Posts from the “food” Category

These Vegetables Need a Home

Posted on September 10, 2010

Lualualei Valley, O’ahu

WANTED

Organic Farm Seeks flexible, caring community members to support Ma’o Farms in Waianae’s verdant Lualualei Valley. Must love to cook at home, yearn to roll with the foodies and discover inventive ways to eat your veggies.

Control freaks and take-out junkies need not apply.

Biodiversity and a sustainable Hawai’i is Ma’o Farms’ game.

“We like to eat, and eat a lot, and eat good stuff,” quips farm manager Gary Maunakea-Forth. Purchasing their still-new Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscription feeds your family of four every week from a recycled yellow box brimming with 8-12 pounds of exclusive organic goods—some available only to local chefs.

“The idea is you get clusters of a diversity of things,” says Maunakea-Forth, including Ma’o’s staple salad mix, herbs, root and cooking vegetables like purple broccoli, and fruit like summer’s juicy mangoes. “As you develop a relationship with us through CSA, you become co-producers, and the bonus is you get even more of the bounty.”

Sounds like a good match to me, and about time you met the people who grow your food. Though they only deliver to large subscriber groups, I hope that becomes sustainable for neighborhoods soon.

Maoorganicfarms.org

By Christine Thomas

Categories: food

Food Spotting: What Hawai’i Chefs Eat

Posted on September 7, 2010

Some of the chefs participating in the app

Throughout decades she spent producing culinary series for PBS, and today as co-founder of the foodie-gathering website Share Your Table, the top question everyone asks Melanie Kosaka is where do Hawai’i’s chefs eat?

After talking with good friend and Hawai’i’s master sommelier Chuck Furuya, and connecting with ICanHasCheezburger.com founder Eric Nakagawa, Kosaka has answered the call by creating the What Chefs Eat iPhone app.

“We don’t need to know the 50 pizza places close to us, we want to know the top three, recommended by people we know,” says Kosaka, who asked just a dozen of Hawai’i’s elite chefs and farmers, from Alan Wong to D.K. Kodama, what they like to eat at their favorite hole in the wall spots and why.

All users have to do is choose a chef or category, like best late night spot, and up pops their photo and brief, geo-targeted recommendations, with directions on how to find, say, Roy Yamaguchi’s favorite fried chicken at Zippy’s Kahala or Ed Kenney’s top noodle haunt Super Pho.

Kosaka’s rolling out fresh San Francisco, New York and LA versions soon, as well as new categories like food and wine events and best places for barbeque. They’re also working on releasing a version for other platforms, but for now this seems the tastiest excuse to buy an iPhone.

Whatchefseat.com

By Christine Thomas

**UPDATE 9/10/10
When I reached Ms. Kosaka she told me: “We have not (yet) launched the West Coast version, but … on Sept. 30 we are launching one of the first locavore on-demand tv channels in the U.S. The channel is the video complement to http://www.shareyourtable.com/.” Can’t wait to see it!

Categories: food, Hawaii People

Interview: the Green Giant (aka Ed Kenney of Town)

Posted on September 3, 2010

Ed Kenney at his Kaimuki restaurant Town

When you glimpse self-professed “noodle freak” Ed Kenney Jr. leaving his Kaimuki darling Town Restaurant, the first thing you notice is his sleeve—not snowy chef coat sleeves, but multihued tattoos covering his right arm and peeking out from his shirt on the left.

Perhaps this is why Kenney’s been labeled a culinary maverick, or maybe it’s his position on the soul side of the current divide between brainy, molecular gastronomy riffs on familiar dishes and farm to table trends. Or, it could simply be his reverse restaurant model at Town and sister location Downtown at the Hawai’i State Art Museum (or his cheekily named new catering division, Uptown).

“Usually, you set a menu then cost it, and that’s how you regulate how much money you make. We did the opposite—we change our menu based on what we have,” says Kenney.

Yet while the ingredients change, they always remain grounded in Town’s motto: local products first, organic when possible—which is quite often given a close relationship with Ma’o Organic Farms. Kenney incorporates everything from ulu to Italian succulents to wild boar into his peasant Mediterranean cooking—no foams or drizzles here—and it seems to work an elegant magic.

“When you’ve got the best ingredients, less is more,” says Kenney. “What we do is so simple and old school, but maybe these days simple and old school is gourmet and maverick.”

Townkaimuki.com, 808-735-5900
By Christine Thomas

Categories: food, Hawaii People, Interviews

Are you hungry?

Posted on September 1, 2010

Chocolate-caramel ganache cake by Waimea’s Kooky Cakes

I hope so.

