“Are you talking about the cookies?” asks Thaddeus Pham as I enthusiastically chat with Raquel Curtis at Anh Chị Em Bakery’s weekly pop-up at Fishcake about an unrelated topic (Labubus).

“No, but what cookies?” I ask, and Thaddeus puts me on to Lovejoy Confections, another Fishcake vendor on Thursdays. Since he and I both adore his sister’s jasmine tea cake, I figure we have similar tastes in sweets. His recommendation goes on my to-try list.

Photo: Andrea Lee

On a Saturday morning, I track down these cookies at Try Coffee, when the shop is busy but not packed. Lovejoy Confections is set up at a table beside the counter with neat stacks of cookies and pastries on rustic wooden boards, each with a handwritten label. Jonny Kimbro, the owner, is there to take my order.

Kimbro is a familiar name on the baking scene. He made arguably the city’s best chocolate chip cookies at The Curb in Kaimukī, and before that cooked at Senia, The Pig & the Lady, Fête and Kapa Hale. Frolic editor Mari Taketa still gets rhapsodic about the natto Stroopwafel that Kimbro made one year for Natto Day.

SEE ALSO: The Curb’s Cookies and Toasts Are Worth A Drive to Kaimukī

Here’s what I try:

Photo: Andrea Lee

Miso soba cookie, $4.50

Looking at Lovejoy’s menu, this catches my eye. With buckwheat groats and cacao nibs in the mix, this cookie looks like a mineral deposit and is about as big as my hand. One bite, and I’m hooked. It has the perfect balance of not too sweet and a touch of salty with a soft, chewy body peppered with crunchy bits. If you try only one cookie, this would be my recommendation.

Photos: Andrea Lee

Chai sugar cookie sandwich, $6.50

At first sniff, I’m not sure if I’ll like this since it has a strong cinnamon smell, but the chai flavor in the cookie is actually not strong. The brown butter maple crème filling makes it for me; it’s richly flavored yet almost fluffy in texture and addictive. Keep in mind that it’s a messy eating experience. You’ll get sugar all over your mouth and fingers, and crumbs will fall everywhere, and you’ll want to eat them all up.

Sablé butter cookie, left, and Stroopwafel. Photo: Andrea Lee

Stroopwafel, $4.50

The Stroopwafel is the only cookie made fresh when you order it. Kimbro pops a couple of balls of batter into a little waffle iron, then cuts the cookies into circles, squeezes the shoyu caramel filling between them and puts a finishing shake of black sesame sugar. It only takes a few minutes and is well worth the wait when you get to enjoy a warm, crisp Stroopwafel with oozing caramel. It also walks the line of sweet and salty in the best way.

Sablé butter cookie, $3

This dense, chewy cookie is mildly sweet and reminds me of the kind that comes in a tin. I don’t quite get the makrut lime sugar flavor, though it might be too subtle to taste after eating all the other cookies. It’s nice, but I probably won’t get it again given the other more tantalizing options.

I also try the lup cheong kolache bun ($8), which is good but doesn’t stand out compared to the sweets.

Photo: Andrea Lee

Lovejoy is only about a month old, born from Kimbro’s desire to strike out with his own creations. At The Curb, he made savory pastries but wanted to branch out more.

To come up with such unique flavors, Kimbro credits reading and trial and error. “How do you make a dessert that’s craveable and not just sweet?” he asked himself, which led to the mash-ups of sweet and savory, drawing from Southeast Asian culinary influences and his experience at Asian restaurants.

In April, Lovejoy Confections will continue to pop up at Fishcake and Try Coffee.

Tips:

• All the cookies are big enough to share and pair well with coffee.
• Since the Stroopwafel is made fresh, its filling is drippy—watch out for your clothes!
• Kimbro accepts private custom orders. DM him on Instagram to discuss the details.

What: Cookies with Asian ingredients and flavors
Cost: $3 to $6.50 for a cookie (most are $4.50)
Where:

• Pop-up at Try Coffee, Ward Centre 2nd floor, 1200 Ala Moana Blvd.
• Pop-up at Fishcake, 307 Kamani St.

When:

• Try Coffee: Every Saturday in April, 8 a.m. til sold out
• Fishcake: April 10, 23 and 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Payment: Cash, card, Venmo
Contact: DM on Instagram
Follow: @lovejoy.confections

SEE MORE SWEET TREATS:

Sweet Treats: Where to Find Hawai‘i’s Only Snowthies
Sweet Treats: Don’t Sleep on the Hojicha Frappé at Matcha Café Maiko
Sweet Treats: Kailua’s New Ice Cream Parlor Has One Request

Editor’s Note: We originally published this guide in July 2023 to coincide with calendar-driven celebrations of ice cream. But because the weather is getting warmer, we figured we’d share this again, with two newcomers that have generated lots of sweet buzz.

Sunday may be National Ice Cream Day and July may be National Ice Cream Month, but ice cream is always in season in our ever-80-degree climate. While there is no shortage of chains and international brands, O‘ahu is home to a slew of delicious local ice cream makers that deserve your time and attention. Here, we spotlight these homegrown favorites.

Black Sheep Ice Cream Co.

