It's been a decade since D.K. Kodama opened Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar in Kapalua. Now there are three locations and a stable of talented chefs. Today through Jan. 5, Sansei at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa is serving a five-course holiday omakase menu, each course concocted by a different chef. Corporate sushi chef Masa Hattori came up with an appetizer made up of a quartet of raw bites, such as a spoonful of diced hamachi and shiitake, slick and earthy with truffle oil. (Meat eaters can choose herb-braised prime short-rib ravioli instead.) All courses are winners, but it's Ivan Pahk's tender, peppery beef tenderloin, crusted in Asian spices and topping a bed of tiny potato cubes gooey in a sinfully rich creamy mushroom sauce that may make you wish the holidays lasted all year. The dinner is $45. Call 931-6286 for reservations.

— Lesa Griffith

MAVRO MENUS

NEW SEASONAL DISHES, HOLIDAY SPECIALS

Chef Mavro launches its winter menu this week with three-, four- and six-course progressions, with or without wines ($65 to $150). New is the Chef's Table, an 11-course, quarter-portion spread for whole tables at $150 per person without wines or $212 with. New dishes: spiced 'ahi with garlic watercress essence, Big Island goat-cheese mousse, Snake River Kobe-style beef and li hing mui poached persimmon.

There are four- or six-course progressions for Dec. 24 and 25 only ($71 to $145), including a Yule Log Moderne. And on New Year's Eve, reservations only between 7:30 and 9 p.m., a six-course menu will feature a caviar appetizer ($170 to $259). www.chefmavro.com, 944-4714.

— Wanda A. Adams