Over the next few days I’ll be posting gourmet-related stories, from restaurant spotlights to delectable dishes, and from giant chefs to local-style iPhone apps and more.

Stay tuned!

Categories: food

Interview: Dishing the Dirt with Dean Okimoto

Posted on September 18, 2009

Sure, Roy Yamaguchi may have launched his Nalo Greens, Nalo Farms owner Dean Okimoto has since made his own name across the state, with a passion for local agriculture rooted in his genes, and a determination to lead—even if it makes him grouchy—his signature ingredient.

I talked to Dean for Modern Luxury Hawai’i Magazine‘s summer food issue, but didn’t have space to print our entire interview, where Dean talks about his love for haricot vert, gets passionate about taro and GMO, and explains why we have to start making some noise.

Now you can read it all, below.

Q. When you’re not farming, how do you kick back and relax?

A. That’s rare, except in the evening. I like to go to the movies, to Side Street and have a drink and pupus. I run on my treadmill in my spare time, four days a week. Sundays I go golf in the morning, and then if we don’t go to the movies I’ll cook.

I love to barbecue at friends’ houses. I enjoy cooking too, especially doing marinades.

Q. What do you cook at home?

A. My dad made this recipe a long time ago that is my favorite chicken dish, with a sherry herb marinade and then barbecued. On Sundays we have tomatoes that are overripe so I’ll take ten pounds of tomatoes, some fresh herbs, get maui onions and bell peppers, and I make a fresh marinara sauce, and cook it for 3-4 hours.

Q. How do you use your greens at home?

A. Probably one of my favorite salads is our greens with fresh mango, cut up with a bit of Old Amsterdam cheese or, if I can get it, Big Island goat cheese, with a Maui onion vinaigrette that I make. And tomatoes, of course.

Q. Is there anything you wish you could grow, in an ideal world?

A. What I’d really like to grow if I could make money at it is French haricot vert. We just can’t grow it at the prices you can get it from South America. I still may try again. I’ve grown it before, but the bugs love it and it’s really hard to pick it and make it profitable, because sometimes it takes about 20 minutes to pick a pound, and three pounds an hour doesn’t make a business.

Q. You’re always interested in nutrition, and do a lot of research on what’s current, so what’s hot right now?

A. One thing we’ve been grappling with are food safety issues, especially with our new president getting concerned about peanut allergies and things. We invested in putting up a processing facility and just started using it—it’s very costly but now we can deliver a product to our customer that’s food safety certified. There are a lot of protocols to that guarantee, and to make sure that rat lung illness on the Big Island can’t happen to us. There’s also very little chance of salmonella or e-coli.

Going forward it’s becoming more of a concern to the hotels and general public. We’re investing in that to be sure that if people are going to eat Nalo greens or anything from our farm, it’s going to be safe—you’re not going to get sick.

I think root vegetables are becoming more of a demand and we’re not growing enough of them here. We’re going to try soon to expand that and grow more root vegetables, like baby beets and even looking at different radishes. I do wish we could grow parsnips but it’s too hot, at least where we are.

Q. Farming is about adapting—any advice for us during these changing and tough economic times?

A. Farmers are a different breed because they have a hard time giving up and when they do give up they don’t tell anybody—they just disappear. That’s the sad part. I think you have to make noise. We’re at a point that too many people have become so disconnected with agriculture—they don’t understand it, and there’s so much misinformation out there. The people that say they support agriculture actually go against policies that would help it survive.

There has to be more outreach to the community so they understand what we’re trying to do and what it takes to get that vegetable to your plate. If we do that we’ll get more understanding and in the long run agriculture will be more viable.

Q. Is being that voice for local agriculture your main focus now?

Yes. The taro industry is my best example right now. Kahea has put out a hit list saying we’re telling people to thing about choices, and don’t support corporate taro farmers. They name two taro farmers–the two guys who produce 80 percent of our poi—Hanalei Poi and Honolulu Poi.

These are both 4^th generation farmers, and now they’re getting calls from the mainland and from the islands, and the intonation of the whole message is that they are using GMO taro, but there is no GMO taro. It’s affecting their business and if they go under you’ll have 80 percent less poi out there. It’s just so blatantly unfair. Who’s going to be eating poi in the future if you put these companies out of business? I don’t know what their agenda is really. It’s such a selfish way of thinking and that’s not the Hawaiian way that I grew up with.

