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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 4:14 p.m., Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Diamond Head Grill gets new chef

By Wanda Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Chef Mariano Lalica will take over as executive chef of Diamond Head Grill at the W Hotel later this month.

Chef Eric Sakai, whose enterprising rustic-elegant Italian-style menu had received high praise, has resigned, citing differences in vision between himself and the hotel's owners. He said he is not sure whether he will remain in Hawai'i, where he has family, or return to the Mainland, where he had worked for the acclaimed Aquarello and Rubicon restaurants.

Lalica operated the short-lived Meritage Restaurant at Restaurant Row in 2003 and 2004 and has been chef at the Plaza Club since then. Lalica said he's looking forward to returning to the Italian-wine country menu he devised at Meritage.