Honolulu : What to Eat..
Hawaiian food is influenced by several cultures: Japanese, Filipino and Korean, to name a few. So it's no surprise to find a Barbeque Combo of short ribs, chicken teriyaki and thinly-sliced beef at Aloha Grill, Chicago's only Hawaiian "plate lunch" destination. Local specialties like opakapaka are steamed in an Asian "pesto" of cilantro, green onions and oyster sauce, drizzled with hot peanut oil, then served in a coconut curry sauce. Macadamia-nut crusted mahi mahi gets bathed in a lobster brandy cream sauce, and makes the perfect foil to a classic island cocktail: the mai tai. The spirit of Hawaii is in force at Aria - at least through the month of October - as the restaurant's new chef brings with him some of the dishes he created while stationed in Maui. "Hawaii has a lot of cultures and a lot of different environments from Japanese to Thai to the Philippino to the Samoan, some of the regional stuff there, we do the same thing with Aria. They can come in here and kinda get the same sort of aspect of Hawaii and a little bit of influence from the Midwest."
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