Q. Your childhood nickname was habutz, but do you have a new nickname now that you’re happy in farming?

A. Oh heck. No I don’t have a nickname anymore. It’s funny because that’s the one everyone remembers, but I was also called the farmer in high school, because my dad was a farmer, and in college they called me Mokey Bear because I had hair down to the middle of my back so they thought I was a moke!

–Q&A with Christine Thomas, edited version published in Modern Luxury Hawai’i, Summer 2009

Categories: food, Hawaii People, Interviews

Interview: Daniel Dae Kim and D.K. Kodama’s Close EnCounter

Posted on September 13, 2009

An actor teaming up with a restaurateur is a common, almost cliche scenario these days, but when LOST star Daniel Dae Kim first connected with Hawai’i chef D.K. Kodama, it wasn’t in the kitchen but at their children’s school.

After cementing a friendship there and on the golf course, together with two other investors Daniel and D.K. opened Hawai’i’s first The Counter burger franchise in Kahala on Feburary 16, 2009–a way for Daniel to put down roots in the community he now calls home, and for both fathers to create a family-friendly place to grab a good meal or pau hana drink.

Sitting in The Counter’s modern-industrial, light-filled dining room just before opening, Daniel and D.K. sat down to talk food, kim chee, and the future, while I moderated and occasionally fed them a few questions of my own.

A very short excerpt of the interview appeared in the most recent Modern Luxury Hawai’i magazine, but I thought the entire, often funny, interview should also see the light of day here.

Daniel: What do you like to eat when you just want comfort food?

DK: You know the thing about me is that I never have one single favorite—I have a lot of favorites. That’s why I like living in Hawai`i—the variety. If you want Chinese, Korean, Japanese, American—whatever kind of food you’re into, that’s what you can eat. It’s the same thing with drinking—I don’t have one favorite drink. If it’s hot I’ll drink one thing, if it’s cold another.

DANIEL: Do your restaurants reflect your taste in food?

DK: They do, actually. Sansei does because we don’t just have Japanese food, we have things that I like, and everything has to be a Wow flavor. Everything. The reason I got in the restaurant business is the instant gratification: you serve people food, they take a bite, they smile and say: Wow! This is great. It’s one of the few pleasures we can show in public.

DANIEL: Where does The Counter fit in?

DK: The reason I love The Counter is the quality, and also the value. We’ve talked about this before—our families can come here and have a great time, make all the noise they want, eat messily, and it’s comfort food for them, especially in these times and this economy.

DANIEL: How did you modify this Counter location to make it more appropriate for the community here?

DK: We put on a loco moco, and added rice to the menu—of course we had to get corporate approval, but rice is a staple here in Hawai’i so we had to do that, and loco moco is a natural. Hawai’i’s master sommelier, Chuck Furuya, looked at the wine list and recommended at least 6 to 8 wines, and when Chuck picks wine it has good quality and good value. And of course, not because of you Daniel, but kim chee is another staple here in Hawai’i, so that’s another natural addition. Or maybe it is because of you?

DANIEL: No, I hate kim chee. No, that’s not true! Actually you know what’s really great with kim chee is spaghetti. Have you ever had pasta with marinara sauce and kim chee? It’s one of my favorite things.

DK: We’ve got some in the fridge. I’ve gotta get it.

DANIEL: Your mother has influenced a lot of your restaurants in the past. Is she a guiding force in your life?

DK: No question. That’s why I like variety. Sitting at that dinner table with my four brothers and my sister, you know she wouldn’t always cook Japanese every meal. She loved to experiment. That’s why my palate says, Hey, if it’s good, eat it.

DANIEL: When The Counter has its one-year anniversary, how are we going to celebrate?

DK: You know, I think we should buy a couple of Harleys.

DANIEL: We’ll have to see what my wife says about that.

DK: Yeah, mine too!

–Christine Thomas (edited version published in Modern Luxury Hawai’i, Summer ’09)

Categories: food, Hawaii People, Interviews

Interview: Bev Gannon is Cooking on the Edge

Posted on September 9, 2009

You’ve got to be quick to keep up with Hawai`i regional cuisine co-founder Chef Beverly Gannon. Though she’s Maui-based and still running the now 20-year-old Hali’imaile General Store and Joe’s in Wailea, Gannon’s always looking ahead, whether expanding upgradeable meal service as Hawaiian Airlines’ executive consulting chef, overseeing the Lana`i City Grille menu, eating differently and yes, opening another Maui restaurant. Because if Gannon’s not challenged, she’s just not herself. I interviewed Gannon again for Modern Luxury Hawai’i’s summer issue, but cut it down substantially for space. So I decided to include our entire interview here for those who want a more in-depth look at the woman and the chef–from politics to back stage parties to eating at home.

