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Formaggio's, a closer look
Aloha!
5/1/09 - I remember when this place first opened up on the back-side of the Market City Shopping Center. It was all the rage, but largely for a bit more of a sophisticated crowd - a little older, a little more in tune with the scene, a little more educated. After all, wine is one of those things you don't really get into when you're college-aged, when the taste of Bud Light and Bartles & James are still fresh, yet lingering-on in the mind from bittersweet memories of high school hotel and grad parties. These days, however, it seems Formaggio's is becoming more and more popular for their excellent cuisine, as former owner and founder Lyle Fujioka, a big-time local wine merchant, sold the place to restaurateurs Wes Zane and Alfredo Almar Arcano, both of whom have extensive histories in the culinary world both here and in the Mainland. Besides their past associations with upscale Hy's Steak House and Bandito's Cantina in Pearl City, the pair have been busy building quite the mini-empire over the years, with trendy, outside-the-box types of eateries like Burgers on the Edge, Caliente del Sol, and Good to Grill.
Back at Formaggio's, they've truly taken the wine bar concept to a whole 'nother level, at both the Market City location and their newer store in Kailua. The food is outstanding at both spots, covering a wide range of Italian, local, American, and Hawaii Regional/Pacific Rim fare, but the menu choices at the original spot are more limited, hence the name Formaggio Wine Bar, as opposed to Formaggio Grill in Kailua, which has a much larger, much more intense selection - some heavy hitter's, for sure, as you'll see soon. As for wine, however, you'll find more than you need at either place!
Beginning with the Kaimuki location, this original spot is like stepping into a word-of-mouth-only jazz club, it's ve-ry modest, non-descript, super-darkened glass-door entrance resembling a cheap grocery store from the outside, and only taking a pleasant turn to the contrary once inside. What greets you first is a long, narrow alley of tables leading to a back area that opens up to the main dining room, bar, and small stage where live jazz is featured Wednesday thru Saturday nights.
Here's the same section, just lit-up a bit more. What you'll actually see is almost cave-like, and darker-yet than even the first pic.
The food selections come as a relatively small list, with ceasar salads, caprese, and pizza choices like margherita, pancetta/pesto, and fennel/fennel sausage; panini sandwiches filled with items such as grilled vegetables, Kobe beef burgers, and Cuban-style roast pork; and a list of classic dishes like boneless short ribs in red wine, beef bourguignon, escargot bleu, grilled vegetable Napolean, and prosciutto and eggplant roulade - certainly enough of the goods to match all those fine bottles of wine. After my first eureka moment with wine, at Alan Wong's, I was hoping to have learned a little more about this fine art of sipping, tasting, and schmoozing with the Napa Valley crowd, but haven't really had nothing much going-on in this regard. Guess the teacher will appear as soon as the student is ready, yes...?
The dishes here at Formaggio's were certainly picked to match the red's and white's; cab's and merlots; shiraz and noir's; with plenty of that quintissential complement to wine - fermented milk. Cheese, that is. You know you only get the truth here, and the truth is that our visit to this particular branch of Formaggio's took place about a month ago, and I completely forgot about the different cheeses on this next platter coming up. I even wrote down the names, along with some scribble-notes for each type of cheese, but lost the paper somewhere!
Eeeh, like wine, there are so many different flavors, textures, and varieties, only the most informed will have taken note, anyway! Geez, this wine thing gets so deep, can you see why I'm teetering and tottering on the edge, reluctant to take the dive, intimidated, even, at how far, how deep, and how wide this sheer, expansive chasm of cultish knowledge and hoity toity connoisseur-ship truly is?
Whatever the case, cheese platters usually give you a healthy mix of soft and hard, creamy and crumbly, sharp and mild, and this and that, and the above platter surely contained every one of these aspects, except I'm not so sure about the this and that. Surprisingly, what I remembered most about the plate was actually none of these curdled slices, but the Spanish almonds sitting near the top! Despite the vogue surrounding three almonds a day, I've never been a fan, but these... these were different - so much creamier, so much smoother, and so much crispier at the same time, almost like they were crossed with Hawaiian Host macadamia nuts! Big Al tells me you can get 'em from Costco, and he'll bring over a whole can once we finally get around to having a wine and cheese night at my place!
On this particularly lovely night, however, wifey and I were only having a light dinner, with only a few girly-girl dishes, like this ceasar salad, which was excellent.
We finished off with a smoked salmon carpaccio, filled with smokey-orange slices of Norwegian salmon, lemon, extra virgin olive oil, capers, and red onion. Doesn't get any better than this...
A couple loaves of their beautiful bread, a few drinks, and wifey and I were out, happy and content as could be. Can't be gorging every time, especially when you're out as often as we are!
Not that I could say the same thing for our next excursion, where we left with perhaps a bite or two more than was prudent, and which came courtesy of the newer Formaggio's out in Kailua. Located at 305 Hahani St., in the small set of shops right across from Teddy's Bigger Burger and Starbucks, this spot was much more crowded than I'd ever seen at the original place, even though it was a weekday evening. Wifey and I were accompanied by Big Al and Bruddah Nels', both of whom were somewhat wine afficionado's in themselves. They did teach us a thing or two about some basic, yet still very interesting stuff, as like I said, the student can only take in so much right now...
