July 22, 2010 — Today’s Pacific Business News story by Linda Chiem “really got it right about my business,” comments Chef Mavro. My team’s dedication to giving each guest an “experience,” being consistent, buying the best quality from local sources no matter the price, and starting fresh each day.
The story notes: “Mavrothalassitis buys his meat, fish, produce and vegetables fresh daily from Hawaii vendors. His only freezer is a small one for ice cream. He goes to great lengths to give guests an experience, such as in the case of the macarons, “freebies” that come with each meal along with an amuse bouche and a pre-dessert.”
http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2010/07/26/smallb1.html

Acclaimed food writer Lesa Griffith posted bonus material on her blog from a conversation with Chef Mavro in his home kitchen as he prepared one of his favorite fish dishes. The original story appears in the current print issue of Modern Luxury Hawaii with a intriguing portrait of the Chef by Linny Morris shot at the Sumida watercress farm.
But here’s that extra stuff that didn’t fit!
http://eatizenjane.com/2010/06/15/an-hour-with-georges-mavrothalassitis/
Aloha from all of us and here’s to the bounty of Summer!
More than ever our new Summer Menu is all about our local farmers, growers and fishermen. Our restaurant is not only about us but involves what I like to call our ‘ohana, family, which includes mostly the same people since 22 years ago when I first landed in Hawaii.
Today I would like to celebrate this ‘ohana and tell them how much their hard work and dedication is appreciated. Thanks David Sumida for delivering himself his watercress to our door. Kurt and Pam Hirabara in Kamuela for growing in such a consistent way a bounty of baby greens and herbs (when Kurt started farming on the Big Island 22 years ago, I was one of his first customers). Brooks Takenaka general manager of the fish auction for bringing from the close waters the most amazing quality of fresh fish. The Threlfalls who raise goats in Ahualoa for producing one of the best fresh goat cheeses I know. Jeanne Vanna our tomato queen. Hubyba for your variety of fine herbs and spices. The Stangas for providing Hamakua mushrooms to our seasonal menus. Jim and Tracy Reddekopp Hawaiian Vanilla — I bought the first Vanilla bean that they produced in 1998 and have enjoyed their production ever since. Joe Wilson for nursing the liveliest lobster in the world at Kona Cold. Karen Fukunaga for selecting for us the best and the most consistent local ingredients.
Also our more recent discoveries Frankie’s Nursery, Grant our fisherman from Molokai, Gary Forth-Maunakea and his amazing team at Ma’o Organic Farms, Jim from Kona Kea Shrimp, Wenhao for his sea asparagus, and all our friends who brought from their back yard to our door, lychee, mango, hearts of palm, avocado, soursop, betel leaves, pomelos, mountain apples, rambutan, mangosteen, calamansi, guava, green papaya…
And this is what our restaurant and our new Summer Menu is all about.
Sous Chef Andrew Le harvesting peppercorns at Frankie’s Nursery in Waimanalo
Molokai fisherman delivers to our door
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: best Hawaii restaurants, Brooks Takenaka, chef/farmer partnerships, farm to table, Frankie's Nursery, Hawaii sea asparagus, Hawaiian Vanilla, healthy foods, Hirabara Greens, Honolulu Fish Auction, Jeanne Vanna, Joe Wilson, Kona Cold lobsters, Kona Kea shrimp, local ingredients, MA'O Organic Farms, Stangas, Sumida watercress, sustainable agriculture, Threlfalls, Wenhao Sun
Lamb might be our favorite meat to cook with. First our Colorado lamb is for sure one of the best in the world. Second, since Provence is a lamb country we know so many combinations of ingredients than we are able to provide you the best new lamb ever every time. Like love, always better than yesterday but not as good than tomorrow.

This one is a killer! We use always the loin, by far my favorite cut. The loin is roasted in low heat and served with a “pissaladiére.” What the hell is a pissaladiére? If you insist I am going to tell you. This is a specialty from Nice (Côte d’ Azur), a tart of caramelized fennel and onion, house-made lamb bacon, finished with anchovy and garlic chips. The lamb jus is perfumed with black olive powder and essence of parsley.
All the Mediterranean flavors on your plate at once and the wine is from Napa Valley? Yes! The “not-too-big-not-oakey-not-big-tannins” cabernet sauvignon from Chateau Montelena. When I first came to the States in 1985 I attended a wine tasting with Jordan and Chateau Montelena. I am not kidding but at this time fresh from France I didn’t know that America was producing wines you can drink. Wow! I was blown away, in 1985 the fine wine industry was very young in the country and that these two wineries were able to produce wines of this quality was a big surprise. I told myself, in France we have been making wines since 2,000 years ago! Welcome to America where nothing is impossible.
(click on older posts to see the last section (dessert) of Chef Mavro’s letter)