Q. 2008 was a big year, for the country and Hali`imaile, which turned 20. Did the presidential election make your year brighter or do you keep politics out of your kitchen?

A. I pretty much keep politics at an arms length. I’m very happy for the change because I think we needed change. You know, it took my business a while to get settled in and get it the way I wanted it to be, and I’ve yet to have a business from the get go out of the box be perfect and work correctly. You take three steps forward and three steps back and get a momentum going. You get a level of excellence and then maintain that. I’m hopeful that’s how our political system will be working. But in the business I’m in, I pretty much keep my political opinions to myself.

I did make a stand on one thing—on how Maui County was handling the bed and breakfast problem here. I think any time you take a huge amount of money out of the economy without really having a good reason, I don’t agree with that. What was coupled with that was the economy went down, so we tell people don’t come we don’t want you here and then the economy tanked and people are losing jobs right and left. I think that could have been handled differently, and that was the first time I came out publicly on an issue. And one guy was irate, but most people gave me pats on the back for standing up for something I could really believe in. You need to have a solution to a problem, have it all ironed out and then change it—you don’t stop it before you have an answer.

Q. After 10 years in November as consulting executive chef Hawaiian airlines, where do you think the airline and travel industry is headed?

A. Quite honestly, and this isn’t because I work for them, but Hawaiian airlines and other airlines are trying to make money. I don’t know if I would want to be in that business, where A + B does not equal C, but negative C or something. I think there will always be airlines and we’ll be able to fly, but unfortunately we’ve all gotten used to inexpensive fares to get places. When I was younger it was expensive to fly. The airfares 30 or 40 years ago were more expensive than it now.

Hawaiian is on its way to expanding, but what people don’t understand is, take inter-island fares—in order for them to break even they have to have every seat filled, and when you look at that there’s no other way to make money. If you were in any other business you’d ask why am I doing this, perpetually losing money? So that’s why you have to buy amenities now. If they were all raking in a big profit we could complain, but that’s not the case.

Q. So how did you feel about the cut backs in food service?

A. Now hold on—Hawaiian airlines has not cut back on food service. First class meals are still first class and they’re great. In economy you still get a hot meal or sandwich package for no cost. Hawaiian is hoping that they will always be able to provide that service. What they are doing is expanding on that so you’ll have a choice of a free hot meal or sandwich but also be able to upgrade the meal to buy sushi, bentos, or Caesar salad with chicken and more—so you will be given something free but can also upgrade.

We’re bucking the trend. There are very few airlines out there you can get on an eight-hour flight now in economy and don’t have to buy the meal. If you fly from Dallas to Honolulu you have to buy a sandwich on board and bring your own food. I’m of the thought that whether a hotel or car rental give me one price and tell me what it is and put the hidden things in it.

Q. You never planned on being a chef, right?

A. I worked in the entertainment business in early ‘70s and my lifelong dream was not to be a chef. It was definitely not in my world of what I was going to be when I grew up. I wasn’t sure, I didn’t know, but there were a lot of signs that pointed to me being in the business I am now

When my parents entertained I was the only kid who hung out in the kitchen with the caterer. When I traveled, especially in Europe, I found myself in the food shops and farmer’s markets and was open to tasting all kinds of food. My mother was a simple cook; we didn’t have a lot of fancy foods. But when I worked for entertainers all of a sudden the world of food opened up and we were eating best foods and drinking the best wine and I liked it.

Did I think this would be my career path, no. But 25 years later it’s what I do. I’ve always approached my business as what do the customers want, not what I want. Whatever the customer wants I’m going to figure out ways to give it to them, even if it may not be the way I would do it.

Q. You have a reputation as a great party hostess—how did that develop?

A. I always gave the parties. I started in high school because I grew up in a house that was a great entertaining house and my parents entertained a lot. My parents said they’d rather have me home than out on the road, my Dad especially was worried we’d get hurt. He raised three chickens because we were afraid of being hurt.

In summer, everyone hung out at my house around the pool. When I was 19 I would have a sit-down dinner party for 14 people just because it was something fun to do. I used to throw New Year’s Eve parties for 300 people, and Halloween parties—I just liked throwing parties. And my parents loved it because I wasn’t out on New Year’s or Halloween—I was home.

Q. What did you study in college?

A. I studied a lot of different things. The thing I really zeroed in on toward the end was criminology and sociology, which has been a really big help in the restaurant business, in some of the situations you get into. Sociology was really helpful with customers, and criminology in part with other situations. Like when you realize you told everyone they could have time off to vote in the election but most of them couldn’t because they’d been in jail at one point in the past.

