Hi Everyone!
Now that things have been opening up to almost-normal, have you been dining-in at restaurants? One of my favorite hobbies is trying out new foodie spots! I love trying new restaurants and seeing how the chefs utilize fresh ingredients in new and unique ways. With Hawaii being a ‘melting pot’ of different cultures, there are so many different food choices to choose from! You may also notice influences of different cultures in various cuisines. For example, we have local Chinese food which is unlike traditional Chinese cuisine because it has been catered to our ethnically-mixed taste buds, and we even have Japanese-Italian restaurants! I think Japanese-Italian may be one of my favorite crossovers. In the Japanese-Italian restaurants, some dishes will have an Asian twist to it, like an added ingredient like tobiko, shoyu, or wasabi. It may sound strange to have a pasta dish with shoyu in it, but it’s delicious!
The other night my boyfriend and I had a spontaneous date night and went to Bernini Honolulu, located in the Ala Moana area. Bernini is an Italian restaurant with a French twist. They serve Roman-style crispy pizza, delicious gourmet pastas, and beautiful entrees. The head chef, Chef Toshihiro studied French cuisine for over 10 years before becoming the head chef of Bernini. Utilizing the fresh local ingredients and taking careful note of the high standards that come with French and Italian cuisine, Chef Toshihiro curated a delicious menu.
Our first experience at Bernini was great! As soon as we arrived, we were seated and greeted with iced waters and freshly baked bread. We decided on ordering a pizza and pasta to split, with a bottle of wine. The pizza we ordered was the “Prosciutto e Marscapone”. It is a pizza Romana (Roman-style pizza), with a crunchy thin crust, fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced prosciutto di parma, marscapone dollops, a San Marzano tomato sauce, garnished with basil leaves.
As you can see, Roman-style pizzas are incredibly thin. It had cracker crunch to it, but kept the integrity and slight chew of a pizza crust. It was perfectly complimented by the naturally sweet San Marzano tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella. To me, the star of the dish was the prosciutto and marscapone combination. The heat from the pizza slightly melted the marscapone, leaving it in a velvety butter-like consistency. You’d think with the two types of cheeses it would be a rich pizza, but paired with the acidity from the tomato sauce and the crunch from the crust, it was amazing. I think I probably could’ve eaten a whole pizza to myself!
Next on to our pasta! We ordered the “Spaghetti Granchio”, a spaghetti pasta dish with a tomato cream and snow crab sauce, garnished with basil leaves. The dish came out piping hot, and our table space was filled with the magical aroma of the tomato cream sauce. We could see that the sauce was filled with snow crab shreds, and you could also taste the sweetness of the snow crab with every bite. We agreed that this was the best pasta dish we’ve had in a while. I’ve been in the mood for a good tomato cream sauce for months now, and this dish definitely hit the spot.
The pizza, pasta, and bottle of wine left us feeling perfectly content. To finish off our dinner date, one of our friends who works at Bernini dropped off some desserts for us! We usually don’t order desserts, but I’m so glad that we got to try these that night. We first got the “Chef’s Gateau of the day”, which was a fresh cherry baked tarte with a cream and cherry filling, fresh whipped cream, white wine gelee, pistachio cookie, and local oranges to garnish. I’m usually anti-cherry-anything, but this dessert was so good! It was the perfect amount of sweetness, and the variety of textures between the fresh fruit, baked crust, cookie, and gelee, kept me going back for more. If only I could have more of the white wine gelee!
Our final dessert, also gifted by our friend, was also very delicious. It was their “Mango and Passion Fruit Tiramisu”. You may be thinking, “fruit tiramisu?” Trust me, for some reason mango and espresso-soaked cake, works. The acidity from the fruits cut the sharpness of the espresso and they come together with the creamy marscapone filling. The bubble at the top is for presentation purposes, and was perfect for my Instagram shot.
Overall, this was a great first experience at Bernini Honolulu. I can’t wait to come again and try their other crispy Pizza Romano’s, delicious pasta dishes, and tasty desserts. Maybe next time we’ll even opt for an entrée! If you’re in the Ala Moana area and looking for a fine dining date night, look no further than Bernini Honolulu. Until next time…
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