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Some seats are still available at Japengo for a seafood-and-wine-pairing dinner that kicks off at 5:30 p.m. today. The menu looks as if it will be worth every last bite at this award-winning restaurant.
Situated lobby level of the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa in Kaanapali, Japengo does sophisticated Pacific Rim cuisine with sweeping views over the beach. Its sushi lounge lets you watch chefs create specialty rolls in air-conditioned comfort.
The four-course dinner celebration today will be served in the open-air dining room. Japengo Chef de Cuisine Gevin Utrillo has picked up inspiration from a recent trip to Vancouver, where he represented Kaanapali at a media blitz.
Earlier this year, Japengo took honors in the ‘Aipono Restaurant Awards, in which it won Gold for Best Sushi and Best Pacific Rim Cuisine.
Utrillo’s seafood dishes for the evening are blackened ahi salad and mahimahi seasoned with Upcountry lavender, both influenced by Japengo’s participation at the recent Kapalua Seafood Festival. You may also indulge in hirame carpaccio, omakase (chef’s choice) of nigiri sushi, and mango and li hing (salted dried plum) cheesecake.
“Making the omakase will be fairly new Sushi Chef Jin Hosono, a Hokkaido native who came to us from Doraku on Oahu,” says Utrillo. “We have a new restaurant general manager, Matt Rapping. The whole staff is fired up. We’re moving in the right direction, that’s for sure.”
Rapping has worked for Hyatt for more than 10 years He was most recently with the San Diego Park Hyatt Aviara at the Argyle Steak House.
Tonight’s dinner with seafood and wine costs $75 per person, plus tax and gratuity. The restaurant will also be open for a la carte service. Try the grilled local mahimahi over young coconut salad or the duck meatballs. For reservations, call 667-4909.