The 29th Annual HONOLULU Magazine Hale Aina Awards are upon us! You decide which restaurants are recognized with Hawaii’s most prestigious dining award. Online nominations are now being accepted until May 31, 2012 for HONOLULU Magazine’s 2013 Hale Aina Awards. Vote now!

Chef David Paul Johnson, winner of the Hale Aina award 7 years in a row while at the helm of Lahaina Island Grill, is poised  ready to show case his latest venture, David Paul’s Island Grill.  New menu, new location, new restaurant that has spent the last 3 years perfecting it’s cuisine.  Help recognize the amazing sea side dining experience by voting!

All you have to do is following the link below, fill out the form and submit it.  Our dream come true?  Restaurant of the Year!

 NOMINATE US HERE!

Not only is it Mother’s Day, but it lands on Kama’aina Night!  What could be better!  Bring Mom, the kids, the aunties and uncles.  There is food for everyone, and Mother gets a $25.00 gift card towards their next meal with us.  You can’t get better than that!

Last Sunday, February 10th, 2012, Chef David Paul held his first cooking class of the year at the restaurant, David Paul’s Island Grill.  The entire class centered on sensuous delicious foods, and it was quite an afternoon!

The Menu for the day was as follows:

Fresh Mataki Oysters with Lemoncello Mignonette

Roasted Beat Soup with Cream Fraiche and Baby Chives

Orange Glazed Boneless Duck Rollad Salad with Hearts of Palm and Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Pomme Frittes with Truffle Ketchup

Dark Chocolate Mousse

Chef David Paul chopped, whisked and dazzled us all with his skills.

We were able to work side by side with him and taste great food along the way.  Everyone received a brief outline of the menu and the ingredients that were going to be used, and then there was room for each student to write down methods and tips as each dish was prepared.  The setting was casual, but chalk full of culinary wisdom.

One of the things the class got to hear about was that Chef David Paul doesn’t write a recipe until AFTER he has cooked the dish.  The class witnessed quite a bit of this as he made every single dish by memory or through taste, which was part of the ‘Cooking With Passion’ theme.

There were a few dishes that the students were eager to recreate and over the coming weeks we will post a few of those recipes here.  In the mean time, I encourage you wonderful student chefs to share your notes and links in our comments section!  I think that between all of you, we can get a great idea of the details and morsels shared in class.

After the cooking was done, the class was able to go sit in the restaurant’s dining room and get served by the staff.  The meal was delectable!

And here is an image of the class enjoying the meal when it was all over!

Over the course of the next week, we’ll add more photos from class and share some recipes for you all to make at home!

Mahalo!