In Los Angeles, we head to Malibu to get our first view of the ocean and eat at Duke’s Malibu.

Duke’s is named for Duke Paca Kahanamaku, an amazing man.  According to the restaurant’s website, Duke was a full blooded Hawaiian and a descendant of Hawaiian royalty. Born in 1890, he won several Olympic gold and silver medals in swimming and later won a bronze medal for water polo.  He is credited with bringing surfing to the mainland coasts of the US and to New Zealand and Australia.

What any of this has to do with food is anyone’s guess.  I’m not even sure that Duke started the first Duke’s.  No mention on the website.

So several years ago, when someone suggested I try Duke’s I didn’t have high hopes for the quality of the food.  I thought, what the heck, it would be beach food, hot dogs and hamburgers, a Mai Tai or a beer and I could enjoy a piece of Malibu history.

I was sooooo pleasantly surprised. The food is ALWAYS incredible and if they have a “Hawaiian Burger” on the menu I never noticed.  Their specialty is fresh seafood.

This time, I started with a Ramey chardonnay, well balanced and crisp, a subtle mix of green apple and spice, I knew it would complement the fish to come.  We started with their Crab Wontons.  Naturally, their take on a crab wonton was delicious – real crab meat, coconut and chopped macadamia nuts in a crispy wonton with a touch of mango sauce.

Crab wontons at Duke’s Malibu

We went for the panko parmesan crusted Opah (you can choose from several different fish each day) and the basil, black garlic ono.  Both fish are Hawaiian, not overfished, line caught, light and delectable.  The ono is a little meatier and held up well under the black garlic sauce.  Garlic becomes almost sweet when fermented but retains that garlicy bite, it was reminiscent of Cajun blackened fish.

Ono with black garlic sauce and kale and grapefruit salad

Sorry to say, they were out of the McConnell’s Santa Barbara peach ice cream but the key lime pie was light and creamy.  Not all their desserts are light.  They’ve got some monstrosities on the menu.  One piece of KIMO’S ORIGINAL HULA PIE® . a macadamia nut ice cream pie served over Oreo cookie crust, hot fudge, whipped cream could serve a table of four.  Same with their pineapple upside down cake. I just haven’t had the fortitude or enough people at my table to try either yet.  They seem like menu items for the beach bar I was expecting.

Dukes dessert menu

In keeping with the theme of the restaurant and for those of you who care, Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman is the restaurant’s current  “Ambassador of Aloha.”  Kathy is sort of Southern California royalty.  Her father was a screenwriter and she is/was the REAL Gidget.  Her dad made her famous when he wrote a book about her adventures which, of course, spawned movies and TV shows.  She was voted 7^th among the 25 most influential women surfers worldwide in Surfer magazine’s 40^th anniversary issue.  Now an in-demand public speaker, she apparently finds time to hold court at Duke’s on Tuesday evenings and at Sunday brunch.

Me, I just go there for the food and ocean view.