A Hyper Local Approach to Familiar Dishes at the New LCBG

Not to be confused with the previous Lanai City Bar & Grille, the new Lanai City Bar & Grill (without the e) recently opened at Hotel Lanai and is bringing something for everyone, using the best ingredients possible. Drawing upon his experience working with well-known chefs in New York and Los Angeles, Chef Christian Page set out to create a New American menu using hyper local ingredients, which expands the boundaries in terms of flavors he can offer at LCBG. “We try to have a menu that’s diverse enough that you can come to LCBG for any occasion, including daily dining,” he said.

The hyper local ingredients appearing on the LCBG menu include fish caught by commercial fishermen on Lanai who bring their catch straight to the restaurant’s back door. It’s lettuce, tomatoes and herbs grown down the street at Sensei Farms, and beef from Parker Ranch on Hawaii Island. Some of the dishes on the menu are also accented with additions from other Lanai businesses, like the lilikoi dressing that Chef Page gets from the Lanai Wai juice truck.

Customer favorites

Among the crowd pleasers is the steak frites, which can be ordered using any cut of beef still in stock, served with a choice of classic hotel butter or island au poivre. “What we call our island au poivre is like a green peppercorn sauce, but instead of using veal stock, we use fermented black bean paste and coconut milk,” described Chef Page. The dish can also be made vegan using king trumpet mushrooms from the Big Island. “Or you can get it all, the steak, the king trumpet mushrooms, the hotel butter and the island au poivre sauce,” said Chef Page. “That’s our secret special menu.”

Customers have also been coming back for the Catch of the Day featuring locally caught fish prepared classic meunière style with browned butter, capers, lemon and parsley. Another menu stand out are the artisan corn pups made with Kobe beef franks and the “Best Batter Ever,” a specific cornmeal that puffs up nicely with a great toasty flavor.

The curated cocktail program by mixologists Julian Cox and Kristina Cox adds a fun touch to the dining experience. In addition to local draft beer, hard kombuchas and a classic wine selection, the cocktail menu features signature preparations of island cocktails and tiki-style drinks. One example includes the lava flow concocted with homemade strawberry puree and coconut cream.

Melding cultures in the kitchen

Chefs from all over, including New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, make up LCBG’s kitchen team, and the front of house team includes many Lanai locals. “It’s been cool to form one team in the restaurant and hit the ground running,” said Chef Page. “Since we have chefs from all over, people are bringing new techniques, recipes and styles of cooking. We’ve also been able to learn a lot about the local culture, so we’re learning new things as chefs and cooks, and that’s been really fun.”

With live music and evening and late-night happy hour, Chef Page aims for LCBG to be a great neighborhood restaurant that people can visit any time. “If you want to have a casual but fine dining experience, you can have that. If you want to come and hang at the bar and get some bites with friends, you can do that. We’re good for big parties, we’re good for families.”

LCBG is open Tuesday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Reservations can be made at lanaicitybarandgrill.com. You can follow them on Instagram at @lanaicitybarandgrill.