine restaurant to make my island restaurant debut. Rum Fire. Go there. You will be pleased on every level.
