Baked delights and updated traditional favorites

By Helen Wu
Advertiser Restaurant Critic

Executive chef Kevin Dee produces a Cobb salad at Grand Café & Bakery downtown. Photos by Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Manager Dean Gushi serves coffee to Mona Chang Vierra after her luncheon with, from left, Oswald and Kuulei Stender and Addy Bright.

Grand Café & Bakery 31 N. Pauahi St. 531-0001 Open 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays; closed Sundays Metered street parking; pay lot at Smith and N. Pauahi streets (entrance on Smith) Very Good

Fortunately for Honolulu, we now have a new eatery — the Grand Café and Bakery — that is inspired by and reborn from its own distant past. Originally founded in 1923 on North King Street, this namesake great-grandchild between Smith and Nu'uanu on Pauahi has nestled into the blossoming, artsy, gentrified area between downtown and Chinatown as if it had always been there. With restaurants such as Little Village and the Green Door a few steps away, this neighborhood is fast becoming another foodie hot spot.

To describe the Grand Café as charming would be inadequate. The place reflects the kind of simple sweetness embodied by a loving grandmother in the kitchen baking cookies. If the Grand could talk, its message would be, "Sit down and relax. Would you like a piece of chocolate cake? How about some iced tea?"

I was like a kid in a candy store the first time I walked in, and I still have flashbacks whenever I'm confronted by the pastry case that sits opposite the restaurant's front door. The glass between customers and the baked goods is just a temporary barrier. The assorted treats inside remind me of how little it takes to turn a frown into a smile.

Freshly baked apple pie ($4.17 a slice), creamy blueberry cheesecake ($4.17 a slice) and a hefty chocolate-chip scone ($2.34) can work wonders. That's obvious when you see the occasional mob form at the counter, as customers line up for their pieces of the action. To avoid regrets later, diners should place their pastry orders while waiting for their breakfast or lunch to arrive. The case clears out all too quickly during the lunchtime rush.

Right down to its refreshing lemon pound cake ($2.34), the restaurant reflects a wholesome cheeriness with its sunny yellow accents. Happy yellow mums adorn the tables. Another bright touch is a long, maize-colored brocade couch that runs almost the length of one wall. Old photographs capturing snapshots of Hawai'i's past hang above it, reminding us how much we've changed — and yet, how we still long for comfort cuisine.

Some of the recipes, too, reflect a bygone time. You will find these on the menu marked with an asterisk, except now they have been infused with an invigorating boost of today's tastes.

In addition to pastry chef Samantha Choy's handiwork, executive chef Kevin Dee has addressed the challenges of producing homey, appetizing classics particularly well. Dishes exhibit just enough thoughtful but restrained flourishes to make them understatedly fancy. This simple elegance appears in flavorful sauces and winning combinations that manage to improve diehard favorites.

Ginger-butternut squash soup ($5.50) and chunky Missionary chowder ($6.95) are hearty enough for big eaters but not too heavy for light eaters. Sandwiches come with a choice of coleslaw or Utz potato chips that crunch like the Maui kind. I don't doubt that the Grand's grilled Reuben ($8.50), made with house-cured corned beef, has become a craving for many folks. Vegetarians will be in awe of the size of the roasted veggies on the Pauahi sandwich ($7.75) filled with tapenade and an atypical but deeply satisfying assemblage of pesto-marinated veggies.

Dee's bacon-wrapped meatloaf ($8.75) of beef, pork and veal with a red wine au jus had me wanting seconds even though I was full. Other popular entrees are the M+3C's ($7.50) — macaroni baked with white cheddar, Parmesan and Monterey Jack cheeses — and the Downtown quiche ($6.95), dense with bacon, spinach, mushrooms, cheddar and Swiss cheeses.

Saturday brunch is one of the best times to visit. Changing specials will have diners returning to find something new. Offerings have included such glamorous fare as smoked salmon ($10.75) and must-have crab cakes ($11.50). A saucer-sized potato pancake, a house-made cr¶me fraäche and tricolor dollops of Tsar Nicolai caviar send the salmon plate over the top and could only be complemented by a mimosa.

This is also one of the nicest places in town to enjoy your first cup of morning coffee along with breakfast and pastries before a hard day at work.

Other Grand Café highlights are croissants that snap when you bite into them — as close as one can get here on O'ahu to the kind San Franciscans find at Tartine's. I'm the first to admit I'm not a big peanut-butter fan, but everyone I know who has tasted the chocolate, banana, peanut-butter tartlet ($4.17) — including me — has instantly become addicted. Don't say I didn't warn you.

The 2-month-old Grand Café is still a work in progress. However, chefs Choy and Dee, both Culinary Institute of America graduates, are already producing some of the seasoned qualities of older establishments. I anticipate that with more time, they will address the service-glitch concerns that some customers have raised.

As for the Grand Café's sticky pecan bun ($3.40), it's almost as good as the one in my memory. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that they decide to add ice cream to the menu — as well as dinner.

Reach Helen Wu at hwu@honoluluadvertiser.com.