Gastronome

Duck Breast

GRONDIN FRENCH-LATIN KITCHEN
62 N. Hotel St.
Honolulu, HI
Phone number(808) 566-6768
websitegrondinhi.com

A few weeks ago, Metro editor Christina O’Connor recommended I stop in at Grondin French-Latin Kitchen, raving about her experience there.

So last Monday, hungry after work and looking for something new, I finally headed into Chinatown to check it out.

Spoiler alert: It was amazing. A block down from a line of restaurants and bars on Hotel Street, Grondin is sandwiched between abandoned spaces and old convenience stores.

But its ability to make you forget that entirely once you enter really adds to Grondin’s charm. Inside, exposed brick and wooden tables give it that casual but trendy, not-trying-too-hard appeal in an open, airy room.

And then there is the food, a gastronomical study of oxymorons — in all the right ways: familiar and altogether new, homey yet elegant, and flavorful but still subtle.

Metro photographer Lawrence Tabudlo likened the dish to home — not in a physical sense, but in that enveloping warmth that just makes you feel good. I agree completely.

But head in soon, like within the next week or two, if you want to try this one. Chef Andrew Pressler will be swapping it out with a Lamb Bourguignon.

“We’re using a local lamb,” owner David Segarra later tells me of the new menu item. “But we’re going to let the people speak. If enough people cry about the Cassoulet, we might have to bring it back.”

I urge you to cry.

Segarra’s words do promise the possibility of a return, but try not to miss out on its (for now) last days.

If you do miss the dish, and only because I haven’t yet sampled the Bourguignon (Pressler promises that longtime patrons have given it their approval), go for the Duck Breast. It’s soft, succu-lent and only slightly gamey, enhanced by a honey gastrique — essentially a sweet and sour sauce, French-style. Kale that accompanies the dish balances the natural fattiness of the duck, and a carrot ginger puree adds another layer of subtle flavor.

But before you even get to any entrees, start with Grondin’s Prawn Ceviche. It’s a cool and refreshing combination of shrimp, red onions, chilies and tomatoes, served with plan-tain chips.

Let’s talk, for a moment, about those plantain chips: They’re sliced so perfectly thin that each one is consistently crunchy. The only way they could be any better is if Grondin sold them in little take-home baggies. (Do this, Grondin, please.)

Oh, there is one other thing to look forward to — a complimentary amusebouche. My dinner companion enjoyed the little cube of gelee, with its smoky and salty flavors. Me? I prefer my gelatin sweet, but it’s nonetheless fun, free and a great way to start a dinner conversation.

When I was there, Grondin was about to celebrate its first birthday. I’m hopeful for this little spot — that it will thrive and inspire others to take up residence on Hotel Street and continue to change the landscape of Chinatown.

ALL ABOUT GRONDIN

A year ago, David Segarra and Jenny Grondin opened the doors to Grondin French-Latin Kitchen’s doors.

The time has, says Segarra, flown by.

“In a year’s time, already a lot has happened a lot faster than I ever thought,” he says of Chinatown’s growing restaurant scene.

It began for the husband-and-wife team during a weekend visit to Oahu on a gray and rainy Sunday.

“We fell in love,” he says with a laugh.

Formerly of New York-based restaurant group Fatty Crab, Segarra and Grondin decided to attempt their own restaurant concept: an amalgamation of Grondin’s French background and Segarra’s Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian roots.

Together, they worked with classically French-trained chef Andrew Pressler to develop Grondin’s deliciously nuanced menu.

“At the end of the day, we just want to make people happy and have fun doing it,” says Segarra.