I feel like PARIS.HAWAIʻI just opened — which it did, about three months ago — and the Kakaʻako eatery is officially celebrating its grand opening on May 1.
The restaurant just launched a new tasting menu that is designed with customers in mind. It’s at a lower price point, $85 instead of $120, and now includes around eight courses instead of 10. The value-driven menu can be enhanced by wine pairings (three glasses for $50, four glasses for $80).
This new menu features a blend of classic and modern French techniques, local ingredients, and Japanese influences. The menu will continue to evolve based on seasonal ingredients.
The eatery is known for its French cuisine with island flavors, and you can find a few similar flavors and dishes from the previous tasting menu. The appetizer trio now includes bite-sized portions of beef jerky with watercress, ‘ahi combined with beef tartare and lemon cream in a rice flour shell, and sable with coconut salt and cream cheese. The ‘ahi and beef tartare combo, complete with a crispy shell, is still my favorite bite.
Next comes a refreshing combo of Kona kanpachi served with microgreens, mango, smoked trout caviar, asparagus and asparagus puree. The dish’s elements work well together, giving the combo a light, bright feel.
The bouillabaisse soup is served with its ingredients placed on the bowl rim, so customers can add them to the broth. The broth — made from onaga and kanpachi bones, saffron and clam broth — is accompanied by pieces of onaga, carrot, dill, sea asparagus, watercress, fingerlime, horseradish mayo, fennel, potato, salt, pepper and a garlic flower. While the soup is lighter in flavor, its presentation is social media-worthy.
The onaga served in a white wine and butter sauce with cauliflower and Hakurei turnip was probably my favorite course of the meal — partially because the eatery’s housemade whole wheat bread served with sea asparagus butter also comes with this course. The housemade bread is perfectly toasted and the umami sea asparagus butter takes it to the next level. Save part of it, though, for mopping up every bit of white wine and butter sauce.
Onaga can be upgraded to lobster for an additional $25.
The main entrée features jidori chicken — or a U.S. wagyu tenderloin upgrade (additional $25) — served with Okinawa sweet potato and Champignon duxelles. The tender wagyu comes with two sauces — a red fruit reduction (a blend of beets, raspberries and strawberries) and a chicken bone reduction. Both sauces pair well with the meat — the chicken bone reduction boasts an umami flavor, while the fruit one is bright and slightly tart. The finely chopped Champignon (mushroom) duxelles are also delightful and enhance the dish’s savory flavor.
I love risotto, and the creamy textures and cheesy flavor of this one doesn’t disappoint. The petite portion size is perfect — you can indulge, but not get too full, since the risotto is heavy.
Similar to the previous tasting menu, this one features two dessert courses. The eatery’s housemade acai is the first one — it’s as refreshing as I remember it to be, and is served with a honey drizzle and crunchy granola.
While I loved the previous menu’s warm almond tart with shredded macadamia nuts and housemade vanilla ice cream, this chocolate terrine is even more sublime. Granted, it’s richer than the previous dessert, but it still includes both shredded and chopped macadamia nuts, along with the eatery’s housemade vanilla ice cream.
Terrines are usually rectangular-shaped, savory dishes that feature layers of meat and sometimes veggies, so this is a creative twist. But, I’m all for the indulgent chocolaty dessert version.
To celebrate its grand opening, PARIS.HAWAIʻI is offering the first 100 guests a complimentary wagyu upgrade (while supplies last) throughout the month of May.
CONTACT
PARIS.HAWAI‘I
SALT At Our Kaka‘ako
324 Coral St., Honolulu
Instagram: @paris.hawaii
Open Thursdays-Mondays, two seatings: 5 and 7:30 p.m.
Closed Tuesdays-Wednesdays
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
