Even master chefs like cheap grinds...
By Melissa Chang
Special to The Advertiser
You’ve gone to their restaurants to eat some of the fanciest meals. But like most Hawaii folks, even the Islands’ most renowned chefs get a hankering for comfort foods. We asked a few chefs what their favorite fast-food sins are, and you may be surprised to see how similar their palates are to yours.
Let's start with George Mavrothalassitis — or Chef Mavro, as he is more widely known. He serves some of the country’s most highly regarded French Pacific fusion cuisine, yet he’s partial to chili dogs. In fact, he even eats them at airport snack bars, if he has time. He used to swear by the chili dogs at Scoop du Jour at the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel, but since that takeout spot closed, he’s found his new favorite — the chili dog ($5.95) at Hank’s Haute Dogs on Coral Street in Kakaako.
"For many years, I was a judge at the chili cookoff that Rick Enos used to put on in the Ward Centre area," said Mavrothalassitis, who moved to Hawaii from Marseilles, France, in 1988. "We don’t have chili in France. I thought it was so different. And since then, I have loved to eat good chili."
