Nadine Kam photos
Restaurateur Chai Chaowasaree at the bar of his new restaurant with some of his crew, from left, Cody Kalua, Kevin Malama and Anthony Murata.

Chai Chaowasaree marked the grand opening of his new restaurant, Chef Chai, with a celebration that took place March 9 at Pacifica Honolulu, 1009 Kapiolani Boulevard.

The restaurant has elegant, sophisticated appeal, and though it looks just as spacious as his former Chai's Island Bistro digs at Aloha Tower, he said it's an illusion. The new restaurant seats 100, but appears larger because of its horizontal layout.

There's also a private dining room that seats about 16 to 18, though if you have a couple more guests, where there's a will there's a way I always say.

The menu makes a more healthful departure from his previous menu, as the chef acknowledges Honolulu's graying population. I grew up with the original "name" chefs who got their start in the late '80s, so we're all in the same boat and looking for food that tastes great, with less salt, sugar and fat than the typical restaurant menu.

That doesn't mean there's any lack of flavor, and anyone walking in cold would not miss a thing, as the dishes he served that night proved.

This particular stretch of Kapiolani is rapidly becoming Health Row, with the raw vegan Greens & Vines leading the charge at 909 Kapiolani, and organic-oriented Blue Tree Cafe also in the Pacifica building. They make it easier to start eating healthier.

Space heaters outside keep diners toasty when the mercury dips.

Gorgeous interior.

The private dining room.

Gravlax salmon roulade with cream cheese and crab meat on cucumber.

Ahi tartare in mini waffle cones.

Escargot in pastry cups.

Chicken satay.

Oysters with lemongrass-garlic mignonette.

Garlic gochujang shrimp and apple kimchee summer rolls.

Hamachi!

Chai's signature kataifi-wrapped shrimp with pineapple.

Miso Chilean sea bass over steamed coconut milk-ginger brown rice.

Sun-dried tomato and Puna goat cheese wontons with spicy relish.

Alaskan king crab leg crabcakes were presented with roasted garlic aioli. The full dish also features tomato-mango salsa.

Grilled Mongolian lamb chops.

Have bottle will travel! A passerby just stopped in to check out the new restaurant en route to a party at one of the Pacifica condos.

Thai-style oxtail soup with lemongrass broth.

Nadine Kam photos
Restaurant and Bar Ko has replaced Ninniku-ya in Kaimuki.

Ninniku-ya had a long run as Oahu's most famous garlic restaurant, but now it's gone, and in its place is Restaurant and Bar Ko, run by the mother-daughter team of Ritsuko Asahi and Keiko Inai.

It's a very feminine place, with an interior that looks very homey with its plush sofa and shelving that forms a partition for a semi-private room that seats up to eight. Outside on the patio, frilly pillows line tables with a mix of bench seating and chairs, and one table wraps around a tree the deck was built around.

They want to be good neighbors and a hangout for night owls, open until 2 a.m. daily. The menu is Japan Japanese, and to get the full impact, they're encouraging newbies to start with their prix fixe Asahi ($40 per person) and Ko ($55 per person) menus. There's a minimum two-person order for menu, but having been an early visitor, I was able to substitute one dish from the Asahi menu when ordering the Ko menu. Here's a look at what was on the table:

Appetizers, clockwise from top left, dashimaki tamago with ikura, simmered pumpkin with gobo, nikujaga, ika daikon, simmered spinach with shrimp, and fish nanbanzuke.

Sashimi of hamachi, salmon, ahi and scallops with amaebi. After eating the bottom half of the shrimp, the head is taken away and brought back on a platter, deep-fried. Super crisp, super light, full shrimp flavor. Yum!

Roast beef salad.

Box-pressed eel hakosushi was the sushi course.

Loved this lotus root manju, a satisfying glutinous bundle filled with thin-sliced hasu, edamame and sliced shrimp, and served in a silky crab broth. You could add the mild wasabi to the broth.

Changed up the menu a bit with the entree courses. We had ordered the Ko dinners ($55 prix fixe), but chose the sauteed shrimp and scallop off the Asahi menu ($40 prix fixe), and was totally happy with this dish, that also included two pieces of octopus and broccoli.

From the Ko menu, our other entree was the tender wagyu, grilled and topped with grated daikon, green onions and ikura.

The tempura course featured snapper and mountain potato wrapped in yuba.

The vinegared course was namasu of thin-sliced carrot and cucumber wrapped around surimi.

Although you usually get a choice of either salmon and ikura, or simmered pork belly kamameshi, staffers offered a small portion of both to sample. Even so, the small wasn't very small, and after sampling a few bites, I took the rest home to enjoy the next day. They were both delicious as leftovers.

As full as I was, I forgot all about it when dessert of vanilla ice cream and azuki beans on a floral clamshell-style wafer arrived. It was a lovely finale.

Nadine Kam photos
Chef Peter Merriman, right, with Aloha United Way marketing director Jay Park, and Monkeypod Kitchen manager Erica Dunn.

Chef Peter Merriman and his business partner Bill Terry celebrated the opening of Monkeypod Kitchen at Ko Olina, with a blessing and benefit party on Feb. 1.

Guests could help themselves to all the food they wanted while their drink purchases throughout the evening benefited Aloha United Way.

Although it's never easy to get townies to drive out to Ko Olina at rush hour, the room was packed with foodies, restaurateurs and farmers eager to see Merriman's newest project. I believe that he and Roy Yamaguchi are now the only big name Hawaii chefs with restaurants on four islands.

The first Monkeypod Kitchen opened in Wailea, Maui, so named, Peter explained when addressing the crowd, because the monkeypod tree is a non-native that has nevertheless thrived in Hawaii, just as he has, as a transplant from Pennsylvania who arrived on Hawaii Island in 1983 and went on to become a leader in the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement. Monkeypod also fixes nitrogen in the soil so is good for the land and sustainability, and is versatile as a wood used prominently for craft. As an artisan in the kitchen, Merriman said he could identify with that as well.

The restaurant covers two stories at Ko Olina Station, 92-1046 Olani St., in Kapolei, and is a welcome addition to the resort community, where there are few stylish places to simply hang out. (Is this a no-brainer or what?) The Monkeypod Kitchen bar is huge, no doubt in anticipation of great happy hour business, when drink specials include $6 Ocean Vodka cocktails, $6 white and red wines by the glass and $4.75 drafts for beers originally $9 or less, and $7 for those more than $9, and food specials include 50 percent off most appetizers, and $9 pizzas (except the lobster-topped Bourgeois).

You can take a look at some of the dishes here, as presented at the opening:

Peter is blessed by kahu Neddy Tiffany, with his business partner Bill Terry looking on after his own blessing.

Wood-fired Hamakua wild mushroom pizza with white sauce, truffle oil, Parmesan and thyme. It's $17.95. Add chunks of Big Island lobster and it becomes the Bourgeois, at $24.95.

Garlic truffle oil fries with a quarter burger in the background.

Bulgogi pork tacos were really spicy, and not just because of the jalapeños, so you couldn't just pull them out and leave unscathed.

A different kind of saimin, with dashi soy broth, kalua pig, broccoli, green beans, bean srouts, red onion, cilantro, mint, peanuts and tofu over Iwamoto family noodles.

One of my favorite dishes of the evening: Pumpkin Patch Ravioli with kiawe-roasted squash, chevre, spinach and sage brown butter. Butter good!

Gnocchi with Swiss chard, sauteed mushrooms, tomato coulis and chevre.
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