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Where’s the Beef? Right Here

Columns Ethnic Faves

October 21, 2012

Story By: Chris Fleck | Photos by: Chris Fleck

Il Lupino’s Tagliata ($38)

Beef! It’s what’s for dinner, lunch or any other time of the day — if you’re able to enjoy it the way Il Lupino Trattoria & Wine Bar prepares its Tagliata dish.

Pupu-style dishes are a big thing here at home, so, of course, cutting and slicing, picking and choosing our choice piece of meat or fish is an activity we all enjoy at celebrations or barbecues. Il Lupino’s, Tagliata dish fashions the same etiquette, just in a slightly finer establishment.

Before grilling, the beef is marinated with garlic and rosemary and it’s also touched with a bit of Parmesan cheese and olive oil. Joining the slices of tender beef are heirloom tomatoes and sliced onions marinated in red wine vinegar.

What makes this $38 Il Lupino special menu item — well, special — is the beef selection.

The Tagliata dish is centered around a flavorful cut of Australian Wagyu beef, a hard to come by commodity, which heirs from the same cow as high-grade Kobe steak. There can sometimes be up to a three week waiting period to get your hands on Australian Wagyu beef.

“The meat itself, I could just eat that all day. It is like something I’ve never had. Not much can match its flavor,” says Il Lupino chef Lawrence Nakamoto.

Il Lupino Trattoria & Wine Bar

Royal Hawaiian Center
2233 Kalakaua Ave., Building B, Honolulu
922.3400
Open daily
Sunday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 8 a.m.-11:30 p.m.
illupino.com

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