Sip and savor at Twist's lounge overlooking Waikiki
Wine flights and tantalizing bites
Wine bars and wine tastings have hit Honolulu with a vengeance, appearing in the humblest neighborhood bistros to the high-end restaurants in town. But few can provide the backdrop of Flights at Twist, a new wine bar in the Sheraton Waikiki. 30 stories above Waikiki, the tall windows at Twist angle outwards; looking out through them feels like soaring over our blue Hawaiian waters, heading towards Diamond Head's distinct profile.
Wine bars and wine tastings have hit Honolulu with a vengeance, appearing in the humblest neighborhood bistros to the high-end restaurants in town. But few can provide the backdrop of Flights at Twist, a new wine bar in the Sheraton Waikiki. 30 stories above Waikiki, the tall windows at Twist angle outwards; looking out through them feels like soaring over our blue Hawaiian waters, heading towards Diamond Head's distinct profile.
The lounge is modern and stylish but understated so as not to outshine the view.
Businessmen conducting meetings, friends talking story and tourists seeking respite from beach bars all convene in the Flights lounge over wine and pupus. They linger for hours, as if unable to tear themselves away from the view...or perhaps the wine.
Flights at Twist offer five flights: Go Green (sustainable and organic wines), ABC Whites (anything but chardonnay), International Flight to Europe, ABC Red (anything but cabernet) and Thunder from Down Under (big, bold and full-bodied).
SYT's picks of the night are the Go Green flight, which includes a Sauvignon Blanc from Medocino County's Parducci winery, the 1st carbon neutral winery in the US; our second flight is the European flight with a refreshing Moschofilero from Boutari Mantinia winery in Greece.
Chef Ryan Loo has the challenge of coming up with a pupus menu that can compete with the view and complement the wines. He meets the challenge delectably with the ahi poke “lollipops.” Fresh cubes of ahi are decorated with sea asparagus, Hamakua mushrooms and namasu, and served with a dipping dish of bubu arare for a texturally fun and tasty bite.
As with much of Twist’s menu, Loo takes a classic and gives it an upscale “twist,” If you will. Duck and bao are dressed up with gingered cranberries, a slice of foie gras and micro arugula for a sweet, salty, tangy play of flavors.
Flights at Twist is open from 4:30pm to 11pm, which means you can sip wine and watch the sun go down, revealing city lights, and be, almost literally, on top of the world.
If the pupus merely whet your appetite for something more substantial, you can move from the relaxed bar to the more formal dining room at Twist, where Loo re-imagines islands cuisines like Sicily, Santorini and Mallorca, among others, depending on the featured island of the week. Here, a citrus scented diver scallop with tomato fennel marmalade.
At SYT, we have a penchant for salt. In judicious quantities, it’s pure magic. So we’re a bit fanatical about Twist’s five varieties of salt (well, technically, the first three are salts, the last two spices): ’Alae salt, pink salt, black salt with charcoal from coconut husks, a three-pepper mix, and smoked paprika. It’s just one small detail that make up the Twist experience: diverse, colorful, a palette of flavors in both wine and food.