Photo: Alexander Pang

Where: 

• Waipio: 94-1235 Ka Uka Blvd., (808) 600-5655
• Wahiawā: 43 S. Kamehameha Hwy, (808) 620-5550
• Kaka‘ako: H Mart, Second Floor, 458 Keawe St.
• Ko Olina Center & Station, 92-1049 Olani St. #3-101C

Contact: @blacksheepcreamco

Black Sheep specializes in thick, rich ice cream that pulls apart in slow spoonfuls. The micro chain makes an assortment of eyebrow-raising flavors, including Buttah Cakes, whose cream cheese base is embedded with chunks of butter cake; and the loaded Salted Crackamel, featuring salted cream, caramel ribbons and crispy cracker brittle. Pictured above is the popular Creep It Real, a luscious and filling take on cookies n’ cream. Grab your choice in a cup, classic or chocolate waffle cone, shake or float. Coffee lovers can even submerge their scoop in an affogato.

Butterfly Ice Cream (closed)

Photo: Alexander Pang

Where: Inside Rabbit Rabbit Tea University, Mō‘ili‘ili, 2700 S. King St., (808) 429-4483

Contact: butterflycreamery.com, @butterflyicecream

Located inside a boba shop below the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Butterfly Ice Cream serves over a dozen creamy house-made flavors. The black sesame is a standout, with a sweet, nutty taste that hovers pleasantly on the tongue. Butterfly’s specialty is “spirited” alcohol-infused ice cream, so we tried every dad’s timeless favorite: rum raisin. The rum-soaked raisins and undercurrent of alcohol lend depth to the flavor without overpowering the senses, an off-duty treat that goes down smooth.

SEE ALSO: Celebrate the Plant-Based Life at These 11 Vegan-Friendly Dessert Spots

Castaways Ice Cream

Photo: Gabriela Cervantes

Where: 2346 S. King St.

Contact: @castawaysicecream

The newest ice cream shop to open in Honolulu, Castaways offers premium, homemade ice cream, made fresh with natural ingredients in the shop. Flavors include birthday cake, pandan with coconut, pistachio and strawberry banana.

Dave’s Hawaiian Ice Cream

Photo: Alexander Pang

Where: 

• ‘Aiea: 98-820 Moanalua Road, (808) 487-7887
• Waikīkī: Ilikai Hotel, First Floor, 1777 Ala Moana Blvd., (808) 425-4496
• Pearl City: 850 Kamehameha Hwy, (808) 456-8888
• Waimānalo: 41-1537 Kalanianaʻole Hwy, (808) 259-0356
• Waipi‘o Shopping Center, 94-1040 Waipi‘o Uka St., (808) 677-0028

Contact: daveshawaiianicecream.com, @davesicecream

After 40 years of serving local ice cream, Dave’s remains a household name. The scoops may not look as glitzy as some of the newer kids on the block, but Dave’s honed its straightforward flavors long ago. For a place that serves over 40 flavors, Dave’s has quite a few winners, including toasted macadamia nut, azuki bean and mint chip. It’s safe to call the green tea ice cream an island classic, with a creamy and distinctive flavor that’s kept locals hooked for decades.

Double Fat Ice Cream

Photo: Martha Cheng

Where: ‘Alohilani Resort Waikīkī Beach, 124 Kealohilani Ave.

Contact: @doublefaticecream

Double Fat offers intriguing flavors with a nostalgic, local bent. Take the honey furikake flavor, based on the Chex Mix snack that you munched on as a kid at a post-game potluck, or the almond cookie flavor, with the buttery color and taste of the Chinese confection. Looking for something even more adventurous? Try the Crack Seed Delight, a sweet-salty-sour creation of strawberry and sweet cream ice cream, mochi crunch, condensed milk, li hing powder and whip.

Henry’s Place

Photo: Alexander Pang

Where: 234 Beach Walk, Waikīkī, (808) 772-8822

Contact: @henrysplacehawaii

Nestled between bustling Waikīkī hotels, Henry’s Place serves ice cream in styrofoam cups with flavor names scrawled on the side in Sharpie. While the presentation is unassuming, seasoned foodies know not to judge a book by its cover. The ice cream here is wonderfully light, smooth and addictive. Fruity flavors such as mango, liliko‘i and pineapple are perfect after a sweltering day at the beach. Henry’s Place is cash-only, and outdoor seating is limited, so come prepared.

SEE ALSO: Chill Out with 8 Frozen Treats We Found Around O‘ahu

Lappert’s Hawai‘i

Photo: Alexander Pang

Where: Hilton Hawaiian Village Rainbow Bazaar, Waikīkī, 2005 Kalia Road, (808) 943-0256

Contact: lappertshawaii.com, @lappertsaloha

Lappert’s is another veteran local ice cream maker, born of humble beginnings on Kaua‘i. While the majority of locations are on the neighbor islands, Lappert’s in Waikīkī offers the brand’s expansive selection of ice cream, baked goods and coffee. Fans of chunky, hearty ice cream loaded with caramel, nuts and fudge will find their match here. If you’re hungry for dessert, feast your eyes on the Kaua‘i Pie, a mouthwatering combo of Kona coffee ice cream, coconut flakes, dark chocolate fudge, macadamia nuts and vanilla cake crunch.

Please Come Again

Photo: Maria Burke

Where: 322 Ku‘ulei Road (across from Kailua Elementary School)

Contact: pleasecomeagainhawaii.com, @pleasecomeagainhawaii

In the former Double Three location, the new shop by Jo and Kyle Wai Lin, a couple from the Bay Area, feels like a hip boutique that happens to sell ice cream. The 16 flavors are just as cool, with many ingredients sourced locally. Different-size scoops are available in a cup, sugar cone, handmade waffle cone, four-flavor flight and an affogato topped with freshly pulled Tradition Coffee Roasters espresso. Although Please Come Again hasn’t been crafting ice cream for very long, the flavors and textures show staying power.

