With Paul Park of Paul's Poppers
BY LINDSEY MURAOKA / Special to the Star-Advertiser
On Aug. 19 I attended a six-course pop-up dinner by Paul Park of Paul’s Poppers with wine pairings by Master Sommelier Patrick Okubo. It sounded like a great deal — $40 inclusive of tax and tip. Dinner was at Lucky Belly, which is closed on Sundays but allows chefs use of their restaurant for these types of special events.
But first, what are poppers? According to Paul, they’re “won” of a kind! They’re a hybrid of a wonton and gau gee with interesting and unique fillings. Park currently makes 14 different types of poppers.
All of the poppers served at the dinner can be bought at Paul’s restaurant. Of course, it won’t come on a fancy plate paired with wine, but you can buy them for parties or for events. Paul also serves a variety of local plate lunches, such as chicken katsu and hamburger steak, with prices all under $10.
The first course was caprese poppers filled with tomatoes, olives, basil, and oozing mozzarella cheese.
Second course was spinach and artichoke poppers with crispy parmesan cheese chips and a creamy mustard sauce.
The third course was my favorite — pizza poppers! It’s filled with pepperoni, tomato sauce and mozzarella. The pepperoni has a bit of spicy kick to it.
This is the turkey melt poppers with fried onion chips. What I like about Paul Poppers is that even though they’re fried, they’re not greasy. The outside is crispy and light while the cheese on the side is melty and gooey.
Course five was cheeseburger poppers filled with ground beef, grilled onions, and cheddar cheese with accompanying French fries. It was like eating miniature burgers.
Paul created these Bananas Foster and chocolate poppers just for this dinner. One was filled with creamy banana and the other was filled with delicious chocolate. They went perfectly with the sweet dessert wine that was paired with it.
Actually all the dishes went perfectly with their accompanying courses. It was very impressive. All wine pairings were picked by Okubo, who went around to each table to explain which wine we drank and why he chose it for each dish. Interesting fact: there are 197 Master Sommeliers in the world — and only three in Hawaii.
with Patrick Okubo
To sum up the night, it was a fun and quirky dinner! Paul says he plans to have more pop up events in the future and to create even more innovative dishes. In the meantime, visit him at 555 N. King St. or call 351-7583.
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Lindsey Muraoka blogs about food and drink for the Pulse. Contact her on Twitter or via email at foodlalablog@gmail.com.