Q. You were a road manager for artists like Liza Minnelli and Ben Vereen in the ‘70s—what was that like?

A. Even that job was kind of thrown in my lap and I just went and did it. I did it for about five years and the thing that finally got to me is you’re constantly at that entertainer’s beck and call, 24 -7. So I was missing events, friends’ weddings, and I wasn’t living my own life, just was locked into doing whatever I had to do to keep that entertainer on the road and happening. Five years of it was enough—I wanted to stay in one place for a while. I’d live in New York City and moved back to Dallas for a year and worked for an entertainment company a for nine months and was going stir crazy in an office every day.

That’s when I friend of mine thought, let’s live in London and let’s go to cooking school. I can only believe in pre-destiny because of what’s happened to me. There’s no way I should be doing what I’m doing but maybe there is. I remember growing up, I was a candy-striper for years and worked at the children’s hospital in Dallas and loved it. My only A in high school was in biology and looking back I should have been a doctor or a nurse. Even today I love watching those hospital shows and for years they used to call me Flo at the restaurant after Florence Nightingale, because if anyone got hurt I was there taking care of them.

Q. Did your marriage to Joe change when you opened Hali`imaile?

A. Oh yes. I like telling people who wants to open a restaurant you have to make sure you have another income in the family. The first 5 years we were open we put every dime we made back into the company—I didn’t take a paycheck for five years. Joe was still working, but what changed was when he came home and decided to stop doing his work. Then he had his two cents to put into the business, which I was already running the way I wanted it to run.

We have different business styles, so there’s was a real adjustment period, first because he was home all the time when I was used him being home a few months a year. But we got through that part, too. It’s such a tough business—it’s 24-7 so if one person is doing it and the other isn’t, the other doesn’t get enough together time. If you work together then you have different ways of doing things. You’re always on the edge in the business no matter how successful you are.

Q. How is do your relationship and business work now?

A. We’ve been together 29 years and about 4 years go we finally figured it out. Sometimes it just takes a while. We actually decided that one of us has to be the one in charge. Since I was doing it anyway, working 24-7, he took a big step back and he became my biggest supporter. Instead of making it his way he helped make sure it happened my way. Now he plays golf and poker, he’s my sounding board and his key part in all this is he knows exactly where every penny goes.

Q. After almost thirty years of marriage do you find it runs like a kitchen does or different—maybe like a show?

A. It runs like a kitchen show! You know what it is, it’s really great when you get to a point in the relationship…Women are women and men are men. We think and act differently and when you can work on it enough where you can figure out the communication part where I realize when he gets upset with me it may not really be about me and I don’t egg it on. Or I come in and yell and scream about something and I just want him to listen and not fix it. When you learn how to have that communication the fights and yelling stop and you sit down and say let’s talk.

I have a really, really great husband who married someone who was there for him 100 percent of the time and 10 years after we were married I became a completely different person—I became a business person. Where I had an adjustment when he came home, he had a big adjustment because I was no longer giving him my full attention. We could have easily given up a lot of times but we both made a commitment to each other. Sometimes you go through bad times and come out at a higher level, and go through another bad time and get to an even higher level. It’s nice when you get off the roller coaster and get on the merry go round.

Q. In your new cookbook, you follow your mother’s meal schedule. What else of your mother’s do you hold on to, in addition to meal planning. Is there a touchstone?

A. My mother lived an emotionally abused life. My father was a very strong person. What she taught me was how not to be hurt. She was a worrier, and she was the sweetest, most giving, wonderful person. She taught me humility, and she taught me not to worry because it didn’t do her any good. I don’t worry about something happening, though I do have concerns. She totally taught me the value of the dollar and that a good day’s work is a good day’s work, and you wake up the next day and do another good day’s work. So when you get in bed you can say I did the best I could do today and I’ll get up and do it tomorrow.

The eyeglasses she wore the last years of her life sit on my kitchen counter so she’s there. I have all her doilies from the ‘50s—I’m a hoarder so I save it all. I have all her aprons. She passed away 10 years ago, so we talk about her and remember. She’s totally around me. I pass by a mirror sometimes and I go, now wait a minute, why’s my mother in that mirror instead of me?

Q. With so many duties—Hali`imaile, Joe’s, two cookbooks, ten years as executive chef of Hawaiian Airlines, the Lanai Hotel—how do you keep a life balance?

