Ryan's Table

Refreshing DIY Cocktails to Beat the Summer Heat

Ryan Tatsumoto Hawai‘i Herald Columnist We are now in the second month of the government’s mandated “stay-at-home, work-at-home” order and that 30th bowl of Sapporo Ichiban and fried Spam just aren’t cutting it anymore. So, I have been expanding my list of restaurants that offer take-out options. Over the past month, we have been doing....

Ryan Tatsumoto Hawai‘i Herald Columnist Remember the movie “Home Alone?” In the current surreal drama of COVID-19, I feel like Macaulay Culkin grasping his cheeks with his eyes and mouth wide open. Though staying at home and avoiding any crowd is the only way to “flatten the curve,” we still need to eat to maintain....

Ryan Tatsumoto Hawai‘i Herald Columnist Like the famous 80s television sitcom “Cheers,” the staff and regulars at Vino Italian Tapas and Wine Bar always know our names. We enjoy the food and wine there so much that you could say it’s like our home away from home. But, since it moved across the breezeway at....

Ryan Tatsumoto Hawai‘i Herald Columnist I’m not sure why, but I’ve always loved the flavors of the Mediterranean — cuisine that comes from countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Extremely diverse, it includes dishes from European countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain; North African countries such as Algeria, Libya and Moroco; and Middle Eastern countries....

Local Japanese-style New Year’s Cuisine and Traditions Ryan Tatsumoto Hawai‘i Herald Columnist Today, people in the 50th still practice Japanese New Year’s, or oshögatsu, traditions by placing a kadomatsu near the home entrance, stacking the kagami mochi topped with a tangerine and consuming ozoni as the first meal of the new year. In Japan, people enjoy osechi ryöri during the first three days of the year. The tradition....

Ryan Tatsumoto Hawai’i Herald Columnist There is a wonderful anomaly hidden within the 22Kailua coffee shop at 22 Oneawa St. Enter the shop, walk all the way to the back, and you’ll find owner and chef, Taka Kijima, preparing omakase meals in an intimate six-seat restaurant called “Hana-re” (like Hanalei, but it means “separate place”....

Ryan Tatsumoto Hawai‘i Herald Columnist Dîner en Blanc is known as the massive “chic picnic” where hundreds (or sometimes thousands) of guests dress elegantly in all white. It’s a sight to see for passersby. In 1988, Francois Pasquier got friends together and started this amusing tradition. There are a lot of rules to pulling off....

Ryan Tatsumoto Hawai‘i Herald Columnist My earliest exposure to sake was memorable though not very pleasurable. You see, the Tatsumoto clan always hosted a New Year’s Eve party for my mom’s co-workers from Kahalu‘u Elementary School, Dad’s University of Hawai‘i football tailgate crew and other friends and family.

Ryan Tatsumoto Hawai‘i Herald Columnist Sausage. It’s the meat of summer picnics and the national symbol of a great baseball game. The savory, encased meat was also a favorite food of the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, host of the television food series “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown,” who died a year ago. Vienna sausage was....