Fete is one of the best restaurants in Hawaii, and probably...in the world :) You can feel the spirit of Robin Maii's passion for both cuisine and hospitality, and everything on the menu is absolutely delicious. I've been for date nights, work lunches, and holiday feasts, and it's always been a wonderful experience. The service is excellent too. The Rigatoni pasta and kulolo dessert are usually my go-tos. Fete is both an excellent restaurant and a quintessential Hawaii experience (that feels, these days, harder and harder to come by) -- don't forget to enjoy every minute!

The concrete lines of downtown Honolulu can be overwhelming, dominated by the rumble of passing cars and busses along industrial visage and tightly packed businesses. Fete is one of those little pockets of calm, a bustling restaurant that leans into farm-to-table freshness, a foundational component of their inventive Mediterranean fusion. Just reading through the menu excited me, and I was sold after reading so many reviews that strongly recommended reservations in advance - a hallmark of popularity. We used this opportunity to celebrate a couple of family birthdays, and opted for a streetside dining experience (like a San Francisco parklet). I'll be honest, the restaurant is tight, so you'll have more room outside, but you trade that for road noise (right next to a bus street with regular bus routes and exhaust), bar noise (rowdy bars right across the street) and roaming homeless. Credit to the host, he was extremely friendly to us at his outside stand, and also played an excellent bouncer role in heading off a particularly belligerent man demanded to be seated. Drinks are pretty steep, but seem to have some pretty exotic ingredients. At the server's recommendation, I tried The Levant ($17), which was a pleasant and unique take on a Manhattan. Strong, bold flavors with a clean, dry finish. To share with the table, we ordered: - Fete Spreads ($17) - A colorful, flavorful array of dips, each bursting with fresh flavors atop crispy crostinis. The roasted red pepper was my favorite (Ayjvar). - Steak Tartare ($17) - a small tower of fresh, local beef, recommended to mix with various toppings before serving. Personally, I felt the mustard was overpowering. I tried one of the off-menu specials, a fresh beet salad with crispy chicken added. While I love fresh salads, this one turned out a little overdressed. The green goddess dressing was too salty, apparent in every bite of the mixed greens. The beets were marinated for too long, and tasted more of vinegar than the natural sweet beets. The crispy chicken was top notch, with a flaky batter and moist interior. Avocado and crisp onions were a wonderful accompaniment. The SO chose the beef bourguinon pot pie, which she described as rich, hearty, and quite filling. It's a lovely fusion take on a traditional French stew. Some other popular dishes among the family included the Grilled Hawaiian Kanpachi, Lasagna special (3-meat including veal), Butternut squash risotto with prosciutto, and grilled cheeses for the kids. For dessert, we ordered a calamansi cannoli, which they brought with a candle for our birthdays, and a complimentary scoop of their campari-four fruit sorbet! The cannoli did lack any calamansi flavor, which was disappointing, but the execution was on point: crisp and flaky shell, with a rich and smooth filling, dusted with powdered sugar. You don't see real cannolis around here often. The sorbet was unique, in that it really captured a fruity apertif: boldly bitter amongst a light, tropical cavalcade. After describing these desserts, I realize they're both strong representations of contrasting flavors and textures. You've probably realized by now that this place ain't cheap - quality ingredients and innovative planning come with a price. It's a great experience, and I wish we could come back weekly to continue the tasting trek that is Fete.

The biggest beauty of Fete is their commitment to farm to table. I've traveled to Oahu twice this year, and this was only 1 of 2 places that I had to revisit. One of the most endearing qualities a restaurant can have is offering local meats. From their macadamia nut-fed pork to their rose veal, you can taste the Islands in every bite. The salads come with a freshness that you could only taste if you were growing the ingredients in your backyard, and their drinks come with a punch that leaves you wondering if it was the alcohol or a Samoan that hit you up that hard. On my latest visit, I had the chance to have a bone-in cut of their rose veal. I can say that this cut is now tied in first with the best meat I have ever tasted. I am putting it up there with Shodoshima Olive-fed Wagyu. Although low in fat, the calf's diet can be tasted through the tenderness and purity in every chew. A taste accompanies a cow raised in small herds that outshine the beef of those taken care of in masses. You get this here. I don't care about service, I don't care about anything other than the food when I know that I am being fed things so valuable to those who grow them that it's an honor to have a sample of their hard work on my plate.

