the art of lunch

warm goat cheese & nalo green salad * filet mignon sandwich

a museum may not be the first place that pops into your mind when lunchtime rolls around, but the ambiance cannot be beat and more often than not good eats are on the menu. my fella and i stopped by the pavilion café at the academy of arts after wandering through the ossipoff exhibit to sample the contemporary mediterranean menu, and were delighted to find a lovely open air setting overlooking a courtyard with a very zen-like wall of water.

the menu focuses on locally grown ingredients and we eventually settled on the very generous big island goat cheese & nalo green salad (plated with homemade focaccia) and the filet mignon sandwich (which my fella declared to be one of his favorite meals). to top it off, our waiter recommended the chocolate pot de creme, said to be a favorite of café patrons. to sum it up in a few words: dense spoonfuls of chocolatey goodness. yum! and the little artful cup that accompanied dessert was, in all its rustic handmade glory, a lesson in presentation.

dreamy pot de creme

although reservations are recommended, my fella and i were seated without a problem even though the museum was packed with people enjoying the arts during bank of hawaii sunday. since the café is only open for lunch tue through sat (11:30a to 1:30p), it's possible not too many people realize the cafe is open on the third sunday of the month.

and, fyi, the entrance fee is waived for café patrons stopping by to do lunch only.

take a peek at the menu before you go.

Comments

[cw]

good to see you're in town! and nothing beats a pot of cream. NOTHING!

you should do a museum cafe tour! the cafe at the contemporary is super zen nice too. ooooo! and the new hawaii state art museum... that place is crazy good.

:)

[leigh]

cw - you must have read my mind since i finally had a chance to stop by the cafe at the contemporary museum this time around . . . the homemade hummus really hit the spot!

downtown @ hiSAM had just opened their doors when we lunched there last summer so i may have to give it another go next time.

(p.s. happy belated birthday!)