Grove Cafe, located on the grounds of Waimea Plantation Cottages, takes you back to a simpler time in Hawaiian history. At Grove Cafe, the plantation lifestyle flourishes. If you ever have a chance to visit Grove Cafe, make sure to take advantage of the scenic view outside and enjoy the delicious entrees that complement plantation-style living.
A key addition to Grove Cafe is George Liechty, director of Food and Beverage.
Liechty has been in the culinary industry since he was a child, cooking with his father in a resort in Wisconsin.
“I love this place so much (Plantation Gardens) because my father owned a resort in Lake Geneva, Wis., that looked so much like it,” Liechty said.
After working for his father, Liechty received his degree in hotel and restaurant management from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, and acquired a great deal of culinary experience from a Marriott hotel.
“Basically, Marriott gave me my training, so I moved everywhere,” Liechty said. “I went all over the world with Marriott. It gave me to the opportunity to learn different styles of food.”
Liechty is revamping Grove Cafe’s menu. He plans to incorporate more local ingredients and fresh island fish.
“I want to use as much local ingredients as I can,” Liechty said. “I want to offer a lot of fresh fish from the island, because that’s basically what our clientele want.”
Liechty hasn’t forgotten about the local clientele. He plans to add more pupus and hors d’oeuvres to the menu, as well as add more draft and local beers to the bar.
“We plan to offer some nice pupus and hors d’oeuvres — steaks, chops, fresh fish — to attract more locals,” Liechty said. “We’re also going to add more local beers and more draft type beers for the people of Waimea. Since Grove Cafe is going through a major overhaul of its menu, prices will be subject to change; however, prices are comparable to restaurants around Kaua‘i and a new menu will out by the beginning of next year. To paint you a picture of what you can expect from the new menu, Liechty prepared four dishes for Kaua‘i Times that screamed “eat me!”
First on the menu was the Ahi Poke Martini. Liechty said the Ahi Poke Martini is served with ogo, tobiko, caviar and wasabi aioli.
“When I get it, I like to put three different caviars on it,” Liechty said. “I usually use green, orange and black caviar on top of the poke. I grow a lot of my own organics at home, so I like to serve edible flowers.”
Next up was the Hawaiian Style Caesar Salad. The salad is styled with parmesan cheese, baby hearts of romaine, garlic chives, flat leave parsley and homemade Caesar dressing with a balsamic glaze.
“I took parmesan cheese, baked it, put it over a mold and formed a little basket out of it,“ Liechty said, “Then, we put baby hearts of romaine, chives, flat leaf parsley and it’s painted with balsamic vinegar and homemade Caesar salad dressing.”
For the first entree, Liechty detailed the fresh filet of ono with herbs, grilled vegetables and topped with macadamia butter: “Ono is what we had in stock for tonight. It’s served on a bed of lemon vinaigrette quinoa mixed with smoked vegetables that were finely sliced and marinated in a red wine vinaigrette, asparagus and a nasturtium macadamia butter on the side.”
For the last dish of the evening, Liechty explained the makeup of the Prime Rib Eye Steak with fresh wasabi butter: “We feature a nice rib eye steak. We serve it with some mashed potatoes; that might change later to wasabi. But for tonight, I added wasabi butter. The wasabi we use is nothing like what we buy in the store. Fresh wasabi is more of a smoky, earthy and not quite as pungent wasabi as what we buy in stores. Also on the dish is some baby bok choy, bell pepper and onion straws on top of the steak. In the future, I want to add some kind of Hawaiian grown mushrooms to the dish.”
If the four dishes I just mentioned are examples of what Grove Cafe has in store for 2013, then it’s going to be an onolicious new year.
Grove Cafe, located on 9400 Kaumuali‘i Highway in Waimea Plantation Cottages, is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
For reservations call 338-2338, and for more information visit www.grovecafekauai.com.
