Cooking Up Trouble

Cooking Up Trouble was Originally Posted on December 11, 2012 by lavarock

I am watching old episodes of Gordon Ramsey’s “Kitchen Nightmares”. The U.K. series is the precursor of the U.S. series where well-known chef Gordon is called in to save a failing restaurant. In most cases the owner has no background in food or restaurants and the chef is overly complicated with his menu.

In one episode Gordon goes to Spain and visits a restaurant trying to serve British-style food. However the menu ends up with something like 50 to 80 menu items and customers are left waiting a very long time for dinner. These chefs try exotic items they think the world is wanting, like prawn in chocolate sauce. Although I have never had prawn, let along in chocolate sauce, I do admit to once having chocolate-covered chicken. It was HORRIBLE and had I known what it was, I would have never eaten it.

Gordon has a formula that he tried to impress on these failing restaurants. It includes knowing the basics of cooking, keeping it simple and using fresh local ingredients. Even after helping the chefs and showing them how they were wrong, oftentimes the chefs revert to their old ways. The restaurants were failing, Gordon comes, helps and leaves as the restaurants have turned around and start making money again. Soon thereafter the chefs or owners may revert to their old ways and the customers stop again. You would think these people would realize the mistake.

So I started thinking about restaurants on this island and the ones I return to. I have to admit that I do not eat at resorts or expensive restaurants and many of the locals do not either. I leave that up to the visitors. The problem with visitors is that they may be steered to a particular restaurant by someone who does not know how good the place is. The visitor may not be impressed and not come back. Until the advent of internet reviews, many people might make the same mistake.

So there are 3 places here that I always recommend and out of hundreds of times I have suggested these places, have only heard 1 person with a bad review. I had an opportunity of asking people as they returned from eating, so I had a pretty good review process.

The 3 places serve completely different meals and I’ll give you a quick list.

First, there is an old hotel with a restaurant attached in Captain Cook. Out of the way of visitors, it serves local items such as teri beef and fish items. sides are in small dishes and meant to be shared. The potato mac salad is excellent! The menu is a chalk board on the wall and has probably not changed in decades. The hotel is a throwback to the 30s or 40s. The food, excellent. Trip Advisor reviews prove that! Entrees are in the $10 and up range. The tables are Formica and the crowd is local, yet visitors often stop by. travel book in hand.

The second place I recommend is one I was at last night, the Kona Brewing Company up in town. Brewing and serving their award-winning beers is reason enough to stop by, however I think their pizzas are the best I have ever had and customers agree. The place is often packed and customers waiting up to 45 minutes for a table. I enjoy sitting outside and they have had live Hawaiian music before on the veranda. Access is now through the industrial park and for a simple reason. When they opened, access was through a small strip mall with a few family restaurants. Parking for the Brewing Company often pushed mom and pop customers away. The KBC was just too popular for that area and I’m sure the small restaurants were hurting for business. By installing a fence to cut off traffic to the brewery, they ensured parking and customers for the rest of the places.

The third restaurant is in an old fast-food location. The Big Island Grill serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and often is full with a wait. I like the beef and they also serve many other items with a local flair. The one bad review from someone I sent there was that the Eggs Benedict was not to their liking. I don’t think I would ever order that in a local Hawaiian restaurant, but that is just me. Here the portions are huge and oftentimes an entree could be shared by two people rather than one. My popular beef entree is $11 and I can barely finish it and I have never had room for desert.

These restaurants, while serving different type meals in a different atmosphere, all have a couple things in common. They serve food in a consistent manner, using fresh, local ingredients.

Gordon would find little fault with these places because the prices are reasonable, the food good, the places packed with returning locals and visitors and most importantly, the places all seem to be making money with happy staff members. What more could you ask for?

By the way, not one of these places serves anything pretentious like chocolate chicken!