A. I have people say to me all the time how do you do it and I sit back and you know it’s just what I do—I don’t know a different way of life. I quadruple book myself and then think how can I do this, but when I do it it’s very satisfying. I do get my breaks and time off which a lot of people don’t see. Sometimes I can stay in bed all day long on Sunday and read newspapers and magazines and watch movies I tape and I’m as happy as a clam, but then I’m raring to go the next day. I don’t know how to stop.

I’m driven and that comes from my dad. I like what I do and I like pushing the envelope. There will probably be another restaurant by the end of the year. When things get to a certain place I’m ready for the next challenge. Not that the restaurant business isn’t challenging every day, but I’m not a ledge anymore and I need to be on the ledge.

Q. After a long day of work, what do you cook at home, especially now that you’ve remodeled your dream kitchen?

A. Well on a good day—not a lot. One of my favorite meals is roasted root vegetables and a perfectly cooked organic chicken that has flavor. What I do a lot is, I think if I’m going to cook to for two I can cook for six, and if I can cook for six I can cook for twelve. Once a month I have people over for dinner now, and one of my favorite dishes that I put on the menu at Joe’s is julienne short rib and wild mushroom pasta. We also do a lot of breakfast in our house and Joe makes the best fried egg, avocado, tomato, cheese, whole grain bread sandwich with bacon.

It’s interesting, I’m very good at taking care of business and other people, and for a lot of years I put me to the side. During the last eight months I’ve totally changed my lifestyle, and I work out every day and I’ve lost 50 pounds. I eat differently and so what I cook now when I cook for me is I do a lot with fresh vegetable stir fries with extra virgin olive oil and lots of seasonings, fresh herbs like lemongrass where the flavor doesn’t’ come from anything creamy or saucy. I’ve been making really good soups—make a stock and then a chunky or puree soup. I eat a lot of that now.

So for the first time in 15 years I’ve been eating a lot cleaner. Because of the business I’m in I love fois gras and I’ve had it since I’ve been on this program but I don’t have 4 ounces of it in one sitting. I’ve learned this whole new way of eating which will start showing up on my menus because you can eat very good, flavorful food that’s healthy. I want to be able to get the healthy choice on my menu. Customers don’t have to take it but it’s there.

Q. What do you think the reception will be to these new dishes?

A. Some people will be thankful that they’re there. I’ve become my own worst customer, asking for this without this and this on the side, steamed not sautéed. It doesn’t have to be more than 5 or 6 items to be able to say if you want to eat healthy you can. I think people will like it. If I saw it on the menu I would order it. I’m still going to eat other food, just not every time.

Q. Is your approach to cooking usually about life experiences?

A. My approach is what I like to eat. If you look at my menus at both restaurants it’s pretty eclectic. I like this dish with a Japanese Mexican influence, and this one with Italian flavor. It then allows my customer to come in three or four nights a week and eat a completely different kind of food and flavor profile.

Q. So does eating your food give diners a sense of you?

A. Absolutely. They totally can get it. If you read the menu you know where I’m coming from which is all over the place and it’s okay!

Q. Has the Hali`imaile become part of residents’ life experience?

A. We are part of people’s lives and there are people who come to Maui year after year and they’re the ones who walk in the door if they don’t have the thing on the menu that they had before until I say try this and it become they’re new favorite. People say don’t ever change it. It’s a unique place that’s works. Who would’ve thought it would last 20 years? In that time we’ve maintained or raised the quality and level of what we’re offering.

You can’t be perfect all 20 years but we’ve come close to being way above average the entire time—closer to excellent. And that’s not just me, hundreds of people who have worked for my companies over the years that put their footprint on it have made it what it is today—the customers, staff, I just drive the bus, but we’re all still going in the same direction.

Q. What sparked the idea for your new restaurant?

A. Part of it is the new challenge and seeing a need for something in an area that it doesn’t have. I’m looking at creating a place where locals and tourists alike can feel comfortable, which happens at Hali`imaile but not in the Wailea area. It’s going to be casual fine dining but will also allow me to do what I do best—off premise catering that’s not too far off premise. There are times when I want to change the style and how I serve the food, but Joe’s and Hali`imaile have their personalities and I can’t change that. So now I have a certain design of food I want to do that’s different, so I want that creative outlet. After thirty years of living on Maui and looking around at what’s here, I’m looking at what I can offer that’s different.

I don’t want to go anywhere else. I get offers to open places everywhere. But I love living on Maui and this is where I want to be. Even in this particular economy I don’t have a second thought about opening a new place because I truly believe things are going to turn around and be better than they were, and so I’m moving ahead.

