Page 4 - Dining Out - May 23, 2021

Cover Story
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Story by
LIANNE BIDAL THOMPSON
Photos by
ANTHONY CONSILLIO
features all of the same,
with the addition of both land (duck, onion soy sauce, wasabi) and a sea courses (lobster, uni sea urchin soy sauce, lobster bisque). This menu also includes a sweets course (azuki beans puree, kuzumochi spring roll, mango sauce, vanilla ice cream). The dessert is available for an additional $15 with the six- course menu.
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. .
It’s a story not unlike many oth- ers. Chef Yoshihiro Matsumoto vacationed in Hawaii and fell in
love with the islands.
“My first visit was Aug. 1, 2004,
at Sheraton Waikiki,” he states. “I wanted to live here very, very much.”
So, Matsumoto and the owner of the original Giro Giro Kyoto restau- rant decided to open up a Hawaii outpost. In April 2011, Matsumoto’s vision became reality, when he de- buted Nanzan Giro Giro.
“I love to work in restaurants and
cook,” he explains, adding that all of his training has come from working in Kyoto kaiseki restaurants, which feature a set menu of multiple courses. The dishes are artfully prepared, using seasonal ingredi- ents. They may appear small, but, as is the case with Nanzan Giro Giro, with six or nine courses, diners walk away satisfied.
“I make the tasting menu with my Kyoto kaiseki skills and local American ingredients,” he explains.
Just as Matsumoto chose his Hawaii adventure, diners choose
Broth and Rice
Guji snapper, hearts of palm rice, wasabi, mitsuba
their culinary experience at his restaurant.
Nanzan Giro Giro offers two kai- seki menus each month, a six- and a nine-course menu.
“For Kyoto kaiseki menus, (the feel) of the season is very import- ant, so I import three seasonal in- gredients from Japan,” Matsumoto explains, adding that typically, it’s seasonal fish, while produce is sourced here.
May’s six-course menu ($68) in- cludes a starter (ahi, tomato cheese egg tofu, spinach sesame sauce,
zucchini, shiso), soup (ono, yuba soymilk paper, napa cabbage and more), small dish/oshinogi (Kona abalone, trout roe, kale, asparagus, cauliflower cream), main (beef, red wine foie gras sauce, green beans sesame tofu), broth and rice (guji snapper, broth, hearts of palm, rice, wasabi, mitsuba) and pickles (napa cabbage, ume puree, cucumber nukaduke).
The nine-course menu ($143)
Both menus, true to kaiseki tradi-
4 / Dining Out / May 23-29, 2021