SEE ALSO: Sweet Treats: Kailua’s New Ice Cream Parlor Has One Request

Sage Creamery

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Where: 91-3575 Kauluakoko St., ‘Ewa Beach

Contact: sagecreamery.com, @sagecreamery

Sage Creamery whips up local ingredients into delightful and intriguing flavors on a menu that changes monthly. While the popular Strawberry Fields and Cookies + Cream are frequent fixtures, other months have seen sumptuous limited-time choices like Butter Mochi, Guava Cream Pie and Blue Jasmine Milk Tea. Years in the making, Sage Creamery opened its scoop shop and café in ‘Ewa Beach. They tend to sell out, so if you want a taste, make a point to stop by sooner in the day.

Sweet As Ice Cream

Photo: Courtesy of Sweet As Ice Cream

Where:

• Lā‘ie: Hukilau Marketplace, 55-370 Kamehameha Hwy, (808) 762-0644
• Hale‘iwa: 62-620 Kamehameha Hwy
• Ala Moana Center: Center Court Level 3

Contact: sweetasicecream.com, @sweetas_icecream

Sweet As blends its ice cream with ripe fruit, creating colorful treats with potent flavor and texture. It’s simple: Choose your ice cream (vanilla, coconut, dairy-free coconut or soft serve) and your fruit (mango, strawberry, pineapple, blueberry, raspberry or mixed berry), and Sweet As will blend the two together. You can savor the scoops in a cup or a handmade waffle cone.

Sweet Creams

Photo: Catherine Toth Fox

Where: 1430 Kona St., Kaka‘ako, (808) 260-4725

Contact: @sweetcreams808

Sweet Creams specializes in rolled ice cream. After placing your order, you can watch the ice cream makers spread patches of ice cream on a cold plate before crafting them into snug, sweet rolls. There are vegan-friendly options and customizable combos allowing you to choose a base ice cream and up to four toppings. Speaking of toppings: Sweet Creams has everyone (and every ice cream) covered, with more than 30 choices ranging from gummy bears and Fruity Pebbles to fresh fruit and Okinawan sweet potato.

Uncle’s Ice Cream Sandwiches

Photo: Alexander Pang

Where: Various retailers; see the map here

Contact: unclesicecream.com, @unclesicecream

Once a North Shore stand dreamed up by hydroponic lettuce farmers, Uncle’s Ice Cream Sandwiches is now an island-wide enterprise. You can find the treats at grocers and retailers like ABC Store and Whole Foods. Uncle’s rich ice cream and thick cookies make for a satisfying mouthful, with flavors running the gamut from honey peanut butter to North Shore coffee.

SEE ALSO: Cool Operator–Uncle’s Ice Cream Expands

Wing Ice Cream

Photo: Courtesy of Wing Ice Cream

Where: 1145 Maunakea St. Ste. 4, Chinatown, (808) 536-4929

Contact: wingicecream.com, @wingicecream

This popular Chinatown ice cream parlor offers upbeat flavors like mango and chrysanthemum as well as heavier flavors like the bourbon-based Daddy Chill and a chocolate Oreo marshmallow swirl mashup fittingly called S’mOreos. If you’re looking for non-dairy options, try the coconut-based ice creams such as the chocolate and banana Coco Monkey and the cherry and chocolate Mon Cheri.

Tomorrow I’ll be strolling the cobblestone streets of a medieval French village in search of a crusty baguette, some ham and a block of salty butter to make myself a jambon beurre. I am finally heading off to live, eat and drink my best life with special people in Europe, but before I go, I made a rendezvous with some friends at Fishcake to try the new French-inspired pop-up aptly named Baton a Manger. I figured I’d go before I really ruin myself.

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Topher Jacob and Courtney Heim, who have been in the café biz (I miss Brue Bar) for the better part of the last decade or more, bring a taste of trendy Paris to our corner of the world in the form of trés chic pastry sandwiches. Baton a Manger, which sounds like a play on the sandwich chain Prêt à Manger, roughly translates to “stick to eat,” and describes the slender profile of their sandwiches that slide perfectly into a skinny macaron box. The bread isn’t a baguette, but rather buttery choux pastry crust moulded with a well to hold various toppings.

Photo: Thomas Obungen

This past weekend, you could choose between three savory options: jambon beurre with Swiss cheese ($18), kim chee kamaboko salad ($20) and a vadouvan curry chicken ($18). The lone sweet version was a spin on turon, banana lumpia. Additionally, Jacob and Heim also have black truffle potato chips, luxe chocolate candy bars and two bottled beverages, all beautifully packaged to go.

Photo: Thomas Obungen

I will admit, leaving Fishcake with a white Baton tote feels like leaving the Hermès boutique with a quota bag: it’s kinda special. My friends and I joked that if we were bag ladies, the Baton bag would be our next “it” bag to carry around town.

SEE ALSO: My 8 Favorite Sandwiches on O‘ahu

Inspired by famed pastry chef François Perret’s sandwiches at the Ritz Paris Le Comptoir, his bakery café in the esteemed Parisian hotel, Baton are not your average sandwich experience. They look petite, but do not be fooled as they are not easily scarfable. The buttery choux pastry crust flakes into oblivion with each bite, and with it being taco-shaped, you’ll want to eat it over a table with two hands, not in your car over your lap.