You can only be optimistic. Human beings need to always remember the glass if half full not half empty. The minute you think it’s half empty that’s where your life is going to be. Even when things are going pretty badly, you have to keep a positive attitude and it’s going to turn around quicker with a positive attitude than not.

–Interview by CHRISTINE THOMAS
(Shorter version published in Modern Luxury Hawaii, Summer ’09)

Categories: food, Hawaii People, Interviews

Let Them Eat . . .

Posted on September 3, 2009

No matter your culture or upbringing, food brings everyone in Hawai`i together. And whether these new local cookbooks inspire you to create a new dish or visit the chef’s restaurant instead, their original recipes will spice up the last moments of this long, hot summer.

Family-Style Meals at the Hali’imaile General Store, TEN SPEED PRESS

It’s all about protein in James Beard Award-nominated chef and Hawai`i Regional Cuisine co-founder Beverly Gannon’s newest recipe collection. Family Style Meals at the Hali`imaile General Store spotlights 90 dishes unusually organized just like Gannon’s childhood meal schedule—by days of the week and corresponding chief proteins (think chicken, oxtail, lobster, quail and more). Each sit-down brunch, inventive stir-fry, nouveau casserole lunch and hearty dinner menu is easy for busy home cooks to make but can be easily expanded for larger soirees. Family anecdotes sprinkled amidst illustrative photographs of island life reveal Gannon to be as down to earth as her food—cuisine she hopes will bond your family together for meals to come.

The Maui Book of Lavender, Watermark publishing

We say lavender, you think Provence. But Maui’s Ali`i Kula Lavender farm delivers this ancient herb direct to the Islands, growing 45 varieties surrounded by picturesque olive trees on high Haleakala slopes. They also collaborate with other Maui businesses to create more than 75 lavender-based products, and now they’re partnering with you through their first book. The Maui Book of Lavender tempts with 40 unexpected lavender recipes, such as lavender crab and mango spring rolls, lavender pepper shrimp, lavender-lilikoi chicken, and lavender shortbread. And when you’ve tired of cooking, they generously divulge a short history of lavender abroad and in Hawai`i, as well as non-culinary instructions for health remedies, home crafts, and even growing your very own.

What the Big Island Likes to Eat, Mutual publishing

Every Hawaiian island is unique, which is just one reason food columnist Audrey Wilson’s second cookbook focuses solely on the Big Island, from plantation and paniolo favorites to laid-back comfort food emphasizing local produce and products. What the Big Island Likes to Eat bursts at the seams with 120 recipes unlocking secrets of classic garnishes like omelet shreds, preparations like char siu, diverse cultural treats like sweet-sour lemons and traditional Japanese Sekihan, lu`au staples like palusami and chicken long rice, recipes from new chefs and old-time restaurants like Kealakekua’s Teshima store, sweet treats, and the best omiyage. With plentiful helpings of history and evocative photos to boot, it’s a delectable window into the Big Island’s culinary past and present.

The Island Plate II, Island heritage publishing

Food editor Wanda Adams dishes up a second serving of Honolulu Advertiser recipes in The Island Plate II, reduces the previous focus on history and concentrating instead on varied flavors and concoctions presented in ultra-local sections. ‘Da Kine’ has everything from Hawaiian iced tea to Portuguese pickled onion; ‘Pupu and Potluck’ is reserved for—what else?—parties; while still others corral daily island-style entrees like Alan Wong’s Poi Stew, sides like Adams’ own Rice Gone Wild, favorite sweets (think Dobash Cake and Almond cookies), and beloved restaurant recipes such as Michel’s onion soup and Yum Yum Tree’s English Toffee pie. Even as modern island history marches on, this series stays up to date with our evolving culture and taste buds.

–Originally published in the Summer 2009 Issue of Modern Luxury Hawai`i.

Categories: Aloha, food

Island Treasures

Posted on October 19, 2008

These days it’s my job not only to keep up on what’s new in the world of books, but also in the world of small farms, arts and independent craft makers. I recently used my knowledge to create a short shopping guide for the global readers of United Airlines’ Hemispheres Magazine, giving them a peek of what’s hot in the Islands. The first thing I had to tell them about was of course a book, but after that I touch on jewels, soaps and gourmet treats.

Let’s Talk Stories: Read up on Hawai‘i before your trip.

A truly comprehensive portrait of Honolulu awaits in the 1000 plus-page anthology Honolulu Stories: Two Centuries of Writing, edited by historian Gavan Daws and local publisher Bennett Hymer.

This first-of-its-kind story collection features short glimpses of the city through the words of nearly 250 contributors from famous to unknown, such as deposed Queen Lili‘uokalani, classics by Twain and London, songs and chants, local treasures like comedian Rap Reiplinger, and modern works that give voice to Honolulu’s history and cultural landscape.

