The luau stew from Heeia Pier

I am a townie, and grew up as such, though I have scattered memories of long weekend drives in the old white Impala. We ended up one time on an empty beach in Waianae with our dog, Kiko, a short-legged corgi bouncing away from the waves, and another time on a road by a wall of cane, gnawing on lengths of sweet, peeled stalks. And one time, only once, we happened upon a hukilau.

It’s the memory of that that makes me grateful for the short recent chapter in the life of Heeia Kea Pier General Store and Deli, when Mark Noguchi helmed the kitchen and Ricky Goings was his sous. Never in my life have I had such simple food, so local and expertly prepared, that it threw me back to places and times I’d forgotten.

— Nonstop Honolulu