Menu tasting for Watabe at The Pineapple Room today. Two menus are now approved. Some of the favorites were inspired by stuffed cabbage and oxtail soup.

Highlights: Leigh and Nicole mentioned to me that I was really featuring all the ethnic influences we have in Hawaii with this menu. I didn’t realize it until they pointed it out: Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Hawaiian, and Portuguese/French. Some of the traditional influences that we tweaked were things like brandade de morue, oxtail soup, stuffed cabbage, li hing mui, Korean plate, tofu, salt and pepper shrimp, ochazuke.

It was a good morning.  More to come on Friday for me, Wade and Michelle.

~AW