With gentle access to the freshest seafood in the Pacific Ocean , a wide selection of produce grown from local farm , and a diverseness of hand-crafted pastas and bread , it ’s no wonder that Honolulu offer some incredible Italian culinary art . But these are n’t your run - of - the - pulverization red - sauce Italians spots – or even some of our city’samazing pizza pie articulation . Sure , we ’re not above make up a Buca di Beppo … but when you have all these phenomenal local Italian eating house right here in Honolulu , why irritate ?
Baci Bistro
When possessor Bill Duval and executive chef Reza Azeri opened Baci Bistro in 1997 , their goal was to create an cozy restaurant with an Old World ambience . " On any given night , we ’ll in person know more than half the people here , " says Duval , a testament to Baci ’s stem in the neck of the woods . The fare is as classifiable , and features dish like Baci ’s touch rigatoni con salsiccia with Italian sausage and basil in a garlic blood-red sauce ; gnocchi with gorgonzola , garlic , and fresh tomato ; and grilled pork chops with roast peppercorn , tomatoes , and mushrooms . Save elbow room for sweet with Baci ’s popular tiramisu , crème brûlée , puff pastry , and cheesecake made with mascarpone cheese and livid chocolate .
Paesano
When George " Cass " Castagnola opened Castagnola ’s in Manoa Marketplace in 1982 , the Italian restaurant became an instant hit for visitant , topical anesthetic , and even renown . " Frank Sinatra had him ship meatball to California , " say George Castagnola Jr. , who counted Don Ho and Tom Selleck as frequent visitor to Castagnola ’s . This was a restaurant where President Richard Nixon was once refused a reservation because the arrangement would make an incommodiousness for Castagnola ’s steady customers , who do first . Castagnola ’s closed in the former 1990s , but Billy Rattanasamay , who worked in the restaurant , give Paesano in its place . Paesano ’s menu is nearly selfsame to that of fellow eating house Assaggio ’s ( both Rattanasamay and Assaggio ’s owner , Thomas Ky , were school-age child of Castagnola ) , which means unquestionable Southern Italian cuisine and a dining experience double-dyed for business lunches , escort nights , or gather with friends . And for the look of the eating house and the quality of the food , one imagines that Paesano could get aside with charging a lot more for a lot less , but just like Castagnola ’s before it , taking care of the customer comes first .
Cafe Sistina
Chef Sergio Mitrotti , a former scuba diver , leghorn , vivid artist , and Beverly Hills dress shop clothing memory possessor , bluster two impressive natural endowment : cooking delightful northerly Italian - style culinary art , and painting epic flooring - to - roof frescoes quicken famous scenes from the Sistine Chapel in Rome . you’re able to enjoy both at Cafe Sistina . Northern Italy is cattle country , and the cuisine usable here reflects the offering of the soil : fresh herbs , garlic , and mushrooms saving grace stinger of beef and veal , as well as hard sausages . Mitrotti , who grow up in the northerly city of Turin , create memorable dish antenna , such as spicy lamb sausage with forest mushrooms over polenta ; wide ribbon pappardelle alimentary paste sauteed with salvia and butter , and topped with a venison ragu ; unused carpaccio serve with an original Venetian sauce and plane imported Parmesan ; and family - made gnocchi with wild wild boar sausage in a barolo wine-coloured sauce .
Taormina
In Southern Sicily , the seaside village of Taormina looks out over sunny beach , a simple 45 minutes from Mount Etna , Europe ’s biggest active vent . In Hawaii , Taormina the restaurant is not much different – a stylish and voguish finish with an outdoor blank space that look out on tender Waikiki Beach , just an island away from active Kilauea . The spirit , too , are as spot - on . Enjoy the truffle carbonara , a fresh fettuccine served with assorted mushrooms , pancetta finished with a poached egg , and shaved seasonal earth-ball ; Italian rice with porcini , mixed mushroom , and Parmesan cheese , and transcend with sauteed foie gras and balsamic decrease ; and pesci misti , with grilled salmon , shrimp scampi , scallop , calamary , clams , fresh snap of the day , and mushrooms with an oregano fertilization .
Mediterraneo
With a new location in the former Wine Stop , a wizardly little pink firm just off Hauoli St in Moiliili , Mediterraneo offers nonchalant , trattoria - vogue dishes in a quaint , cozy atm . Chef Fabrizio Favale , originally from Rome , fix a variety of speciality such as strangolapreti made with blimp prepared in - business firm ; black squid ink tagliolini neri with calamari and Maine lobster ; and a popular piccata , served with either veal or chicken knocker . This reasonably priced fix - in - the - paries is thoroughgoing for versed dinners .
Bernini
Bernini prepare haute Italian culinary art – contemporary , but still authentic – in an refined surround . head by a commission to " draw out the natural and best tasting flavors " from his ingredients , chef Kengo Matsumoto trained professionally in Northern Italy before opening Italian restaurants across Tokyo , and now Hawaii . Selections let in innovative dish like novel ocean urchin spaghetti , as well as racy classics , like a tardily - poke fun pork porchetta . Other front-runner include male monarch crab atop a tomato cream sauce linguine ; penne with an winter sweet tomato plant sauce serve with swordfish ; and Roma - style Norcia pizza pie with mozzarella , mushrooms , Italian sausage , walnut tree , and truffle oil . Matsumoto equilibrate sheer Italian flavors with an attending to detail distinctive of Nipponese kitchens .
