Aloha to the old year and the new

Catching up on a Christmas in paradise

Hello! Hello! To you and to 2023.

I hope that your year is off to a good start and that you’re going easy on yourself if you’ve already fallen off the resolution wagon. The smarties among us might not have even made resolutions!

I quietly resolved to get a grip on my desk and to make a schedule and, most important, stick to it, but it’s only the first week of January and I’m playing catch up. Already. Still. Again. And so, I’m looking back to December and taking you with me to Hawaii.

Hawaii, Improbably

I had never been to Hawaii and had rarely been away for the holidays. For almost all of the time we’ve lived in Paris, that’s where we’d celebrate the new year and usually all of the other December holidays too. So 18 days, including Christmas, in beachy Hawaii, was a big change for me. But when your kids have swapped their NYC apartment for a friend’s house in Lanikai and they invite you to join them, who’d say no?! Well, Michael did — still jet lagged from fall in Paris, he couldn’t face another long flight. It was really hard to leave him — neither of us can remember the last time we’d been apart for so long — but the pull of nonstop time with Gemma and VV was impossible for me to resist.

Also, Joshua and Linling promised that we could go to Fête for dinner! That alone would be worth a 12-hour flight.

Fête, a Feast

Fête, in Honolulu’s Chinatown, beckons with a glow that puts everyone in a good mood even before they walk into the room and are greeted by Chuck Bussler who, with his wife, the chef Robynne Maii, created this very special place. This year (hmm, last year — 2022), Robynne was named Best Chef, Northwest and Pacific, by The James Beard Foundation, the first time a Hawaiian chef has taken this title in 20 years. Among the delicious things we ate were a beet salad finished with a Green Goddess Dressing that we all wanted to sip through a straw; schnitzel served with lilikoi/passionfruit instead of lemon; a world-class Korean fried chicken sandwich; a boeuf bourguignon potpie (such a good idea); and dessert, dessert, dessert. Because so many people had sent me screenshots of Fête’s dessert menu, I knew that there was a chocolate cake on it from one of my recipes, but I didn’t know which one. I could hardly believe it, but Robynne serves my Lisbon Chocolate Cake (it’s the cover recipe from Baking with Dorie)! Talk about an honor. But there’s more – a spectacular rose/lychee/raspberry sorbet inspired by Pierre Hermé’s Ispahan and, one of the nights that we were there (yes, we returned – how could we not), a roasted pineapple galette with housemade vanilla ice cream that was knock-your-socks off wonderful.

When we left, Robynne gave me a loaf of her Christmas stollen — it was the best I’ve ever had. (If you’re unfamiliar with stollen, here’s a recipe from King Arthur Baking.)

Robynne's Christmas stollen

Breadshop, Splendid Breads and Pastries

And speaking of loaves - if you’re in Honolulu, you must (as in MUST) reserve a loaf from Breadshop. The bread’s exceptional. (While you might be lucky enough to snag a loaf as a walk-in, the week’s supply is usually snapped up online at the beginning of the week – see the website for all the details.) Chris Sy, like Robynne Maii, is a native Hawaiian who returned home after making his name on the mainland. He’s a chef who taught himself to bake bread. When he opened his shop six years ago, he was the only artisan baker on the island; today, there are still only a handful who make naturally leavened breads. We loved his city loaf with seeds and his porridge bread. Gemma wouldn’t share her morning bun (selfish, but smart). I reluctantly shared the laminated roll filled with greens and dried fish (umami-packed) and the pear pastry with rice pudding and ginger gelée. And I FaceTimed Michael to show him the beautiful crumb in Chris’s baguette.

Artisan bread from Breadshop

An Unforgettable Welcome in Maui

We spent three glorious days at Four Seasons Maui, splashing in the kiddie pool, playing ring-around-a-rosy on the beach and watching the Pacific’s waves wash away our footprints. It was a remarkable family vacation, even if I started it in tears — happy ones. When the kids walked into their room, they were delighted to find adorable gifts from the hotel for the girls - stuffed animals, pails with sand and water toys, baby-size flip-flops, sun hats and a bathtub ready for them to have some fun in.

But when we walked into my room, what we found was so beyond thoughtful that I burst into tears. Someone had done a little research, and someone had done some wonderful baking. Thank you, Ben Shank, general manager, and Pastry Chef Christine.

Assorted Deliciousness

As we traveled around Oahu, we ate and ate — of course. Here are a few highlights from “on the road”.

Chinese-style shrimp omelet (the eggs were steamed and custardy, like chawanmushi) with chile crisp and a bunch of spicy crunchies, from Nami Kaze.

Sashimi and poke from Maguro Bros in Chinatown, Honolulu — we ate it on the hood of an SUV parked on a busy street and I can’t imagine I’d have loved it any more if it had been served in the kind of elegant surroundings it deserved. In the background, chow fun, rambutan and longan, my new favorite fruit.

Chocolate cake from Ted’s Bakery — delicious! Next time, I’m grabbing the chocolate-haupia pie.

Katsu-ahi sandwich from Ken’s Fresh Fish — the tacos were also great (so was the mahi-mahi which I bought and cooked for us for dinner that night).

The Sunrise Tradition

As many mornings as we could manage it, Joshua, Gemma and I would walk to the beach to watch the sun rise over the ocean. It had been their tradition when they were there last Christmas and I promised myself I’d try to continue it when I returned home. And I did – one morning.  Here’s my last sunrise in Oahu and my first in CT. Both beautiful. Of course.

Wishes For Us All

My friend, Louise Penny, began her January newsletter by wishing everyone a “Happier New Year.” The New York Times did the same. I like that. I like that even if you had a very happy 2022, there’s the possibility of being even happier in 2023. Here’s to making the possible real.

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