QUICK BITES
L'Uraku planning a 10-course feast

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

L'Uraku managers seek the best wines for the restaurant's showcase kaiseki dinner June 7. From left: Tom Kong, assistant manager; Hiroshi Fukui, executive chef; and Duane T. Kawamoto, general manager. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Kaiseki dinners — elaborate Japanese meals that traditionally follow a specific progression — are meant to showcase a chef's talents and challenge a connoisseur's ability to appreciate delicacies. Fukui's 10-course menu will include Big Island hirame (flounder), Japanese sea urchin, sauteed Kahuku shrimp and oysters and, of course, a moi dish: Travel Holiday magazine declared L'Uraku "the place to eat moi."

By the way, the restaurant won recognition for "America's Best Wine List" in the casual-dining category from the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation at the Monterey Wine Festival in April.

Reservations: 955-0552.

Alan's on Maui? Rumors abound

The word is all over town that Alan Wong is just a few inches away from signing a contract to take over the fine-dining restaurant at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua on Maui. Neither party is confirming or denying at the moment. A Ritz Carlton spokesman declined to comment, and Alan Wong's manager Charlie Yoshida would only confirm that there is, in fact, a rumor. "You know more than we do," he said with a laugh.

The 'Anuenue Room is the only Ritz Carlton restaurant that has been allowed to use a name other than "Dining Room." (It's the Ritz Carlton way.) In keeping with its name, which means "rainbow," this is a lovely space of low ceilings, immense windows and an open veranda with fabulous views across the lawns and golf course to the ocean below. Although still a very nice place to dine, the restaurant has lost its reputation for innovation since the departure of chef Patrick Callarec some time ago. Wong's genteel local style is the perfect fit for this property, which has worked very hard through the efforts of former manager John Toner, cultural specialist Clifford Nae'ole and cultural advisor Charles Ka'upu to be guided by Hawaiian tradition. Hope it happens.

And speaking of Alan Wong's 'ohana, Steven Ariel of Alan Wong's Pineapple Room at Macy's has been named one of 10 Bertolli Sous Chef Award winners for 2002. He'll receive a trip to New York, a case of olive oil and a special award. The award is meant to honor the "unsung heroes" of restaurant kitchens and is based on experience, references, honors, positive media coverage and a short essay by the chef. A Judges' Choice Award will be given to one of the chefs on the basis of a special tasting and presentation Aug. 8 in New York.

Coral tuna cans getting a facelift

When I buy canned tuna — which is often — I always buy Coral brand, even though the serving size is somewhat skimpy, the tuna not chunky but sort of shredded. I buy it because it was the tuna of my youth, and it's a sort of nod to my localness, like wearing Hawaiian bracelets and eating rice (tuna with mayo on hot rice is a secret vice of mine). It's also generally less expensive. The signature yellow cans remind me of the picnic lunches my Grandma would pack for me and my best friend Rosey: Coral tuna with lots of Best Foods mayo, chopped parsley from her garden, slathered on Love's white bread, with X-Change orangeade to drink.

Now comes the encouraging word that ConAgra Foods, which owns Coral now (and also Bumble Bee), is launching a new and improved version of the product using yellowfin tuna ('ahi) instead of skipjack and using more of it. There'll be new can labels too — with "bright, Hawaiian-floral label motifs," according to the news release. Maikai!

Two new brunches served seaside

Two oceanfront hotel restaurants have inaugurated new Sunday brunch buffet menus.

The Hau Tree Lanai restaurant and the Miyako restaurant at the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel have joined hands to create a new "East Meets West" buffet brunch to be featured at the hotel from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the first and third Sundays of each month. The first one kicked off May 19. Cost is $28.50 for adults, $13.50 for children. Call 921-7066.

The Rainbow Lanai at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa is doing a weekly Sunday brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. with more than 50 menu items, including seafood, omelet and Belgian waffle bars. Cost is $32 for adults, $16 for children. Call 949-4321, ext. 48.

Both offer validated parking.

Send items of culinary interest to Taste, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802. E-mail: taste@honoluluadvertiser.com. Fax: 525-8055.