It’s go-time for assistant meat manager Keith Toma, left, Anne Lee, senior food service and bakery division supervisor Candy Berry, director of meat operation Chester Gumban and food service director Aaron Yokomizu at Times Supermarkets Mililani location.
ANNE LEE with senior food service and bakery divisional supervisor CANDY BERRY
Are you looking for a hearty breakfast, lunch or dinner that offers a variety of delicious offerings, from pastries and desserts to barbecue ribs and rotisserie chicken? Well, the place for you is at the grocery store.
Don’t worry! Before you start thinking about having to buy the ingredients and cooking the meal yourself, step into Times Supermarkets and head to its Taste of Times section.
This ready-made food heaven may be an unlikely place to grab a filling bite to eat, but don’t let looks deceive you. Starting with breakfast, Times’ customers can order a custom breakfast scramble bowl, breakfast burrito, loco moco and breakfast sandwiches.
A number of plate lunches also fill the menu, allowing for choice of one protein — smoked pork, smoke chicken leg, smoked beef brisket, grilled steak and spare-ribs — and choice of three sides, including green salad, starches, mac salad and cole slaw. Then, top it all off with a smoky or spicy sauce.
The selections don’t end there. Choose between nearly 20 hot or cold sandwiches, or order whole or slice pizzas. There’s even a stir-fried station.
Everyone’s favorite lies in Taste of Times’ in-house smoker that seriously turns up the heat and excitement with chicken, duck, pork, beef, spareribs and roast pork.
While these selections are at the Mililani location, other Times Supermarkets have special offerings, depending on the area.
Top Sirloin Plate ($9.99, 7 to 7 1/2 ounces)
Here’s what else Candy Berry, Times’ senior food service and bakery divisional supervisor, had to say about the Taste of Times section:
AL: What type of cuisine is offered?
CB: It depends on the location or area of where our grocery stores are. For example, what can sell in that area, such as Kahala, will offer different items than, say, the Mililani location. Mililani is a new concept, we wanted to try something different, and this is the first store that has smoked meats. We are going to carry the Mililani concept to Lihue, Kauai. We started food service from nothing. I put up the first food tent and grilled the meats in the parking lot in the Kailua location.
AL: How did the concept of Taste of Times come about?
CB: I came up with a lot of the concept, but not all at once. Like always in the beginning, it was never planned, it just happened. We didn’t really have a name, but it was originally Taste Masters, a cooking demo group, and the name stuck. Taste Masters’s name was also a tie-in as we were big sponsors of Taste of Honolulu.
AL: What is the goal of Taste of Times to its customers?
CB: We want to give our customers quality products at reasonable prices.
AL: Anything else you’d like to share about the restaurant?
CB: When we prepare our recipes and food items such as our popular top sirloin plate, the meat comes in bulk, our meat guys trim it and cut it for us. We then season it with Ono Hawaiian seasoning salt and California McCormick garlic pepper. This garlic pepper has hints of brown sugar and ginger. This seasoning is hard to find, but we do carry small jars of it in the stores. Then you add our oil blend, mostly extra virgin olive oil and spread it over the seasoned steak. Finally, it is served with choice of three options with the plate.
Ranchers Delight Burger
Ranchers Delight Burger
Ingredients
• 1 gourmet hamburger bun
• 8 ounces fresh Sterling Silver Ground Beef
• 2 slices applewood bacon
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons Special House Dressing (see below)
• Pickles to liking
• 1 leaf green leaf lettuce
• 2 slice Roma tomato
• 1 slice American Cheese
• Red onions to liking
Special House Dressing
This recipe yields 30 or more servings:
1 1/2 cup Best Foods Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Heinz Ketchup
1/4 cup diced yellow onions
2 ounces pickles
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons Morehouse horseradish
Stacking Order:
1. Bread
2. Sauce
3. Cheese
4. Beef
5. Egg (over easy)
6. Lettuce
7. Tomato
8. Onion
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