Photo: Thomas Obungen

The jambon beurre is an interpretation of the classic French sandwich, only dialed on the luxe scale. The vadouvan chicken curry baton is rich with a subtly sweet French curry flavor over chopped herb-roasted chicken, celery and cranberries. The pieces of slivered almonds and pops of sweet acidic pickled onions help cut the curry’s richness a little bit.

You could share one baton if you want to keep it light. The kim chee kamaboko baton, a Fishcake exclusive because it’s fishcake, hints at Topher and Heim’s goals of branching out to other pop-up spaces in the near future.

SEE ALSO: All the Reasons Why Anh Chị Em Is My New Favorite Bakery

The only change I would make would be to make them h’ors d’oeuvres-sized and create a sample box to try all the fillings. After a while, the curried chicken hits the same notes, so I take my time finishing the sandwich to not overwhelm my palate. Otherwise, the textures and flavors are good and different from what we normally see.

Photo: Thomas Obungen

A combo meal option includes a cello bag of their kettle-cooked truffle French onion potato chips and a choice between their bottled blueberry lemonade or a hibiscus berry tea for $6 more, a savings of $5 versus if purchased a la carte. Jacob’s Dubai chocolate bars with ube coconut or pistachio and kataifi ($15 each), often with samples freely available, are a treat too.

Follow Baton a Manger on Instagram for details of their next pop-up menu and location, which is most likely at Fishcake on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. They are also working on other pop-up locations.

Select Saturdays, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (or sold out), 307 Kamani St., @batonamanger

Girls’ Day is just around the corner, so get ready for all kinds of pink sweets and treats! Also known as Hinamatsuri, this Japanese event is celebrated on March 3 every year with gifts of spring-colored mochi. In Hawai‘i, gift-giving isn’t limited to mochi—cookies, pot pies and other local favorites join special lineups for the occasion as well. Just click on each photo below for more information.

Two more legendary mochi makers deserve mention here, perennial Girls’ Day destinations that do not post regularly on social media:

Nisshodo Mochi

More than a century old, this Kalihi shop’s pink and white chichi dango are so famous the shop often foregoes individual wrapping on Girls’ Day to keep up with demand.

1095 Dillingham Blvd., Suite 15, (808) 847-1244, nisshodomochicandy.com

Fukuya Deli

Better known for its savory okazuya dishes, this 86-year-old deli in Mō‘ili‘ili is also known for its colorful chichi dango.

2710 S. King St., (808) 946-2073, fukuyadeli.com

Bake You a Smile Hawai‘i

Pop-up in ‘Aiea

Big Island Candies

Ala Moana Center

A Cake Life

Mō‘ili‘ili

Choco le‘a

Mānoa

Foodland

Multiple locations

Fujiya Hawai‘i

McCully

K. Minamoto Hawai‘i

Multiple locations

SEE ALSO: Why We Eat Mochi and Display Dolls on Girls’ Day in Hawai‘i

Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera Hawai‘i

Mō‘ili‘ili

Kansai Yamato

Multiple locations

Kulu Kulu

Multiple locations

Sun Chong Grocery

Chinatown

Sweet Revenge

Multiple locations

Yo Mama’s Mochi & Snacks

Online

Photo: Thomas Obungen

The very scope of Mille Fête is riveting: tall cakes, big sandwiches, breads, cookies, pastries, gelato—and Spam! The city’s most anticipated bakery opened Feb. 20, and while it’s still in its early days, we couldn’t wait to try. Mille Fête combines the skills and styles of James Beard Award-winning chef Robynne Maii of Fête and Katherine Yang, who left her high-end dessert business in New York City to move to Honolulu. The place has been mobbed, with people lining up at opening.

Early days means the bakery opens late morning to late afternoon every Thursday to Monday for now. Also, expect tweaks to menu items and prices as it finds its groove.

SEE ALSO: Foodflash: Mille Fête Is Finally Opening Next Week in Chinatown

Associate editor Thomas Obungen had already sampled offerings on two visits—one hosted, one self-paid. His must-haves? The chicken sandwich (see below) and POG cake ($16 slice, $120 for 8″ whole), which he describes as “eight cloud-like layers of airy sponge, fresh fruit gelée and pastry cream that add up to something greater than the sum of its parts. Price aside, this is the purest form of Katherine Yang’s genius and unlike any other cake in Hawai‘i.”

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Last Friday, five of us in the office joined him for our first morning pastry run to the new spot on Smith Street. Here’s what we found.

Spam bao, $8

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Juicy, thick-cut Spam under a blanket of shredded cheddar in a delicate baked bao bun is a winner. Says Obungen: “Salty. Sweet. Hot. I’ve had it twice now, and I would have it again. I’ve had it hot, and I’ve had it cold, and I like it both ways. For $8, it’s worth it, but barely!” HONOLULU Editor Diane Seo likes the brush of good-quality Dijon mustard that elevates the Spam.

Ludovico curry chicken sandwich, $14

Photo: Thomas Obungen

The unanimous winner. Three people deem it crave-worthy—local chicken and golden raisins tossed in a curry mayo between house-baked kopitiam milk bread sliced to medium thickness. The hefty sandwich is “curry-forward, not mayo-forward, it’s a good balance. The $14, if it comes with chips …? But on payday, yeah,” says Hawai‘i Home & Remodel editor Darlene Dela Cruz. Seo is decisive: “I would walk five blocks for that.”

Crispy chocolate chip cookies, $10 for 7

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Unanimously described as overbaked.

