A tasty collaboration that wins

Keahole Lobster with Chirimen Orzo Pasta Ragout (part of collaboration dinner, $175 per person). PHOTO BY ANTHONY CONSILLIO

While the staff and partners at MW Restaurant prepare for this month’s MW x MONOLITH Collaboration Dinner, the third collaborative event, excitement is running high.

This spectacular seven-course meal will be served at MW Restaurant Sept. 9-10 starting at 6 p.m. ($175) per person, plus tax and 20 percent service charge. Wine pairings are available for $70-plus per person. Reservations are required, with a strictly non-refundable deposit of $175 per person.

Comprising an extraordinary menu created by chefs Wade and Michelle Karr Ueoka, and their friend Go Ishii, owner/chef of the renowned French restaurant Monolith in Aoyama, Shibuya, Japan, this unique meal promises to be the culinary event of a lifetime.

Chef Ishii’s credentials include training at A Tes Souhaits in Aoyama, and work in France for several Michelin-starred chefs. In Tokyo, Ishii himself earned a Michelin Star as head chef of the Monna Lisa. He also received second prize at in Le Prix Culinaire International Le Taittinger, the prestigious French culinary competition in Japan, for two consecutive years.

With impressive resumes that include stints at Alan Wong’s Honolulu and the French Laundry, husband-and-wife duo Michelle Karr-Ueoka and Wade Ueoka opened MW Restaurant in 2013. Just a year later, MW was nominated for the James Beard Foundation Award for Best New Restaurant.

Monolith Egg (part of collaboration dinner, $175 per person)

The collaboration dinner begins with a selection of small delights that include an Osetra caviar pinwheel, smoked salmon, and King crab. The Monolith Egg, Chef Ishii’s signature dish, is made here with eggs from OK Poultry in Waimanalo and presented in a “bird’s nest” among bright green leaves.

Next is a seafood salad dressed with a sauce made with wasabi and koji. It is followed by torchon made with Hudson Valley foie gras accompanied by fig jam and brioche made by chef Michelle. It’s finished with onaga, fragrant with saffron and herbs.

Delectably subtle, Keahole Lobster with chirimen and orzo is the next course. The tiny dried anchovies are called “chirimen” because they resemble Japanese chirimen crepe fabric. The lobster is followed by a melt-in-your-mouth piece of Japanese A-5 Wagyu Beef “Katsu.”

End it all on a sweet note with dessert: a black sesame cheesecake with Yukari strawberries and petit fours.