Location: Kailua
After months of wanting to try Prima, a small Italian restaurant that opened up last fall, I finally made the trek to Kailua with Anthony and his friend Justin last week. Prima was exactly how I expected it to be... sort of reminiscent of some of my favorite restaurants in Portland, e.g. Broder, St. Jack, and Grüner -- I'm not sure if it's due to the typewriter font and lack of decimal places and dollar signs on the small menus or the cutesy minimalist decór, but Prima does share characteristics with town, my favorite restaurant in Hawaii. It had to be a good sign.
The restaurant looks like a chic cafeteria, with an exposed ceiling, robin's egg blue desk chairs and light recycled wood tables, and an open kitchen that showcases a wood-burning oven.
I had a glass of pinot grigio and shared a boquerones pizza and veal parmesan with Anthony. The boquerones pizza had thyme, white anchovies, chili water, and garlic. The crust was a little dry and too burnt (try JJ Dolan's for the perfect crust), but the toppings were fantastic. Gotta love those anchovies and thyme.
We had reluctantly ordered the veal parmesan because we figured we may still be hungry after just one pizza, and, ironically, this dish turned out to be better than the pizza -- not because of the veal, but because of the spaghetti. It's always exciting when pasta is properly cooked al dente in Hawaii.
Justin had the fried jidori chicken leg and thighs, which came with mashed potatoes and collared greens. Just like my al dente pasta, fried chicken that has flavor beneath the bread brings tears of joys to my eyes.
I regret not trying dessert here, because apparently the pastry chef is a Nobu alum -- is this the same chef who used to create the dolce mascarpone at Nobu that I still fantasize about?? I guess I'll find out next time.
