QUICK BITES
Maui restaurants you shouldn't miss

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

On my home island of Maui last weekend to celebrate Mother's Day, and in other recent visits, I've enjoyed some memorable meals. If you're headed to the Valley Isle, here are some suggestions:

• The newest Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi in Kihei Town Center (look for Foodland), where chef Tom Selman and host Tom Alejado welcome you. The restaurant had a quiet opening in April and celebrates the official grand opening this weekend. Selman offers all the standards that owner DK Kodama's restaurants are known for, but, as he says, "DK allows me to play." That means specials that are often unusual, decadent and worth trying: macaroni and cheese with foie gras and crispy duck skin (with a side of Lipitor — just joking), ancho chilies stuffed with shrimp fried rice, his signature ribs. (808) 879-0004.
• Sarento's on the Beach, the Tri-Star spot where George Gomes (formerly of Pacific Cafe in Kihei) also is encouraged by his Tri-Star masters to color outside the box. You'll find a number of dishes similar to those at Sarento's and Aaron's in Honolulu, but Gomes gets his licks in. My favorite at this right-on-the-beach location is the cool gazpacho, beautifully presented in a shallow bowl with avocado, langoustines and garlic crostini. It's tucked away down a sort of alley off Kihei Road; headed Wailea way on Kihei Road, slow down when you see Mana Kai condos; it's next door, literally in the parking lot of Maui Oceanfront Inn. They valet and they've just started doing lunch as well as dinner. (808) 875-7555.
• Manana Garage in Kahului seems to have stopped the revolving door of eateries in the space on Lono Avenue off Ka'ahumanu Highway. Maui friends raved about it, but I wasn't impressed on my first visit last year. This last experience was exceptional, though. Chef Tom Lelli (formerly of Hali'imaile General Store) has hit his full stride with an exceptional ceviche, delicious quesadillas and pumpkin-seeded crusted shrimp that converted even me, not a seafood lover. Managing partner/host Alan Ireland was friendly and attentive all over the room. They have a roving magician on Friday nights, live music three nights a week and the most extraordinary tortillas, made from fresh masa by a Guatemalan woman who got the job by bringing Lelli and Ireland a plate of the tender, resilient, fragrant flatbreads. (808) 873-0220.
• Le Gunji, a French/Japanese teppanyaki grill, is among the least-known dining experiences in the quietist of resorts, Diamond Resort, a tranquil oasis on a hill above Wailea, once a private club and now open to the public as a condo hotel and spa. Le Gunji, one of two restaurants on the property with a third soon to open, offers a set-price menu and two seatings for a lavish East-West experience. Food is prepared on the grill, with guests seated at U-shaped tables around the cooking area. Dinners range from $55 to $85 per person, depending on the combination of dishes. Sauces are exquisite, service gracious. (808) 874-0500.

Food writers' recipes on menu

After years of writing about food and restaurants, a number of us in the food press are seeing the tables turned: Bali by the Sea at the Hilton Hawaiian Village is featuring our recipes for one night only on Friday in an event dubbed "A Dinner with the Hawaii Regional Food Writers." My contribution was a grilled 'ahi in the style of Madeira, my great-grandparents' native island, with a traditional accompaniment of what we Portuguese call milho frito ("fried meal"), polenta flecked with greens and herbs, then chilled, cut into shapes and fried golden crisp. We were asked to share recipes with chef Roberto Los Baños, who tested them (and, at least in my case, took them to an even more refined culinary level), and with master sommelier Chuck Furuya, who is matching the four-course menu with appropriate wines. The fixed-price meal, including wine, is $55; seatings are from 6 to 9 p.m. Reservations are suggested. Another name familiar to Advertiser readers, our former food editor, Joan Namkoong, is doing a luscious mango dessert and writers from other media are doing seafood courses, too. Reservations: 941-BALI.

Send items of culinary interest to: Taste, Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96822. Fax: 525-8055. E-mail: taste@honoluluadvertiser.com.