THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Padovani's Restaurant & Wine Bar

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Padovani's Restaurant & Wine Bar Restaurant Review:

Since opening in 1999, Padovani's has become not only one of the city's best restaurants, but part of the culture and community---chef-owner Philippe Padovani is a staunch cheerleader for local ingredients (he's a founding member of the Hawaiian Regional Cuisine Council) and invites students from Farrington High School to apprentice in the kitchen. With a career spanning from executive chef of Lyon's La Tour Rose to executive chef of the Manele Bay Hotel, Padovani has the background and experience to create a French-Mediterranean cuisine made with the freshest regional produce. You won't find pheasant casserole, earthy in a morel sauce; roasted venison loin sweetened with pickled ginger-plum sauce and a mousseline of chestnuts and Molokai sweet potatoes; or a bright salad of julienned fresh hearts of palm anywhere else in Honolulu. In tune with the best restaurants on the mainland, Padovani also has vegetarian tasting menus. And thankfully Padovani's confections, made with Hawaiian Vintage chocolate, are served as well. The upstairs wine bar has its own gently-priced menu (ahi sashimi, the shrimp- and papaya-flecked Hawaiian salad, confit of duck with lentil ragoût, and even a burger) to go with the 40 wines available by the glass. And, of course, the French-heavy wine list is stellar. Although the dining room's final seating is at 9:30 p.m., the wine bar serves food until 10 p.m., and remains open until 12:30 a.m. on weekends. Padovani's succeeds despite being buried in the unremarkable Alana Doubletree Waikiki Hotel, a testament to the restaurant's quality.