Good Grief.

*NOTE: This blogpost originally appeared June 6, 2007 on kccfoodie.typepad.com

$22 for a Cornish game hen? $26 for seared 'ahi salad? This is what I have been subjected to in my ongoing search for accessible creative cuisine here on 'Oahu. What we have so far is a sprinkling of places like Grand Cafe and Nico's that certainly offer a relief for our wallets, but hardly much else is out there. Fine-dining is easily found, despite the lack of excellence in most of it. I don't mind the occasional hamburger steak, but more often I crave the simple but creatively concocted kind of food available in the rest of America. Where can you find a cute little place for good espresso and a flaky pain au chocolat in the morning? How about a croque monsieur or roasted eggplant panino at lunch? Or a delicious stump of baked goat cheese atop fresh locally grown lettuces for less than $10? Or bold but beautifully crafted works of pastry, like ones found at SF's Citizen Cake? Granted, kudos go out to Stage and Cassis for offering something refreshingly new, but despite that the culinary scene remains nearly stagnant. And I think part of the problem is locals are afraid of change. It's the Asian mentality of "Why change what's already good?", and we've got ourselves in a bloody rut, and I'm sure I'm not the only one sick of it. How do we know we can't make what we have BETTER? Come on, people.