Sabrina’s Restaurant
Sabrina ’s is a husband - and - married woman surgical procedure , serving fresh pastas and Italian dish in a diminutive spot in Kaimuki . polarity on the tables warn of a longer - than - common potential wait time due to the industriousness and care they put into prepare each dish ( and because it ’s potential just the two of them function ) , calling their dining experience " slow food . " But the food for thought is deserving the wait : dishes like seafood risotto with impertinent clams , mussels , tiger shrimp , crenation , and calamari ; spiedini di carne skewer with grill wimp knocker , kick , pork barrel , and sausage balloon marinate in white wine with potatoes and vegetables ; and house - made agnolotti , ravioli , and gnocchi are all knockouts . Plus , it ’s BYOB .
Sarento’s at the Top of the Ilikai
World - course of instruction Italian culinary art assemble local Hawaii flavor at Sarento ’s at the Top of the Ilikai Hotel , with entrees such as a mozzarella and polenta - crust duple pork chop served with Hamakua mushroom sauce and goat tall mallow St. Basil mash potatoes ; osso buco potstickers with gremolata and orange saffron vinaigrette ; ahi bruschetta with ciabatta crostini , Kalamata pesto , avocado , and Kamuela tomato ; and grill local seafood sausage served with lilikoi mustard . savour a glassful of vino from an extensive wine list while a alive piano player plays wind in this chic dining room richly above Honolulu – the panoramic views from Diamond Head to Downtown are among the best in the city .
Formaggio Wine Bar
Although the stress in this spot is the eponymous wine-coloured – of which there is an impressive pick boast closely 90 vintages , include 30 wines available by the ice or in 2 oz tastes ) , Formaggio , located in the abdomen of Market City , offers an equally worthwhile Italian and Mediterranean menu . dish aerial here are staring for sharing , with a selection of lighter fare such as pizza , sandwiches , and salads , making it kind of a arrant date daub . The pizza pie primavera is top - notch , and comes topped with portobello mushroom , brinjal , roast peppers , zucchini , onions , and goat cheese . The prosciutto di parma sandwich , with dry - cure prosciutto , scented St. Basil the Great pesto , mozzarella tall mallow , and fresh tomatoes is also excellent , and classic like smoked salmon carpaccio and escargot bleu really bug out .
Arancino
Voted the best Italian restaurant in Hawaii by theHonolulu Star Advertiser , Arancino offers Napoli - vogue culinary art prepared with pastas , meats , and Malva sylvestris imported straight from Italy . blend that with its penchant for locally source seafood and produce , and you ’ve got the good of both globe . With two localization in Waikiki and one at the Kahala Hotel , Arancino is a name and address for both locals and tourer . Menu highlight include spaghetti served with calamari and fly Pisces hard roe in garlic and olive oil ; pizza pie capricciosa , topped with mushroom , eggs , bell peppers , imported Italian prosciutto crudo , mozzarella , and Parmesan cheese with a boiled egg ; risotto di funghi , featuring five dissimilar mushroom-shaped cloud in pick sauce ; and linguine ai gamberetti , swear out with contraband Panthera tigris shrimp and arugula in a homemade love apple sauce .
Vino Italian Tapas and Wine Bar
name one of " America ’s 50 Most Amazing Wine Experiences " byFood & Winein 2006 , Vino is still go strong a decade later , with an unmatched wine selection and a strong miscellanea of unbelievable Italian smasher . Enjoy hauula tomatoes served with crispy chicharron , Maui onion plant , pine nuts , and calamansi in a maize vinaigrette ; house - made three - cheese gnocchi wait on with jumbo lump crabby person , roast alii mushrooms , pea plant shoots , cauliflower , and kabocha pumpkin puree in a sage chocolate-brown butter sauce ; Dungeness Cancer with jalapeño , basil , fresh corn , and lobster and uni buerre blanc atop helping hand - cut refreshed linguini . Master sommelier Chuck Furuya and local restauranter D.K. Kodama designed Vino in the style of a traditional Italian enoteca , proffer a relaxed atmosphere for friend to gather , discourse , and partake in a glass of good wine and yummy tapas .
Assaggio
With more than six locations across Oahu , Assaggio ’s is the go - to favorite for Italian culinary art , attend up generous dower of delicious southerly Italian cuisine at reasonable Price . The carte is panoptic and record like a gloss of Italian sweetheart and styles : arrabiata , bolla , casino , francese , marsala , olio , piccata , puttanesca , scampi – it ’s all here , in dishes with Gallus gallus , veal , steak , fresh seafood , and vegetarian . assay the Sicilian poulet , pan - fry in olive rock oil and garlic , and serve with roast potatoes , buzzer peppers , onions , and mushrooms in a ashen wine sauce ; hot antipasto clams , mussel , calamari , and prawn served in a house - made garlic , paprika , and spicy cayenne white wine butter sauce ; breaded veal saltimbocca romana , topped with melted mozzarella cheese , prickly-seeded spinach , and prosciutto ham ; or even the classic Caesar salad , prepared tableside with simple ingredients .
La Cucina
All the pasta are prepared fresh daily in - household at this cubby eating place in Kakaako . The restaurant is small , so reservation are required , and there ’s only one chef in the kitchen : Don Truong , formerly of Mediterraneo , who prepares rustic , crowd - pleasing meals such as mushroom bruschetta , osso buco , house - made sausage , and black lobster ravioli in a saffron crocus cream sauce . get in early , before seats fill up and dishes deal out – especially the desserts . Chef Truong is a passkey afters chef as well , offering decadent and unforgettable crème brûlée cheesecake and tiramisu prepared right at the eating place .
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Bernini Honolulu
Baci Bistro & Bar
Cafe Sistina
Taormina Sicilian Cuisine
Bernini Honolulu
Sarento’s at The Top of The Ilikai
Arancino Di Mare
Assaggio Ristorante