The four of us waited a good 15 minutes outside, peeking-in to the beautifully-designed, open-air restaurant to a festive, sizeable crowd.
What I did learn about wine was why they always twirl it about, and why the glass can be so large in proportion to the amount of wine served. I thought it was all about examining the streaks, or legs, that run down the sides of the glass. Once believed to be a bearer of quality, it's actually more indicative of the amount of alcohol found in the wine, as the streaks on the sides of your glass are formed because alcohol begins evaporating much faster than water, and actually pushes the water upwards in the process, until gravity takes over and sends the liquid back down in irregular streaks, thus forming the legs. I guess it can be interesting watching how the streaks form differently between glasses, but other than that, that's about all there is to it.
Big Al and Bruddah Nels' were actually sitting there, twirling about, because they were opening-up the wine, or allowing it to breathe - in other words, mixing it with air to balance and soften the tannins, as well as reduce the subtly-strong odors that can come from the larger amounts of carbon dioxide found, especially in younger wines, masking the true aromas of the wine itself. Just as an example, Big Al had me taste his glass as soon as it arrived on our table. He then twirled it around, let it sit, then repeated the process repeatedly over the next five to ten minutes or so. And waddaya' know? The difference was surprisingly apparent! Much smoother, much more well-rounded, and well, just a whole lotta fun, really! Next time I learn another aspect of wine, I'll let ya know, cuz' right now - that's about all I know!
In fact, I wasn't even ordering wine on this particularly festive night - it was still all about beer for me, in the form of a few cold Keoki Sunset Ale's, a sharp, slightly fruity beer from the excellent Keoki Brewery in Kauai.
Food-wise, everyone went to town on this very enjoyable night and pulled no punches, first calling for a couple of orders of the classic Italian starter, Caprese.
This had to have been the most impressive caprese I'd ever seen, coming well-presented with generous slices of buffalo mozzarella and tomato, which were sandwiched betwen substantial amounts of garlicky pesto and a balsamic vinaigrette sauce, then sprinkled with olive oil, chiffenades of basil, and fresh-cracked black pepper. Impressive, to say the least.
There was one other side, of garlic cheese bread, which I didn't bother taking a picture of and which was ordered just because I wanted something cheap and filling, as wifey already had her eyes on a pricey platter for two which you'll see in just a bit, one that I guessed would still leave us with a lotta space in our stomachs afterwards.
Sorry to say, but I didn't take a picture of Big Al's dish, either, which was a healthy ribeye steak, which wasn't too shabby at all. Not quite up to par with the one's we cook-up on hibachi nights, but still worth ordering.
Bruddah Nels' went with a full rack of lamb with garlic cream sauce:
Wow! Pretty amazing, ey? And fortunately, Bruddah Nels' threw a piece each on all of our plates, as we all returned the favor so everyone could get a taste of everything on the table. This one was as flavorful as it gets, perfectly cooked to a medium rare and rich in fatty, juicy, tender goodness. Nice touch, too, with the simple garnish of a couple of grilled asparagus spears, a single, panko-fried onion ring, and a healthy sprinkling of herbs.
As for wifey and I, here's the pricey platter I was talking about:
There are two Shellfish Spectaculars found here in Kailua (not available at Market City), the first a chilled seafood tower comprised of ahi sashimi, lobster, crab, prawns, scallops, and clams, for $89. I never get seafood on ice, as I prefer them hot out of the steamer or grill. Our platter, called a Warren Shon Tailgate Experience, was a little more modestly-priced at $79, and came with grilled lobster, King crab legs, scallops, and jumbo prawns. A serving of herbed butter came on the side:
I guess the price was reasonable for the amount of seafood we got on the platter, but then again, the very word reasonable, when it comes to crustacean, still means expensive, yes?
Man, we are spoiled, aren't we? Meals like this are fit for a King and Queen, yet this occasion wasn't even a birthday, an anniversary, or Hanukka - just a weeknight get-together amongst good friends, was all. We were all glad we came, though, and rather than feeling guilty, we were all just thankful for the blessings of a great meal!
Here's another view of this grand platter, from the prawn-side:
Formaggio's in Kailua shares the same high-quality, very creative dishes as Market City, but the menu here is super-charged and expanded in a huge way, with more choices of salads, soups, pizza's, appetizers, and fabulous main dishes. Just for a little sneak-peak - there's calamari fritto misto, paprika-grilled ahi, mahimahi almondine, opakapaka ala piccata, paella valenciana, steak neptune, garlic steak bordelaise, and much, much more. I can't even begin to tell you how great everything sounds off the menu, so please just do yourself a favor and try this jewel-of-a-place out for yourselves!
The atmosphere is swank, trendy, and absolutely gorgeous, actually, yet still casual and fine for families, as well, and unlike the other location, are open for lunch daily from 11:30am (11am Sundays).
For good measure, I'll leave you with another shot of the inside before leaving, this time from the opposite angle.
Best of wishes in your own explorations, your own learning curves, and your own interests and pleasures! Pursue them to the ooomph degree - there is no try, only do! Yeah, I am borrowing from Yoda...
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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