Robynne’s cake, $9

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Made with local ‘ulu flour, this chocolate-rum raisin cake with salted caramel ganache is gluten-free. This pastry does not go over well—“medicinal” and “earthy” are the common reactions.

Chocolate Bell, $5

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Looks like a Choco Pie, upscaled to the nth degree. A sublime chocolate cake rich with vanilla whipped cream and covered in dark chocolate. The pick Frolic editor Mari Taketa is still thinking about.

Open Thursday to Monday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., 1113 Smith St., millefete.com, @millefete

Editor’s Note: Martha Cheng’s post was originally published on June 30, 2022, and has been a reader favorite ever since. The “glorious new era of bakeries” she writes about has continued, with Vavin Dessert Bar, Okayama Kobo, Paris Baguette, Ocean Side Bakery and the new Mille Fête expanding the city’s sweets scene.

We’ve entered a glorious new era of bakeries in Honolulu. We haven’t lacked for them in Hawai‘i (happy 105th birthday, Maui’s Komoda Store & Bakery!), but what’s happening now is new and wonderful. Five years ago, you could easily find Filipino ube cream cheese pandesal, Chinese sponge cakes and Japanese shokupan, which it seems only now the rest of the country has discovered. And the quality and variety of our European-style breads and pastries were beginning to, ahem, rise, with La Tour Bakehouse expanding its line.

And then suddenly, in the middle of the pandemic, those two strains of bakeries, Asian and European (with a little of San Francisco’s Tartine), began mixing things up, developing new and unique styles. Now, pastry boxes reveal mango sticky rice Danishes and matcha Parisian flans. Here are my current favorite bakeries in Honolulu, a blend of old and new:

Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

Wallflour Bake Shop

I try not to get too attached to anything at Wallflour because bakers Ellen Stavro and Javier Flores frequently change their pastries—past favorites such as a Mānoa Chocolate tart and pandan doughnut have now given way to new loves including a mango sticky rice Parisian flan and passion fruit mac nut praline tart. What is constant: in everything from their croissants to naturally-leavened milk bread, a precision in flavors and textures that reflects the bakers’ time working in fine dining restaurants.

wallflourbakeshop.com, @wallflourbakeshop

Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

Brown butter oat. Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

Breadshop

I know people lament how hard it can be to reserve bread at Breadshop (tip: check the website on the day of for last-minute releases!), but I think back to the bakery’s early days, when you had to chase it down at the farmers market or the medical school even, and when Chris Sy, as the sole baker, made even more limited quantities than now. So Breadshop’s brick-and-mortar feels like a blessing of abundance—an abundance of country loaves and furikake focaccia and pastry boxes of ever-evolving creations like a kūlolo Danish or smoked carrot pastry that tastes like lox on an everything bagel.

3408 Wai‘alae Ave., breadsbybreadshop.com, @breadshophnl

Assorted pastries. Photo: Martha Cheng

An pan. Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

Brug Bakery

My mood always lifts instantly when I walk into Brug’s warm, yeasty embrace. My go-tos at this chain from Hokkaido include the fluffy soft raisin bread and Hokkaido anpan, with a slightly less sweet red bean paste compared to others. And when I want something more substantial to chew on, the mochi bread.

Multiple locations, brugbakery.com, @brugbakery

An pan and raisin bread. Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

SEE ALSO: We Tried Mana Sandwiches, a New Japanese Sando Shop

Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

The Local General Store

When a butcher (Jason Chow) and baker (Harley Tunac Chow) team up, you get craveable wonders like longanisa croissants and lard chocolate chip cookies. But Tunac Chow also stands on her own, with one of my favorite chocolate croissants and seasonal sweets that take advantage of Hawai‘i’s bounty. Recent items included a brown butter mochi and guava jam Danish with kinako streusel, and a carrot cake with pineapple jam and a vanilla bean cream cheese frosting.

3458 Wai‘alae Ave., thelocalgeneralstorehi.com, @thelocalgeneralstorehi

Photo: Martha Cheng

SEE ALSO: The Local General Store Brings Meats and Sweets Under One Roof

Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

Beyond Pastry Studio

You see ube everywhere now, but Cristina Nishioka is one of the few who uses real and local ube, a much harder process than opening a bottle of ube extract. She folds it into her ube cream cheese ensaymada, one of the lightest ensaymadas in town. I try to go for Filipino Pastry Fridays, when Nishioka bakes delights like a chicken adobo pandesal, jackfruit cake and pineapple Spanish rolls.

1067 Alakea St., beyondpastrystudio.com, @beyondpastrystudio

Mango and Ube cream cheese ensaymadas. Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

SEE ALSO: First Look: Beyond Pastry Studio’s Pastries and Modern Take on Filipino Breads

Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

CakeM

At this cute and petite bakery tucked away in 808 Center, Megumi Watanabe Albritton offers exquisite Japanese-style cakes and pastries, including the best fresh fruit tart on the island, with a layer of almond cream at the bottom, and a Japanese strawberry shortcake that’s a study in simplicity—soft sponge cake, whipped cream (and real whipped cream, not whipped topping that’s common at many bakeries in Honolulu), and lightly tart strawberries that balance out the sweetness. While this cake is a staple at Japanese bakeries, CakeM offers individual servings of it that are like miniature cakes, which makes cake for one feel like even more of a special occasion.

