Artizen Rolls Out $45 Bistro Dinner Through August

French onion soup, steak frites and strawberry charlottes: The Kaka‘ako café’s three-course prix fixe was inspired by the Olympics.

August 21, 2024

Martha Cheng,

Photo: Martha Cheng

The vibe inside Artizen isn’t exactly that of Paris—you are in a car dealership after all, with a row of banquettes the only thing separating you from the Velocity showroom. But for the rest of August, this is the only place in town where you can get a three-course French bistro dinner for just $45. With the loss of places like Le Bistro, and long before that, Du Vin, it’s been slim pickings for French food in Honolulu. Maybe it’s because it’s “a lot of work,” says Wade Ueoka of Artizen’s menu, which includes a choice of entrées like boeuf Bourguignon, coq au vin and steak frites.

cheese and croutons melting on French Onion soup at artizen

Photo: Martha Cheng

A lot of work, especially when you’re making your own lardons—at Artizen, they are less like bacon bits than they are thick slabs of smoked pork belly, as found in the coq au vin, almost upstaging the red-wine braised Ludovico Farms chicken. Artizen certainly doesn’t skimp on portions: the French onion soup is more caramelized onions than soup, and the steak frites (supplemental $10) is a large slab of flank steak doused in garlic butter. Even the dessert profiterole—in essence, a cream puff with vanilla ice cream—is bigger here. Our table tried all the desserts, and my favorite was the strawberry charlotte, a pretty package of ladyfingers tied with a ribbon around strawberries, cream and sponge cake.

delicate strawberry dessert wrapped in red ribbon

Photo: Martha Cheng

Artizen has been home to frequently changing themed menus, from a “backyard BBQ” during Memorial Day weekend to tapas and paellas for a weekend in July (not to mention a recent cookie buffet!). Ueoka says they’re planning more monthly themed dinners: next up, Mexican, a collaboration with the owners of Mercado de la Raza. Until then, get your French (prix) fixe while you can.