Get In My Bellini!

A Bellini at Bellini Bistro KAIT HANSON PHOTO

Located directly across the street from Pier 1 Imports, I initially struggled a little to find this quaint cafe. But I knew as soon as I saw the al fresco seating and twinkling outdoor lights — I had found my destination!

Bellini Bistro is the handiwork of Maile Sengoura of Hawaii Kai’s renowned Maile’s Thai Bistro and offers patrons a trendy, up-scale dining experience.

The Bellini is a champagne-based cocktail named for famed Italian painter Giovanni Bellini. The color of the drink matched a toga of a saint in one of the artist’s 15th-century paintings — which the drink’s creator took note of in the 1940s. The rest is, quite literally, history: We’ve been enjoying them around the world since!

Walking into the bistro, I had Bellinis on the brain, so I took a seat at the bar and bypassed the food menu, though every plate I saw coming out of the kitchen looked mouthwatering!

Let me just take a moment to say that the bartender was one of the kindest and most personable I’ve met. Shook my hand, asked me how my day was, complimented my hair, asked about my alcohol palate — I mean, she was seriously good!

I landed on the Bellini’s Bellini (you can’t go wrong with a classic, am I right?), and it was everything I had hoped for and more. There was an option to make it frozen ($2 more), but I chose to keep it as-is. It was a perfect combination of sweet peach and Prosecco. (I absolutely loved that Bellini offers stirrers with built-in straws, so no nasty lipstick stains on your pretty drink glasses!)

Next time I’ll be heading back between 3 and 6 p.m. so I can catch the daily happy hour … and the specialty frozen coconut Bellini!