808 Sheridan St. #308, (808) 722-5302, hellocakem-store.company.site, @cakem.hawaii

Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

Apple and black sesame kouign-amann and chocolate chip cookie. Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

B. Patisserie at Kona Coffee Purveyors

This bakery in San Francisco popularized the kouign-amann, and at this Waikīkī outpost, the sugar-crusted, flaky and buttery pastry is still one of the main reasons I’ll stand in line. But once I’m in front of B. Patisserie’s full spread of pastries and gorgeous cakes, I have a hard time not picking up a few extra sweets, from a passion fruit lemon meringue tart to citrus panna cotta to a hefty chocolate chip cookie that’s more like a river of chocolate bound together by a chewy and crisp-edged dough.

2330 Kalākaua Ave., #160, (808) 450-2364, konacoffeepurveyors.com, @konacoffeepurveyors

Chocolate dome. Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

Nanding’s Bakery

I visit Nanding’s for only one thing: Spanish rolls. Three warm rolls, with the butter seeping through the paper bag, rarely make the 10-minute walk home. Sometimes, I’ll even double back and get more of those barely sweet and salty and soft breadsticks with their light cornmeal dusting. You have to eat them warm, and I’ve tried other items from Nanding’s, but they never live up to the wondrous simplicity of the Spanish rolls.

Multiple locations

Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

Lee’s Bakery

Another bakery that I go to for only one thing: the custard pie, silky and just barely set. Most times when I’m passing by the bakery, I have no occasion whatsoever to buy a whole pie. But I can’t resist, and I buy one, and I make an occasion happen.

125 N. King St., (808) 521-6261

Photo: Sean Marrs

Hey Chinatown, y’all ready for this? Mille Fête, a collaboration between James Beard Award-winning chef Robynne Maii, her husband Chuck Bussler and New York gourmet dessert caterer Katherine Yang is finally set to open next Thursday, Feb. 20. The star power doesn’t end there: The upscale bakery-café is backed by Gail Simmons of Top Chef fame. It aims to build on Fête’s brand of New American cooking with local Hawai‘i flair, adding Yang’s pastry prowess, inspiration from the vibrancy of New York City and food memories from the group’s travels.

Photo: Sean Marrs

Mille Fête, which roughly translates as a thousand celebrations, will offer an assortment of baked goodies. Think loaves of Fête’s airy sourdough, lardo bread with fatty bits of pancetta and Portuguese sausage, Okinawan sweet potato rolls and soft Hainanese-style loaves known as hailam kopitiam. Stuffed bao buns, hand pies and sandwiches layered with kalua pig, ‘ahi confit and local corned beef brisket round out the savory selection. I’m especially looking forward to tucking into Fête’s sublime chicken liver mousse on warm sourdough for a midafternoon snack.

Photo: Sean Marrs

Yang, a graduate of the French Pastry Institute, baked at Restaurant Daniel, Prune and Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery before she founded her custom dessert catering company, Gigi Blue. With her leading Mille Fête’s kitchen, expect cakes including a passion orange guava layer cake and “chantilly-stuffed deviled chocolate cake enrobed in chocolate affectionately named ‘bells,’ calamansi coffee cake, and olive oil citrus cake to name a few,” according to a press release.

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“I’ve known Katherine since 1999, and we bonded over flavorful foods you looked forward to enjoying again and again,” says Maii. “Katherine has always been in my head and heart when cooking at Fête. I always ask myself, ‘Would Katherine love this?’ A once-in-a-lifetime chance where our experiences, tastes and techniques can coalesce to create something truly special.”

Photo: Sean Marrs

Cookies will take a prominent spot on the counter, ranging from New York’s iconic black-and-whites infused with liliko‘i to crispy kakimochi cookies and brown butter sables sandwiched with local vanilla salted caramel. Fête’s popular house-made ice creams, including the Rocky Road to Hana and kūlolo, will also make an appearance.

Custom roasts from Bean About Town, hot and cold-brewed, Tea Chest teas, and rotating house-made sodas are on the drink menu.

Photo: Sean Marrs

For the first couple of months, hours will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, Thursday to Monday. When the liquor license is approved, hours will extend to 9 p.m.; eventually, the group hopes to open seven days a week. Then you’ll be able to pair small savory bites with natural wines by the glass or bottle and digestifs to end the evening. Bussler anticipates the menu will offer around 20 bottles of low-intervention and biodynamic wines and a handful of amari to sip.

SEE ALSO: Find This Bar With Hundreds of Wines to Taste in Industrial Kaka‘ako

Work to renovate the 22-year home of Little Village Noodle Shop began last summer. Crews gutted the space down to the stone and concrete floor, Bussler says, and save for the ADA accessible ramp leading in, the layout is completely new. Now, there is a row of banquet seating, with small tables to the right. To the left, facing the two large windows, are 10 bar stools. Eventually, there will be sidewalk seating at small tables. Doggie treats will be available for purchase, as will sauces, spreads and other condiments. Stay tuned for a followup after we get our hands on the baked goods and sandwiches.

Open from Feb. 20 Thursday to Monday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., 1113 Smith St., @millefete

Editor’s note: This story, originally published on June 24, 2024, was written not long after Hana Quon moved from Boston to Honolulu and began providing her renowned sweets and sandwiches at The Curb in Kaimukī. On Jan. 22, she was named a semifinalist for a James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker, one of nine industry professionals from Hawai‘i in the running for different JB awards. 

