Chef Mavro's of Honolulu: a fine dining experience

Located right on the corner of the busy city intersection of King and Mcully Streets, I expected a somewhat less than intimate dining experience.  However, the door opened to a nicely intimate enclave of subdued elegance.  Soft colors and subtle lighting created a soothing atmosphere for fine dining.  The dining space was configured in such a way as to create an environment of hushed tones from the widely varied sorts of patrons and to minimize any distraction from the outside activity.

My reception was very welcoming.  The service was crisp but very friendly.  Even the Chef’s wife and business partner was kind enough to visit each dining patron, welcoming them.  The staff was ever-present, providing excellent but not overwhelming service.  When I say staff, I mean staff because no less than six people helped in my service.  It was explained that the Chef’s culinary philosophy was to create a dish from the seasonally available fresh food supply and then find the best wine to match the texture and taste of that dish.  For me, dining under this culinary philosophy will be an interesting contrast to those chefs with whom I’ve dined lately that espouse a culinary philosophy of finding a great wine and then create a dish to match that wine.

I elected to give this seemingly excellent dining establishment the ultimate test.  I selected their Grand Degustation, which provided 13 different servings to demonstrate the range of Chef Mavro.  The restaurant changes its menu each quarter, so it will not be necessary to discuss each of those courses.  However, I shall relate to you those courses that I enjoyed the most.  Also, I shall give you my overall impression of the meals achievements.

The serving that I enjoyed the most was the Kurobuta Pork.  This course was an excellent combination of tastes, textures, colors and smells.  The pork loin was roasted and served with sautéed shallots in a Szechwan peppercorn crust.  In addition there was a bacon-wrapped pork shank and the entire course was delicately wrapped in a delicious black garlic sauce.  It was a beautiful presentation and was accompanied by a perfectly matched 2004 Gevrey Chambertin from Domaine Dupont Tisserandot.

Also, I was delighted with the Truffle Poached Egg “Osmose”, a rich and elegant course.  The slow poached truffle infused egg was served atop a bed of potato mousseline and garnished with freshly diced onion greens and thinly sliced ham.  This combination of tastes and texture was so excellent and a deliciously dry 2008 Riesling accompanied the course from the vintner, Marcel Diess from Alsace.

Other courses I enjoyed very much were the Colorado Lamb “Djerba”, the Meli-Melo Winter Vegetables and the cheese course of “Mousse de Brie de Meaux”.  There were four seafood courses and there were three meat courses.  Each course was distinctive and, in its own way, delicious, but I must admit to preferring the meat courses to the lovely seafood servings.  At the end of the evening it was obvious to me that the wine pairings were excellent with each course.  Also, the pace of the meal was outstanding.  I will definitely return to this excellent purveyor of fine dining.