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.
Mille Fete, 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.
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.
“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.”
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.
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…