Photo: Courtesy of Hana Quon

Rare these days is an Instagram-beautiful dessert that’s also exquisite in taste. Hana Quon nails both. Eight months ago, she moved to Honolulu after closing Café Madeleine in Boston, where she was a partner for 10 years. Her pastries are so beloved that when Katy Perry filmed American Idol on O‘ahu, she put in a special order. Quon’s textbook-perfect canelé showcase crunchy exteriors and custardy insides, eclairs serve as vessels for an almost fudgy Honoka‘a Chocolate Co. pastry cream, fresh figs and honeycomb are set like jewels on danishes. At The Curb in Kaimukī, where she provides the sweets and sandwiches, these will likely have sold out by the time you read this.

At Café Madeleine, Quon executed a mostly classical French patisserie, she says, and like many pastry chefs and bakers across the country, over the years has begun to incorporate Asian flavors (she is Korean and Chinese) into European techniques. “I don’t think it’s as simple as just black sesame this or matcha that,” she says. “You can’t just be like, ‘Oh, it’s this fun, Asian trendy flavor.” She wants to treat Asian ingredients with the same reverence usually reserved for whatever’s French and fancy by association. “Before I use anything, I like to use the best possible version of it and learn about its history. Getting to know the ingredient really well is important to me, even those I grew up with—I can’t bring it up if I don’t do the work.”

SEE ALSO: My 9 Favorite Bakeries in Honolulu

For her, that has meant learning that “black sesame actually shines the best when you balance its natural savory and bitter notes and add more sugar than you’d like to” and delving into matcha’s different flavor facets—for instance, a prized matcha might have an “umami flavor profile that doesn’t work very well for baking.” What does pair well is the “complex bitterness” of “Tsujiri’s ‘Old Days in Kyoto’ matcha” with Honoka‘a Chocolate Co.’s 85% dark chocolate “that works to support the earthy notes in the matcha and not overpower it.”

Quon moved to Hawai‘i to start a life as intentional as her pastries. She earned degrees in English literature and linguistics at the University of Maryland before turning to pastry, a career that led her to study and work in Paris and Lyon. After 10 years running Café Madeleine, a moment in her personal life jolted her, “where I was like, this is a little bit too much,” she says. She decided that “closing and starting a new era with more intention would be best. [Otherwise,] I feel like you just keep going into a black hole of working forever.”

Photo: Courtesy of Hana Quon

Quon is also the rare mix of artist and businessperson. She says that Café Madeleine’s wholesale accounts—providing baked goods and sandwiches to coffee shops—gave her the financial stability for creativity at her own shop, a model that she hopes to replicate in Honolulu.

So until she finds a bakery storefront of her own, the best place to get Quon’s offerings is at The Curb, where for breakfast there is a soufflé egg between shiopan, a fluffy, lightly salted bun; and for snacks, a pressed sandwich of serrano ham, black truffle and honey. Other choices in the past have included a roast beef sandwich doused with barbecue sauce that was astonishingly messy to eat, but worth it. Get there early for the full selection of pastries, which might include fresh lychee and cherry tarts or black sesame Rice Krispies Treats—a mix of high- and low-brow associations, all of it prepared with a high level of detail.

@hanaquon

Editor’s Note: Baker Ed Morita, a member of the original Frolic team, had a true passion for his craft. Among those in the know, his chocolate chip cookies were legendary, sold freshly baked and as frozen dough. HONOLULU editorial director Diane Seo was one of his best customers. Ed passed away years ago. This post is a timeless homage to him. 

Photo: Ed Morita

Many chefs guard their recipes with their lives. Although it’s true that a good recipe is part of what makes great food great, I believe too much emphasis is placed on it. A lot of people forget that a recipe is just a list of ingredients. To me, the most important parts are the steps. I have notepads filled with lists of ingredients, but unless you know the procedure of how to put them together, you’re not going to get the same end product as I would.

I could give you my recipe for chocolate chip cookies, but I don’t believe that that is necessary. I honestly believe that mine is no better than the hundreds of other cookie recipes on the Internet. As I said before, it’s just a list of ingredients. Instead, I’m going to give you the key steps that cookbooks don’t tell you, so you can use any recipe to make a superior cookie.

Before I move on to my six tips for better chocolate chip cookies, I want to do a quick recap of the steps that every cookie recipe in the world uses.

1. Cream butter and sugar together
2. Add eggs to butter, and continue creaming
3. Add dry ingredients
4. Add chocolate chips
5. Portion onto a baking pan and bake

Although steps vary from recipe to recipe, this is the basic procedure for any chocolate chip cookie.

Tip #1: Flavoring your flour

You’re at the store shopping for ingredients, and you reach for a bag of chopped nuts. This is me officially telling you to stop what you’re doing. Opt instead for whole nuts.

I generally prefer to leave nuts out of my cookies when at work or when making them for a large group I’m not familiar with. It’s easier to just not put nuts in the cookies than it is to make one batch with nuts, one batch without, then pray that someone with a nut allergy doesn’t eat the wrong one. However, when it comes to my personal preference, I love nuts in my chocolate chip cookies. Yet just adding nuts is not enough for me.

Using chopped nuts will not give your cookie the best flavor possible. What will maximize the flavor would be combining your dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda and/or baking powder depending on the recipe) with the whole nuts in a food processor.

As you pulse the food processor, several things will happen. Your salt and leavening agents will be evenly distributed throughout the mix. Any unwanted clumps of flour will be broken up, but, most importantly, oils within the nuts will come out and flavor the flour. Just don’t get carried away. You just want the nuts diced up into the same-sized pieces that you would have had you bought the chopped nuts from the store.

SEE ALSO: 5 Hawai‘i Cookies You’ll Want to Try

Tip #2: If you want a great cookie, you have to use great chocolate!

