Fresh, natural plate lunches on Bishop Street
Friday - August 01, 2008
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The question of the day at Umeke Market’s new downtown store doesn’t vary too much.
“Do you have white rice?” ask customers new to the health food store and its colorful array of foods that do include musubi, bentos, meatloaf, beef curry and kalua turkey and cabbage, but don’t include a steaming tray of starchy white rice.
“You can tell that certain customers are a little skeptical,” says Umeke Market co-owner Michelle Yamaguchi, laughing, “We see people coming in and looking at our healthy plate lunch section and they’re thinking, ‘Hey, where’s the rice?’ “
But while the concept might be a little different for some, others are embracing the healthful, tasty options with open arms.
“Oh, we have people who are so happy that we’ve opened in this location that they’re here every day,” says Michelle of the enthusiastic response from customers.
Umeke Market opened its first store at Kahala in 2003 with a mission to bring a balance of natural foods, fresh ingredients and health supplements to local people at an affordable price.
“We always wanted to be able to offer people alternatives,” says Michelle, who along with husband and co-owner Daryl has created a niche market for people comfortable with the idea of changing how they eat, even if it’s just a little at a time.
“If people can just take small steps to change the way they eat, then that’s better than nothing,” Michelle says, “and at Umeke we want to offer people a way to do that.”
Downtown Umeke Market opened in late June and is located on Bishop Street in the middle of bustling business center of town.
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The store begins serving breakfast at 7 a.m. with a wide range of hot and cold options. A Breakfast Sandwich ($4.50) has chopped spinach, onion, tomato, Cheddar cheese and egg on an English muffin. There’s a Breakfast Burrito ($6.50) stuffed
A selection of omelettes start at $6.50, or you can try the Japanese Style breakfast ($8.75) with grilled organic salmon belly, organic brown rice with furikake and a cup of miso soup.
For those who prefer their breakfast in a bowl, then the Acai Bowl with Strawberries ($5.95), a blend of Sambazon Acai (the famed antioxidant Brazilian super fruit), soy milk, strawberries and granola topped with sliced banana should get the day off to a great start.
But it’s the newest addition to the Umeke store that has Michelle most enthused.
“The healthy plate lunch section works efficiently because part of the line is a mirror image of the other, and that eliminates a long wait and also limits the choices people have to make.”
There are weekly soups, including Umeke’s signature detox soup, and a rotating menu that features dishes like black bean butternut squash stew, curry lentil dahl, turkey chili, chicken adobo and ginger beef stew. Burgers and sandwiches are abundant.
Made with free range and wild game meat, Umeke’s made-to-order burgers include buffalo, ostrich, venison and elk burgers. The burgers come on a whole-wheat bun with lettuce, tomato, onion and sprouts.
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“To us, it’s all about the taste and about providing people with a lot of different dishes all the time,” says Michelle, who spends much of her time creating new recipes for the store.
“With our meals-to-go and our prepared side dishes, we’re trying to make it easier for parents to put together healthy meals at least once or twice a week.”
Expect to see a dinner-to-go section at the market soon.
“People are anxious for it and are asking us every day when we’ll have dinner.” Michelle says. “So that’s the next step.”
For now, downtown diners can familiarize themselves with the unusual and inspiring sight of fresh, local and organic foods right in the middle of the city.
With everything from fresh-fruit smoothies, juices made from beets, cucumbers, carrots and kale, and a range of bottled waters and sodas that include the much-talked-about, all-natural Blue Sky Soda, the food’s so good that I’ll bet you don’t even notice there’s no white rice.
Umeke Market Downtown
1001 Bishop St.
Suite 110
552-7377
Umeke Market Kahala
4400 Kalanianaole Hwy.
739-2990
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