Exquisite Kohala Cuisine and World-Class Wine Pair up at the New, Manta & Pavilion Wine Bar

By Fern Gavelek

Since its opening in 1965, The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel has relied on the bounty of local farmers to supply its kitchen. The hotel’s first manager, Les Moore, knew the wisdom of using Big Isle products to stock the remotely-located hotel. Soon after taking the job, he met with Waimea farmers. The Cornell-educated hotelier reportedly wrote a large “$” sign on a blackboard, and then turned to his audience and asked, “Does anyone here read music?”

The Uyeda family—brothers “Shige,” and “Lee” and their wives, Haruko and Yoshimi—supplied The Mauna Kea Beach with local produce for the next 20 years. Acting as a produce distributor, the Uyedas collected cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes and other fresh bounty from Waimea farmers to fill the Mauna Kea’s orders, often driving food down to the Kohala Coast daily. Their slogan was “Buy the best,” and Haruko recalls working with several farms.

“We called T. Ishihara ‘the celery king’ as Tamao had the most wonderful celery,” remembers Haruko, who retired the family’s longtime Kamuela Roadside Vegetables stand in 1999. “Chef Blum at the Mauna Kea was a big supporter of us.”

Four decades later, The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel still depends on local food producers to fill its pantry. Boasting a $150 million repair and renovation following the October 2006 earthquake, the resort has opened its doors showcasing new restaurants that offer sensational dining experiences.

One of them is the Manta & Pavilion Wine Bar, which overlooks scenic Kauna‘oa Beach and a shoreline frequented by graceful manta rays.

The open-air Manta, which sprawls to an outside lanai, is comfortably cooled by on-shore breezes and open for breakfast, dinner and the Mauna Kea’s lavish Sunday Brunch. In addition to having a spectacular location, the Manta prides itself in offering a fun, state-of-the-art enomatic wine bar and “Kohala Cuisine,” starring locally sourced foods.

At the culinary helm of the restaurant is Mauna Kea’s executive chef, George Gomes, Jr. “At the top of our list is to use fresh food produced here on the island,” emphasizes the Big Island native. “We do it day-to-day. We want to keep our farmers in business.”

A familiar face at The Mauna Kea, Chef Gomes “cut his teeth” at the Garden restaurant during the 1980s when Hawai‘i Regional Cuisine was coming into its own. His more recent culinary pursuits include teaming up with Chef Jean-Marie Josselin to enhance menus and service at outer-island restaurants. He also served as corporate executive chef of Tri-Star/Jas Restaurant Group to help establish restaurants like Sarento’s in Waikiki and Maui.

Referring to the Manta’s “Kohala Cuisine,” Chef Gomes says a large part of the restaurant’s ingredients “comes from within a 15-mile radius” of the property. He adds that the Manta sources 80 to 90 percent of its food from the Big Isle.

“Food often comes to us the same day it is out of the ground,” Chef Gomes details. “The idea is to use it right away. We typically order fish in the morning, then it’s caught and on your plate in the evening.”

The menu, which Chef plans to change about three or four times a year, offers both Big Isle grass-fed beef and red veal. Hawaiian red veal is from weaned calves that are allowed to roam and eat grass. He says the meat is tender and has the right amount of fat for good flavor, plus the animals are raised humanely.

“We also offer grain-fed beef for guests who prefer it,” admits Chef Gomes. “The Midwest pork and beef are hard to beat.”

The Manta’s culinary team makes the restaurant’s own dried Spanish chorizo sausage and Portuguese sausage, and smokes its own bacon. “We use federally-inspected wild pig for special things; we get it from Kulana Foods,” he adds. Made-from-scratch is the mainstay at the Manta where artisan breads, rolls and lavosh are freshly baked and ice cream is “spun in small batches.” Local strawberries go into the restaurant’s own preserves.

“It’s important for us in the kitchen to have the same mentality and be on the same wavelength,” notes Chef Gomes. He said he confers with Sous Chef John Salvador, a Kauai native who came to Manta from Merriman’s, to brainstorm menu items, including a nightly special. “We speak food every day. We want guests to have a variety; we want to keep it different.”

Rather than a menu offering dishes with the usual protein, starch and vegetable combination, Chef Gomes “composes” his dishes based on “taste and texture.”