Food and service was excellent. We could not stop raving about how pleasant the food was to our taste buds...our waitress was very knowledgable which helped us decide which dish yo try. I would strongly recommend this restaurant to my friends and family

Come hungry! Steak Tare Tare was a nice starter, perfect for sharing, well balanced flavors, and perfect with the sourdough toast provided. Pork Ragu was savory and had a generous amount of meat, sauce, and cheese; it was a bit on the salty side for me though. Service was excellent. They only carry 1 highchair in the restaurant so when it was being used upon our arrival they kindly accommodated us by borrowing a highchair from another restaurant. Our server was welcoming and very professional. It was surprisingly busy for a Monday night. Noise level inside was high so it was a hard to hear the server or even the music playing in the restaurant but aside from that everything was great and the restaurant was very clean.

Delicious Delicious Omg, you need to eat their scrumptious food! Best meal we've had in a very long time! It's very crowded. Need reservations. It's loud inside, don't go to have a conversation w/anyone. Go to eat :) The bar is pretty! The servers are grand. 5 stars for everything! Drinks are pretty too. The Korean style New York steak was fabulous! But the beef bourguignon pot pie was out of this world crazy delicious! Another great restaurant in China Town! Yahoo

Very delicious farm-to-table restaurant in Chinatown. We went at lunch, crowds were more manageable than the evenings. We ordered crispy chicken sandwich and spaghetti carbonara. Bothe were very tasty. After lunch we went around the corner to the new Fete Bakery. Staff was especially helpful and we left with cookies and chocolate bells. Yum. What a treat!

Came here a couple weekends ago with some gfs for one of my best friend's birthday dinner. We made the res a month in advance online but we didn't realize we were automatically sat outside. I didn't know that if you have a bigger party this happens and you can call the restaurant to move to inside. I would HIGHLY recommend doing the call because we sat outside and it was HOT. They have tables and some umbrellas but it was still humid sticky and hot. The service was good. The man who helped us was nice and polite. I asked to move inside because of the heat but unfortunately the owner (I think it was the owner?) said they were fully booked. Food was okay! I split the ravioli with one of my gfs. They split it for us which was nice and we got a side-- the collard greens which was not my cup of tea. It was kinda salty for my liking. We also got some drinks, I got an old fashion with bourbon which was good. As I mentioned it was one of my gfs bdays so we did bring a cake. We didn't know there was a cake fee-- $5 per slice (and there was 8 of us). But they later said that if we bought ice cream to go with the cake they'd waive the fee which was nice of them. I got the kuloa ice cream and it's a non dairy. The ice cream was okay, didn't taste as I thought it would but probably bc it's non dairy. Parking-- there's street or nearby parking lots for a fee. We did street metered parking Overall, the dinner was okay. A solid 3.75 stars. I would come again! And they mentioned they're opening a bakery so I want to try that as well!

Great experience, amazing foods :) Fête was our anniversary dinner and I definitely chose the right place. Reservations were made for 8:30PM. We called and let the host know we may be a few minutes late to look for parking and she gave us some tips. We found street parking a block over with no problem. Our server Christi was amazing. She was attentive and friendly. She was knowledgeable of the menu and specials, and we felt taken care of the whole night. One thing too, we wanted to try both the fries and crispy potatoes, but Christi had warned us that the sides are full portions. It's nice to see a restaurant not try and upsell you things. Thank you Christi! Stephanie took over towards the end of the night and wrapped up our service nicely. 2 cons I would note is the volume inside the restaurant and space between the table. It was loud in there until the last 30 minutes of our meal (last 30 minutes before closing). Tables are pretty close together as well. We could hear the conversations of the tables next to us We got the spicy kitty, steak tartare, korean bavette, chez burger, and crispy potatoes. Spicy kitty was ... spicy. All the foods tastes great! Well-seasoned and nothing was too salty or missing in flavor. My steak was cooked perfectly medium rate. It's not melt in your mouth but cooked well enough that the chew isn't too much. First I was expecting a dressing for the slaw, but the kochujang sauce ended up being the dressing for the slaw. Rice could be improved on, I wasn't really tasting ginger-scallion and there were clumps of rice. 5 stars for service 4.7 stars for food 4 stars for ambience Overall, a great anniversary dinner!