November 6, 2025 Breakfast - Paris Baguette Lunch - Maguro Mania. Dinner - Chao - Contemporary Vietnamese Cuisine

 November 6, 2025 Breakfast - Paris Baguette Lunch - Maguro Mania. Dinner - Chao - Contemporary Vietnamese Cuisine

A full day of sightseeing in Central Honolulu.

We started out around 9:15.

We stopped at the UPS store on Bishop Street next to the hotel where Suzette made enlargements of the plans for Luke’s remodel.

Then we walked to the end of the block to Paris Baguette where we ordered Latte cappuccinos and I got a supreme Chocolate Croissant that is round filled with chocolate cream and dipped in chocolate to seal the injection hole for the cream.

The goodly amount of caffeine, carbs, and sugar got me going.

We then walked the three blocks to the Hawai’i Art Museum that had several contemporary art exhibits. The two exhibits we liked the best was a drift wood exhibit and objects found on a beach cleaning expedition of plastic objects encased in calcium.

Here are pictures of each.

                                                      Nn mDriftwood sculpture

                                Multiple sheets of plastic incised in calcium matrix

                                               Fishing net encased in calcium 

                                                Monkey Pod wood 

Then we walked down the block tI the Iolani Palace of the Hawaiian kings and queens from 1872 to 1898 when royalty was deposed by Americans and became an American colony.

We bought tickets for the 3:00 tour.

Then we took a bus back up Hotel Street into Chinatown and went to an ope sir market where there was a food court.  We decided to buy poke and blue fin tuna sashimi for lunch. Suzette ordered Aji tuna Poke with Seaweed titled Limu.

Suzette’s Poke

I ordered 11 slices of blue fin tuna toro laid on a bed of rice seasoned with a sweet sauce on that made it taste like sushi rice.

                                                My blue fin tuna toro

Suzette’s poke was delicious but the slices of my blue fin tuna were veined with tough tendons that sere impossible to chew so I had to chew a piece of tuna and remove the tendons.  It was a slow unpleasant process although the sections of fish were creamy and delicious. 

After a filling lunch around 12:30 we walked the five blocks back to the hotel but stopped halfway at Fete to each drink a Mai Tai.

                                                       Protectors of the market

They were powerfully strong drinks and when we arrived at the hotel around 1:15, I went to sleep.

Suzette woke me up at 2:15 to go to the Palace for the 3:00 tour.

We walked the four block and arrived by 3:00.

We were given booties to cover our shoes and then Harley, a very knowledgable curator took us on a tour of the Palace that included the history of the Hawaiian monarchy from 1810 to 1898. The monarchy was very progressive,creating a bicameral legislature and universal suffrage that was very unusual for kingdoms of that era.

Americans took over control of the legislatures and forced the last queen to abdicate at gun point in 1898.

The Palace has been refurbished to the way it looked in 1898.

There is an old banyan tree by the Palace.

And several monkey pod trees.

When the tour ended around 4:15 we called an Uber that drove us to Chao, a new restaurant that specializes in contemporary Vietnamese cooking.

They were powerfully reason we went was Suzette saw soft shell crabs on the menu.

When we arrived she ordered crab with curry and cream sauced mochi rice noodles. I ordered beef Pho with smoked brisket and meatballs.

The waiter said the beef broth was cooked for 12 hours and it was truly wonderful and there were thick slices of smoked beef brisket that I torn apart and dipped in a sauce I made by mixing hoisin sauce with a small amount of sriracha. We both loved our dinner.

After dinner we ubered back to the hotel and watched the PBS Newshour and then I blogged and Suzette watched an episode of  Magnolia Farms Fixer Upper and then we went to bed.

Today lunch was bad and dinner was excellent.

The market continued its meltdown today and the courts are beginning to force Trump to follow the law and we walked over 6700 steps.

Bon Appetit

November 5, 2025 Albuquerque to Honolulu Breakfast Lebanon Bologna Bagels. Lunch Rice Vermicelli Bowl. Dinner - Fete in Honolulu.

November 5, 2025 Albuquerque to Honolulu Breakfast Lebanon Bologna Bagels. Lunch Rice Vermicelli Bowl. Dinner - Fete in Honolulu. 

The food turned out better than I would have imagined today. 

I woke up at 4:00 and toasted 4 slices of bagel and spread them with cream cheese and garnished them with slices of red onion, Lebanon Bologna, and Manchego cheese. I also diced the rest of the LebanonBologna because the Lindemuths eat cubes of Lebanon Bologna with cubes of cheddar cheese. I cubed the last part of a brick of Dubliner Irish cheddar cheese last night.

Suzette brought home an assortment of freshly baked cookies we also took on the trip along with a wedge of brie and a few pieces of Parmesan cheese.

