Spirit of Aloha | Articles | Adventures in Dining | July/August 2002

Adventures in Dining
BY JANET SNYDER

Creativity to Please Any Palate

Cafe Pesto on Hilo's Bayfront-and in Kawaihae-offers the sophistication of Pacific Rim cuisine and the casualness of pizzas and calzones

Fans of the Big Island, and count me as one, love that stretch of Old Hawai'i known as Hilo's Bayfront. And for foodies like me, the culinary magnet on Bayfront is the award-winning establishment that's been going strong for more than a decade: Cafe Pesto.

My husband, Art, and I met downtown for a Friday feast at Pesto's, as we locals call it, just as the sun was going down, and we were in serious pau hana (TGIF) mode.

The first order of business was to navigate the plethora of margarita offerings-an initiation into the creativity we were about to experience. The Cafe Pesto Rita, which I tried not to inhale, was a tangy mix of Tahitian limeade and a touch of coconut. Art's was the Pohoiki Passion, a dangerously innocent-seeming drink of mango and liliko'i (passion fruit), which had the consistency of a morning smoothie, with a late-evening sting. Both were rimmed in li hing mui, a powdered sweet and sour preserved fruit.

And so what if it's a long way to Tipperary? Cafe Pesto's bar is the only place in Hilo where you can get a perfectly "pulled" pint of Guinness stout.

Ensconced in our sundown libations, it was time to tackle the menu. Cafe Pesto makes it hard for diners to make up their minds, so it helps to know what you feel like eating before you sit down.

The idea of a seared poke (pronounced pokey) salad of succulent 'ahi tuna on a bed of baby spinach rang all kinds of bells for Art and me. I was nice and let him have a couple of bites. He reciprocated with his feathery goat cheese, produced just up the road along the Hamakua Coast and encrusted with black and white toasted sesame seeds. One of the indisputable joys of being on the Big Island is the fresh produce. Cafe Pesto gives pride of place to the very best of Big Island fruits and vegetables, such as the ruby Waimea tomatoes and delicate Japanese eggplant that graced the goat cheese.

My heart was set on steak. And to satisfy this carnivorous urge, I made for the Oriental pepper grilled tenderloin from the vast ranges of Kamuela, accompanied by tempura shrimp. To keep the beef company, Cafe Pesto chef extraordinaire Casey Halpern devised a three-cheese wasabi mashed potato ringed by a drunken wild mushroom shallot sauce in balsamic reduction. The steak, done medium rare, was buttery heaven.

My Erath Oregon Pinot Noir with its whispers of cherry and dark chocolate was a joy. "This tastes like butterscotch," pronounced a pleased Art, of his rich Columbia Crest Estate chardonnay.

Art goes for specials, so he was easily persuaded to try the nice slow burn of the grilled ono in a cherry tomato and spicy rum sauce, with baby zucchini and pillowy fritters of smoked salmon and sweet corn.

Melanie Johnson, the vivacious manager of Cafe Pesto, gave us plenty of time to savor our meal; but she refused to take no for an answer when the subject of dessert arose. After minor arm-twisting, I opted for a New York favorite with a Hilo difference: cheesecake on a chocolate chip cookie crust, surrounded with liliko'i sauce. Art, with his hollow leg, had no trouble handling his coconut tart with vanilla sauce: "Like eating a giant macaroon."

One mustn't forget that Cafe Pesto has arguably the only wood-fired pizza ovens on the Big Island. The restaurant devotes two-and-a half pages of its menu to pizzas and calzones, and patrons can choose from a raft of ingredients.

Aside from its Pacific Rim sophistication and the kind of creativity that would please any discriminating palate, Cafe Pesto is also kid-friendly. The night we were there, the hostess gave a young diner a coloring book and crayons as she led the family to their table. There's a separate Cafe Pesto kid's menu featuring Pele's Pasta, Shrek's Caesar Salad, Potter's Pizza, and other fun stuff.

In keeping with Hilo's down-home style, you don't have to dress up for Pesto's, but you can put on the Ritz if you like, and you won't feel out of place.

With its huge windows overlooking crescent-shaped Hilo Bay, Cafe Pesto makes for great people and sunset watching, and if you're lucky enough to be there for lunch on a Wednesday or a Saturday, you'll be treated to the parade of people flocking to the Hilo Farmers' Market just around the corner.

Cafe Pesto, 308 Kamehameha Ave., downtown Hilo, Big Island, 969-6640.
Also in Kawaihae Shopping Center, North Kohala, 882-1071.
Open for lunch and dinner daily; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, till 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

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