Pono Burger invited me and a guest to celebrate their one year anniversary. Other than a mouth watering food tasting, no other compensation was received.
There's no shortage of good restaurants in the Westside. But there's never enough restaurants created with the heart and soul that Chef Makani Gerardi brings to Pono Burger.
A native of Hawaii, Chef Makani named Pono Burger for the Hawaiian word meaning “to do things with integrity” or “to do things the right way;" while her food philosophy is simple: use organic and farm fresh ingredients.
While the menu is purely Hawaii, the ingredients aren't. Chef Makani sources local artisanal food vendors to bring the best ingredients to Pono Burger. Committed to the farm-to-table movement, I also spotted an herb garden outside the restaurant.
Celebrating it's one year anniversary, Chef Makani
planned a special celebration dinner where I was able to preview speciality burgers and other items that will only be available for a limited time.
Starting with the Farmers Market Salad, which had a healthy helping of La Oveja
Negra
organic Manchego
cheese and organic Santa Barbara pistachios, the Dijon-apple vinaigrette was an absolutely perfect touch of flavor on an otherwise light salad.
For dinner, we were given three sliders of the seasonal burgers available this spring, including: The Paniolo, The Palani and my favorite, The Kahiki burger, which was made with an organic beef patty, organic roasted red bell peppers & Ras
el
Hanout
grilled eggplant, housemade
tzatziki
sauce, organic cucumber strings with a citrus mint drizzle.
For a non-burger eater (oooppss
- did I just say that?!), The Kahiki
burger had a refreshing flavor with
a light bite. It didn't feel foo heavy or overly dressed, unlike the other two burgers which both had Niman Ranch Bacon. For my tastebuds, The Kahiki was a perfect spring burger: full of flavor but otherwise not a heavy burger.
To accompany the sliders we tasted two types of pomme frites, the organic russet and the sweet potato. Both fries were seasoned perfectly and just enough crispiness to munch on them the entire evening. But the winner was really the garlic aioli. It was perfection!
To end our meal, we were given an option of one of three shakes: Organic Strawberry, Salted Caramel with Niman Ranch bacon bits or Hot Fudge. Normally I don't go for the tried and true, but our waitress was very persistent about the strawberry shake. Not being one to turn any type of berry away, I took her suggestion and ordered the Organic Strawberry shake.
Sweet, but not to sweet. Enough strawberries to really give you the berry taste, but not too much to where you are biting into berries. The vanilla ice cream was there, but only served to compliment the shake, not overpower the sweetness of the fruit. It was the perfect ending to a beautiful evening.
Going back to Chef Makani
: she did a great job of bringing Hawaii to Santa Monica. Her warm personality and attention to detail is felt in every aspect of the restaurant.
The atmosphere of Pono
Burger is absolutely welcoming. The space is not only historical but completely restored with an island feel. It is a true Westside
restaurant: California casual, but with an upscale and unique menu you wont find elsewhere.
Pono Burgers
829 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA
(310) 584-7005
Reservations: Not necessary
Hours: Sunday - Thursday 11:00am-9:00pm
Friday - Saturday: 11:00am-11:00pm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PonoBurger
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PonoBurger
***VIEW ADDITIONAL PHOTOS BY CLICKING HERE***
This place looks good! My parents are from Hawaii & my whole fam loves burgers. Bookmarking this on my Yelp account as a place to try out!!
ReplyDeleteJen - you will be very impressed! The chef and her family have only lived in So Cal for 18 months, so the restaurant is VERY authentic. You will enjoy it :)
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