The Girl Who Ate Everything

I visited Honolulu with Kathy from May 9-16. Yup, that was...a long time ago. I've just got two more Hawaii posts to go before getting back to New York City—I SWEAR IT WILL HAPPEN, unless I die in the next two weeks. Refresh your memory with Day 5, Part 1.

Special menu featuring a bagillion calories = yay!

When Kathy and I told Reid of Honolulu-based blog Ono Kine Grindz that we were visiting Honolulu and wanted to break some bread with him—we've been reading each others blogs for years—we didn't expect him to organize a family-style 11-course dinner by executive chef Ed Kenney at Town followed by a six-course dessert by pastry chef Rachel Murai at Nobu in Waikiki.

But we should've, because Reid is a serious eater of the sort that I doubt I will ever be. These chefs put together special menus for Reid and his band of happy food blogger friends, which included Alan of ma'ona in addition to Kathy and me. It was Reid's first time meeting all of us, and with the help of Ed and Rachel he left his mark by making us all feel mega pregnant and happily food coma-ed by the end of the night.

It's been over one and a half months since I ate these meals—it's safe to say the flavors no longer ring clear in my mind. But I can tell you that everything tasted awesome, a sentiment that will hopefully become clear from the following bagillion pieces of food porn.

Starter.

We started with small plates of almonds, cantaloupe slices, and pancetta.

Go towards the light!

During our first night in Portland, Erin and I roamed the nearly deserted streets around our hotel near midnight in search of something delicious. Because even though we were hungry enough to eat just about anything that was non-toxic—our stomachs were on New York time, after all, and we hadn't eaten dinner—we didn't want to waste any calories during our short trip.

But just when we were afraid we'd have to settle for potato chips from a convenience store—lo!, a twinkle of lights appeared on a block of mostly closed food carts on SW 3rd Ave between SW Stark and SW Washington, and the meaty and spicy smells of Vietnamese and Thai food from Pho Le pulled us in. It just made me...so happy. I felt like sun beams were bursting out of my head. I can get a freshly made banh mi for $3.50 at midnight on a Wednesday night? PORTLAND, I LOVE YOU.

Then I found out how many more great late night food carts existed. And I loved Portland even more. New York City has an amazing variety of great food, but as far as carts go we've got nothing on Portland, and we probably never will.

Thank you so much for your recommendations on my last post (and for all you Portlanders, for reading my blog from afar)! I won't be writing about the food we ate on this blog, but Erin and I will have posts coming up on Serious Eats, and some stuff we ate will be reserved for the Serious Eats book. For now, I'll share the list of places we hit during our three-day stay:

• Pho Le and Asia Express (last night munchies on Wednesday)
• Tin Shed
• Tonalli's Donuts and Cream
• Tasty N' Sons
• Pix Patisserie
• Big Egg
• Garden State
• Le Pigeon (just for the burger)
• Potato Champion
• Whiffies
• Bloop (oatmeal cart; awesome name, right?)
• Tabor
• Brunch Box
• Nong's Khao Man Gai
• Bunk Sandwiches
• Olympic Provisions
• Pok Pok
• Portland Farmers' Market: Sol Pops, Pine State Biscuits, Tastebud
• Voodoo Doughnuts (had to wait 40 friggin' minutes; granted, I was one of the gazillion other tourists waiting in line)
• Kenny & Zukes

I'm sorry we couldn't visit all the eateries you recommended (or even all the places on our original itinerary)—we could've eaten more if we tried—but I think we did a pretty good job for our short visit. Thursday was the craziest eating day, Friday was a bit less gluttonous, and we were much more relaxed on Saturday. When I got back home at 8 a.m. on July 4, I took a mega-nap and ate a small meal for dinner (I did nothing to celebrate independence, unless staying home all day counts). I think I'm still recovering.

We couldn't have eaten so much without tons of help from Maggie and her husband Matt, and Erin's friend Brian. Many thanks to my friends Rebecca and Ezra for joining us as well! I met a few TGWAE readers—hi Kristina and Daise—which was totally sweet. (For future notice, if you ever recognize me eating food and taking photos, don't be afraid to say hi! It makes me fuggin' happy to meet you guys.) I'm looking forward to visiting Portland again, after I feel less blimp-like.

Nope, I'm not taking a trip there (someday, maybe), but my friend Alex is! (Remember Alex? Vegetarian partner-in-fooding in Paris, and Philly, and NYC, and official Giant Manatee tamer.) He's in Jordan right now and will be in Amman at the end of the month to visit early Islamic archaeological sites. In the off chance that any of you well traveled, food-loving people can help suggest food recommendations in Amman, please leave a comment or drop me a line at roboppy@gmail.com. Thank you!

I visited Honolulu with Kathy from May 9-16. Yeah, that was two months ago. I've been a bit sidetracked since getting back from Portland. I ONLY HAVE TWO MORE POSTS LEFT; I CAN DO THIS. You'll stick with me, won't you, dear reader? Won't. You? Okay, thanks.

Mochi breakfast.

I didn't plan on eating mochi for breakfast, but thanks to Reid, I did. At the previous night's dinner he presented each of his guests a variety pack from Happy Hearts Mochi, a custom order-only mochi business in Honolulu.

Is it worth ordering from Happy Hearts when there are so many places in the city that sell mochi? According to Reid and Kathy, yes. And even though I didn't get to try much other mochi during my trip, I'd concur: This mochi was damn delicious and some of the best I've ever had. The glutinous rice skin tasted especially fresh—its soft and smooth texture melded perfectly into the thick block of haupia and chocolate filling. It was like eating the perfect macaron, or the perfect cupcake—when the components of cake/cookie/glutinous rice is paired with just the right amount of frosting/filling, which in turn are flavored to have just the right amount of sweetness and...whatever flavor they're supposed to have. I've had a lot of bad macarons and cupcakes in my life though—I think mochi is more forgiving.

OH MY GOD, IT'S MY LAST HONOLULU POST! [Cue flock of doves flying through a stream of sunshine.] As awesome as my trip was, I'm glad these posts have finally come to a close since they should've been done...a month ago. At least. Just to remind you, I visited Honolulu with Kathy from May 9-16. AND TOMORROW IS AUGUST, PEOPLE. Last week was busy since I spent a three-day weekend in Virginia, but now I'm back and have little excuse for my lax posting. Here I goooo.

Farmers' market time!

Kathy and I got an early start to our last day in Honolulu (sniffle) at the KCC Farmers' Market, which takes place at Kapi'Olani Community College on Saturday mornings from just 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. It was pretty packed when we got there around 9, although it's probably packed the whole time its open. And for good reason: Besides fresh local produce, there's tons of great prepared food.

Pacifikool.

First, some drinks from Pacifikool, a drink company that specializes in ginger syrups—Hawaiian, Thai, and agave-sweetened. I tried the Gingercooler ($3) made with Hawaiian ginger syrup, lemon, sweet basil, and carbonated water. A simple and refreshing combination made better with whatever magic goes into Hawaiian ginger. Maybe it's just the vacation talking, but it seemed to taste better than regular ginger.