Hawaii Mom Blog: 5-Course Tasting Menu at M by Jeremy Shigekane

Meli Melo

Our group was excited to try M by Jeremy Shigekane, formerly M by Chef Mavro and Shigekane's new concept of modern Hawaii French bistro experience using locally sourced ingredients on the menu. You can either order a 5-course tasting menu with a vegetarian option or order ala carte. We opted for the tasting menu and started off with some fun cocktails from Bar M.

Bar M is a selection of seasonal cocktails and mocktails created by barman Deon Togami and Chef Shigekane. We had the "fall" honey-ginger (balvenie 12-year doublewood, fall spices, honey, ginger, drambuie, whiskey barrel aged bitters) and the Olena, one of Togami's most popular creations and a play on the Moscow mule (fall spices, Grey Goose vodka, ginger, pineapple, lime, bitters, and ginger beer). We also ordered the blueberry-cinnamon soda mocktail (blueberry, cinnamon, pineapple, ginger, lime, fever tree premium club soda) and asked Togami to spike it. We were there for a celebration after all!

Our tasting menu started with the meli melo, a colorful array of farm vegetables and hibiscus. It was followed by the m catch of the day (I loved the tomato with the fish) and the m duck (served with sweet potato, bok choy, basmati rice, herbes de provence). Duck is not my thing, but it was delicious and not at all gamey as I was expecting. The star of the show was the beef dish -  a5 wagyu chuck eye, carrot, mushrooms, persillade, wasabi creme fraiche served with pomme de terre and kale and beets. We went with the Chef's recommendation of enjoying the a5 wagyu medium rare and it was perfect. By now we were all feeling full, but we couldn't resist their apple dessert - barley, lemongrass ice cream, kaffir lime. The lemongrass ice cream was a real highlight.

With culinary experience from New York City, San Francisco, and Hawaii, Chef Shigekane's talent shines through a well thought out meal. Also, in line with the restaurant's mission, the menus change weekly and highlights Hawai'i's farms and purveyors. An excellent concept!