Jaunted

Restaurants / → All Tags

Chef Mavro Doubles Your Pleasure: Cassis Opening in May

(Alex Salkever is the editor of Hawaii travel blog Hawaiirama and an expert on all things Hawaii.)

There's gonna be more of Mavro to love, starting in May. After successfully running his posh, pint-sized eatery in Moiliili for a number of years, James Beard Award Winner Chef George Mavrothalassitis finally took the big step up and announced in February that he'll soon open a casual-but-upscale place dubbed Cassis after his Marseilles homeport. He will be taking over the space from Palominos, a formerly hip but quickly fading semi-highbrow downtown happy hour mainstay. Mavro has consistently been ranked among the top 10 restaurants in the country. The chef whips up serious cooking that's an amazing style amalgam of El Bulli / Per Se and Joel Robuchon with supremely fresh local product and fish.

Can the chef run two kitchens -- including a really massive one at Palomino -- and maintain quality? I'd say, for sure. He formerly ran the whole food services shebang at the Halekulani hotel, which was even more work. He's brought in Ben Takahashi, one of his proteges who, since leaving Mavro, last worked as an executive chef at a number of bit hotels around Hawaii and is highly respected. The downtown area is really starting to hop so this should be a beautiful match. Personally, I can't wait to see what Mavro does with a wood-fired oven (I am hoping he keeps the holdover from Palomino) and a full-bar (woo-hoo!). We'll keep you posted via his lovely wife and publicist Donna Jung. (Yes, I am angling for a spot at the opening, for the sake of full disclosure.)

[Photo: spullara]

Related Stories:
· Chef Mavro: New Menu, New Season, Must Eat [Jaunted]