“Taste and texture determines what is served in a dish,” he states. “Also our style is using a lot of olive oil, fresh herbs, chili, aromats (aromatics) and spices—and less cream and butter.”

An example of how the Manta “keeps it different” is the Ka’u Coffee Grilled Beef Filet. The tender filet is accompanied by crunchy, “classic” french fries, which are cut by hand, initially blanched in oil at 300 degrees to get “semi-soft,” and then chilled. Once ordered, the partially prepared fries are put in a 400-degree fryer to get really crisp and then tossed in white truffle oil, chopped garlic and Reggiano parmesan cheese.

“You get all the fantastic flavors and aromas,” he continues. “We accompany it with grilled asparagus and then finish the dish with a chimichurri, a ketchup from Argentina that’s served with grilled meat. It’s made with fresh oil, herbs and we use Hawaiian chili peppers.” Chef has the peppers, and a few other herbs, growing right outside the Manta in a little garden—perfect for plucking when needed.

Whether it’s using fresh-picked brussels sprouts from Hirabara Farm, tomatoes from Picasso Farms or figs sourced from Love Farms, the nightly specials are determined in the afternoon and “very spontaneous.”

“We decided tonight’s special around 3:30 today,” Chef Gomes shares. “The special is dictated by what comes in that day—the fresh fruits and vegetables—not so much the protein.”

Chef Gomes adds, ”if nothing comes in, then there’s no special—because a special should be special.”

The special that evening is pan-seared Hawai‘i red veal that’s deglazed with brandy and served with grilled, organic eggplant, asparagus and pear tomatoes. It’s topped with a green peppercorn sauce and complimented by Mauna Kea’s own mango chutney.

Summing up the Manta’s efforts to use locally produced foods, Chef Gomes says, “Having dinner here is like sitting down at the table with a chef, farmer, rancher or fisherman. That’s what it really comes down to. We bring them together for you.”

New Wine Experience

In addition to the sublime location and fresh menu items, the Manta is drawing patrons with its new, hands-on Enomatic Wine Experience. The self-serve, wine-dispensing fun offers one-ounce samples of up to 48 different wines that were carefully selected by Mauna Kea Wine Manager Brian Clancy.

“The Wine Experience is a great way to taste and learn about wines across the globe,” explains Clancy, who adds that he or a wine attendant are on hand to help thirsty patrons make their choices. A wine bar menu describes each offering and categorizes vintages into dry whites, chardonnay, rosé, riesling, pinot noir, claret varietals, other worldly reds and dessert wines.

Clancy suggests tasters create their own wine-tasting flights, with a suggested “flight pour” of two ounces each of three different wines.

Tasters simply purchase a $25 “credit card,” that once inserted, turns on the tap. Ounces are basically $2, $3 and $4 each, with a few higher-priced offerings. While there are no Big Isle wines on the menu, there is one selection that has a local connection.

The Kaena Grenache Rosé is by Big Island-born winemaker Mikael Sigouin. The wine is described as a “strawberry-driven bottling that will pair beautifully with our local farmers’ fresh produce.”

According to Clancy, Sigouin moved to California’s Santa Ynez Valley years ago to work and study the wine industry and is head winemaker at Beckman Vineyards, Fess Parker and his own winery, Kaena.

“He’s a great guy, has awesome wines and a cult following,” shares Clancy. “His productions are very small, but highly praised.”

In addition to the Wine Experience, diners can choose from over 400 bottled wines, some available by the glass. According to Clancy, “every known growing region” is represented on the wine list—South Africa, Chile, New Zealand, Argentina, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and California “with all its styles.”

“Our goal is to be a wine destination with a world-class wine list,” shares Clancy.

You don’t have to have dinner to check out the Manta’s Wine Experience, there’s a comfy lounge area to savor sipping and conversation. It’s open during restaurant dinner hours, 6-9 p.m. nightly.

Breakfast at the Manta is served 6:30-11:30 a.m. daily and the Mauna Kea’s signature Sunday Brunch—which boasts a long-time, statewide following—can be had 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Headlining the brunch is the Manta’s own smoked Big Island prime rib—along with shrimp and veggie tempura, steamed dim sum, Keahole lobster bisque with black truffles, eggs benedict, Belgian waffles, build-your-own sundae…get the picture?

For reservations, phone 882-5810. Sample menus, upcoming wine events and holiday buffets are posted on their website.   ❖