I ate a slice of bagel at 5:00 so would be sure to have enough energy to get to the plane. I went back to sleep at 5:00 and slept until 6:30.

We got ready, cleaned the kitchen, and then we uberred to the airport at 8:15 and arrived at the gate around 9:00 for our 10:00 flight, so Suzette bought hot drinks, coffee for her and chai for me.  

We flew to Oakland where we bought a rice vermicelli bowl that was very much like a bowl of bun. I asked and was given a small bowl with extra chopped lettuce and herbs and, mung bean sprouts. I turned out to be the perfect lunch that we ate on the 5 1/2 hour flight from Oakland to Honolulu.

When we arrived we taxied to our hotel. We looked for a restaurant near our hotel for dinner and found one named Fete that looked promising, so we made a reservation for 7:30 and rested for a hour and then walked the two blocks to the restaurant. It was full and several restaurants we pasted were empty, so a good sign.

Here is their restaurant description from the Internet: 

Fête is a Seasonal New American neighborhood restaurant with local roots and a global outlook—where classic techniques meet island flavors & ingredients at their best. Our culinary point of view showcases the dishes we crave, using cooking methods from many cultures that all lead to simple, delicious cuisine.

We waited a few minutes for a table. The wine list was extensive. I immediately saw a wine I wanted a 1/2 bottle of 2023 Bandol Domaine de Terrebrune for $52.00.

We also decided to split a veal and tuna salad and a Half Roasted chicken with a Mushroom cream sauce and foie gras with sautéed micro greens.

This turned out to be an excellent meal. 

Here is the description of the salad we ordered:

Vitello Tonnato≈

-29

Slow-roasted Hawaii Island rose veal, Local I’a ahi

belly aioli, sweet crisp greens, shaved fennel, crispy

capers, butter croutons

The salad greens were tossed in Black pepper and when I told the owner who was helping us with our wine selection that I was allergic to raw black pepper he went to the kitchen and brought us a salad plate filled with a pile of gourmet greens tossed in olive oil and Spanish sherry vinegar that were delicious and fresh. 

He first  brought a bottle of the house Bandol rose, Domaine des Trois Fillets. But when we told him our first choice had been the Domaine Terrebrune, he said, “We have that. I think the waitress did not know where to look”. He soon returned with the 1/2 bottle of Terrebrune and gave a summary about how the restaurant has an excellent relationship with Kermit Lynch “They  give us whatever we want and last week Kermit’s son visited the restaurant”.

The wine lived up to its hype. It was full bodied with a commanding character, yet with a subtle lingering finish. We loved it and did not feel the need to drink anything else with our chicken with foie gras served after our salad.

The salad had lots of thin slices of Aji tuna and veal and with the incredibly fresh salad greens and small slices of Belgium Endive, was a perfect first course. The tender Aji Tuna was a wonderful introduction to Hawaiian seafood. The quality of the food and its prep was evident on the plate and the great Bandol rose was a real treat.

About twenty minutes later a platter was served with a roasted 1/2 chicken garnished with slices of fresh foie gras on a puddle of mushroom cream sauce with a pile of sautéed micro vegetables on the side of the platter. 

                                   Chicken with breast sliced open

Here is the menu description:  Roasted Koji-Brined Ludivico Chicken served with Mushroom Sourdough Sauce Kupu mixed chives with a Foie gras - option 

We had never eaten a Koji brined chicken. Here is the explanation: 

Koji brine, most commonly shio koji or shoyu koji, is a seasoned liquid made by fermenting koji (a rice mold) with salt and water. It is used as a marinade or seasoning to tenderize meat, enhance flavor with umami, and preserve food. Koji brine works because the enzymes in koji break down proteins and starches, creating a rich flavor profile. 

Ludivico Farm was the local farm where the chicken was raised and Kupu was the farm where the micro greens were raised. 

So Fete is a gourmet farm to table restaurant awarded James Beard recognition in 2022. What a find, Suzette!! 

We talked to our neighbors who it turned out we’re visiting from NYC for a wedding and came because Fete was among the top 10 restaurants and the man was a TCU graduate in Finance working in finance in NYC.  They were drinking Ridge Three Valleys Zinfandel red blend with Korean steak and a huge fried chicken burger.

After dinner we shared a glass of Château Roûmieu-Lacoste Sauternes 2022. The bar tender served it in two American champagne glasses to finish the meal on a celebratory note.

We walked back the two blocks to the hotel happy and full but not uncomfortably full and went to sleep at 9:30 Honolulu time, but 12:30 Albuquerque time.

It is rare when everything about a restaurant dinner is fabulous. Congratulations to Robynne Maii - Chef/Owner and Emily Iguchi - Executive Chef on creating a memorable dining experience. They probably deserve Michelin recognition. 

The idea to break the trip from Albuquerque to Tokyo into two parts was working wonderfully.

Bon Appetit