I have been pretty busy lately writing my Tribune syndicated weekly column and beginning work on my new book Seriously Simple Parties. But when my daughter had a free week after working insane hours for 10 months I was ready to party. We found an amazing rate to Honolulu and jumped on the plane ( well not exactly). 

I have a brother with a wonderful sailboat who picked us up in time to visit his boat and take a short sail… heaven…

We were staying at the completely renovated and refurbished Royal Hawaiian which felt a lot like a different Hawaiian era. Beautiful. SInce it was low season we were able to get a great rate. If you plan to go to Waikiki, The Royal Hawaiian should be your go to hotel. 

The Royal Hawaiian is famous for their Mai Tai bar. We enjoyed a night of Mai Tai tasting followed by an amazing dinner. You can see how many Mai Tais we HAD to taste! We also enjoyed a very good dinner next door at the The Beach House where I discovered a delicious mango cocktail sauce that was sprightly and enhanced the shrimp and lobster I was enjoying. 

We moved on to The Kahala which also had recently been refurbished. Hoku’s the fine dining restaurant was really good with a relatively new executive chef. Don’t miss the Ahi Tuna Poke Dip that has been an appetizer since they opened over a decade ago. We spent a quiet few days except for the entourage of a music superstar who turned out to be adorable and funny. 

Eight days was the perfect amount of time to enjoy the island, food and beach. There is a lot of new culinary talent popping up in the finer restaurants and hotels. The regional cooking is still evolving and the fresh local produce and seafood make for exceptional dining. I can’t wait to go back.