No offense to Nestlé, but using their chocolate morsels will get you an inferior cookie. If you really want a great chocolate chip cookie, you have to use good quality couverture chocolate. I use 54% semisweet chocolate when making cookies. In terms of brand, I recommend Callebaut, but the brand and percentage of chocolate should be dictated by your preference.

If you want a more intense chocolate flavor, use a higher percentage chocolate. The lower the percentage, the sweeter your cookie will be. Yes, couverture costs more than the chocolate morsels you get at the supermarket, but the end result will be well worth the extra money.

SEE ALSO: Frolic Foodie Advent Calendar: Local Kine Gifts for 25 Days of Giving

Tip #3: Chocolate dust is your friend

Although couverture morsels are readily available at most gourmet stores, refrain from using them. Instead, reach for the blocks or bars if available. At home, use a knife to chop the chocolate into small chunks, and place them in a bowl for later.

OK, now if you happen to be reading these tips while making a batch of cookies, stop what you’re doing and look down at your cutting board. You see all that chocolate dust on the cutting board? That is cookie-making gold! This is the reason why chopped chocolate gives you a vastly superior cookie over morsels.

While you were chopping that block of chocolate, you were making chocolate dust, something that you don’t get in that bag of morsels. Now, use the back of your knife, or a bench scraper if you have one, and get every bit of dust into your bowl.

The importance of chocolate dust is something you won’t find in any cookbooks, and if you find a recipe that advocates for chopping your own chocolate, it will most likely not even mention the dust. When you add chopped chocolate that is coated with dust, the dust will be absorbed into the dough, yielding a more chocolaty chocolate chip cookie without increasing the amount of chocolate you put in.

Tip #4: Don’t over-mix!

One thing that can ruin a cookie is if the dough breaks. Yes, this is possible, and I have seen it happen many times. This occurs when your dough becomes so warm that the fat in the butter separates. Unfortunately, there is no way to fix a broken dough (at least none that I know of). You can continue mixing the dough, and it will somewhat look homogeneous again, but it is too late. The dough is ruined.

When you to try and bake these cookies, you will end up with a flat, greasy, cookie, pockmarked with holes from where the butter seeped out. Oh, and chances are your cookies will be sitting in a pool of butter in the baking pan.

An easy way of preventing this from happening would be, of course, to not over-mix your dough. But how do you do that?

Oftentimes, the reason people over-mix their dough is because they think the dough has to completely come together before adding the chocolate. In fact, once you add the dry ingredients to the bowl, you shouldn’t even be running the machine. After you add your dry, simply pulse your mixer (turn it on and off so that the paddle only does a single rotation) until the dough starts to pull together. The dough should be in chunks, and there should still be some flour in the bowl.

Now is the time to add the chocolate, which leads me to my next tip.

Tip #5: Freeze your chocolate

Friction can create a surprising amount of heat in the bowl while mixing your dough. It’s high school physics, but it’s frequently something many never bother to take into account. Oftentimes, you won’t even realize how hot the bowl is until it’s too late.

To ensure the dough doesn’t get too warm, place your bowl of chopped chocolate in the freezer. The frozen chocolate will quickly chill the dough, preventing it from breaking. The coldness will also make portioning the dough easier since you won’t have to worry about the chocolate melting while you scoop the dough.

Tip #6: Rest your dough

Yes, you read it right; you have to rest your dough. I know you’ve put a lot of work into these cookies, but the payoff is within reach, so please bear with me and fight the urge to pop your cookies into the oven.

One of the most widely kept secrets of cookie baking that is constantly left out of cookbooks and recipes is the importance of resting the dough. This allows it to fully hydrate, giving you a firmer dough with the ideal amount of spread while baking. Some pastry chefs say you have to rest the dough up to 36 hours or more. Although this was standard practice at The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia when I worked there, I have found you get the same results if you allow the dough to rest overnight.

So there you have it. Six tips that will enable you to bake chocolate chip cookies just like mine. I hope that you find these tips helpful, and happy baking!

Red Merry tote. Photo: Courtesy of Big Island Candies

Since 1977, Big Island Candies has been crafting Hawai‘i’s finest cookies, chocolates and confections. The Holiday 2024 collection of specialty gifts features its signature chocolate dipped shortbreads and other go-to goodies.

Purple Lotus box. Photo: Courtesy of Big Island Candies

One of the offerings in the collection is the Purple Lotus Box, a regal-looking gift with a golden glimmer that includes an amazing assortment of goodies. Share this delicious gesture of peace, love and joy with someone, to help make the season shine even brighter.

Lei Puakenikeni box, featuring artwork by Sig Zane. Photo: Courtesy of Big Island Candies

For a blend of design meets delectable, two new Sig Zane for Big Island Candies gift assortments are also available. The gorgeous artwork for these gift boxes was created by Hilo-based designer Sig Zane. Inside each box, there’s an impressive selection of Big Island Candies’ shortbreads, baked treats and chocolates.

In addition to the Gift Collection, Big Island Candies handcrafts a series of seasonal sensations such as the sought-after Cinnamon White Dipped Macadamia Nut Shortbread, popular Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Brownies, scrumptious Bite Size Gingerbread Cookies, and its latest: Peppermint White Dipped Kona Mocha Shortbread—an irresistible combination of chocolate, Kona Coffee and Christmas! When it comes to these items in particular, think merry and bright in every bite.

To help ensure your holiday gift-giving is done (b)right, visit BigIslandCandies.com, or stop by the Hilo or Ala Moana Center store. Happy shopping and happy holidays!