Tropical Treasures

Shopping opportunities abound in just about every puka (hole) in the Islands, including open markets, small boutiques, and luxury retailers. But beyond big brands and souvenir trinkets lies a thriving independent crafts industry quietly modernizing Island cultural style. Look for creative takes on traditional Hawaiian jewelry; body products made by hand using ancient practices and healing ingredients; or the delicious fare of local farmers, beekeepers, and candymakers. In Hawai‘i, there’s a sea of extraordinary goods to discover and make your own.

Exceptional Accessories

A common uniform of jeans or a jean skirt paired with a dressy shirt or casual tank top pervades Island women’s fashion, so to set themselves apart and transition their wardrobes seamlessly from day to night, women turn to accessible jewelry that reflects an easygoing, outdoor lifestyle. Independent designers continue to embrace sea and environmental motifs like shells, coral, branches, leaves, and pearls, but elevate the pieces with 14-karat gold, sterling silver, and such new twists as metal castings, infusions of semi-precious stones and beach glass, as well as vibrant colors and textures.

The result is stunning interpretations of nature made for a woman’s body, like Catherine Weitzman’s handcrafted pieces, found at boutiques and galleries throughout the Islands (even at major resorts). Her jewelry is designed or cast from found objects, such as sea urchin spines fashioned into a gold cuff bracelet, flower petals transformed into pendants. The jungle cuff and seahorse bangle are pictured above. catherineweitzman.com

And everyone’s talking about Noelani Designs’ chic and feminine yet unexpected combinations—like a luminous abalone shell circle necklace threaded with fresh water pearl strands, or watery-green turquoise drops suspended from delicate gold loop earrings. They never fail to get noticed. noelanidesigns.com

Some designers sell only online or in person to keep prices reasonable, but still have no shortage of clients, like O‘ahu’s Lauren Hewett Caldiero. She brings the beach to life with her bold, handcrafted Pua Jewelry, such as in hand-forged gold and silver bangles dripping with Tahitian black pearls, a gold cast cowrie-shell choker, and a gorgeous 1 inch-diameter gold or silver cast puka shell cocktail ring. For years, enameled gold Hawaiian bracelets sold at such retailers at Na Hoku (nahoku.com) have been popular mementos. Caldiero has created a nouveau take on the theme, with desired words hand-stamped onto a hammered-gold bangle. seaweedboutique.com

And even though “Hawai‘i time” often means show up any time, Bathys Hawai‘i men’s and women’s watches are more than a fashion statement. They are designed on Kaua‘i and made in Switzerland to stand up atop Mauna Kea or in the depths of Molokini. Waterproof to 100 fathoms and unstoppable at high elevation, they sport scratch-proof sapphire crystal faces, military-spec illumination, and waterproof leather straps. bathyshawaii.com

Bath and Body

The vibrant Hawaiian artisan-soap business is rooted in nature, and it builds on Island aromas by drawing from ancient knowledge of Hawai‘i’s healing plants. Country soapmaker North Shore Soap Factory is the first to leap into the mainstream, as all Hawai‘i Whole Foods locations will soon stock its soaps made of kukui and macadamia nut oil. hawaiianbathbody.com

Also at the forefront is Indigenous Soap. Each high-grade bar incorporates Hawaiian water, essential oils, and Hawaiian healing plants, such as ‘Aina soap made with purifying ‘olena root and healing limu (Hawaiian seaweed), and the sage bar with purported metabolic and nerve stimulating ingredients. indigenousoap.com

Many companies extend the integration of therapeutic elements to a full body product line. Big Island company Ola uses pure plant hydrosols and wild-crafted ingredients in body butters, sea salt scrubs, and trios of wood, fruit, and floral-scented handmade soaps arranged on coconut wood trays. hawaiianbodyproducts.com

The Bubble Shack line proves that natural doesn’t have to mean boring. It offers 120 soap varieties with inventive appearances, like the chunky and colorful Rocky Point Rumble bar, and delectable scents, like Chocolate Malasada or Shave Ice, each invoking different landmarks and amusements. bubbleshackhawaii.com

Gourmet Goodies

Marathon days of sightseeing and shopping call for a sweet reward of fresh gourmet treats. For an easy introduction to Hawai‘i’s multicultural cuisine, try the traditional Japanese New Year rice dessert mochi, a local favorite that reflects the state’s rich cultural history. Most impressive are such updated sensations as a fresh strawberry dipped in smoky azuki-bean paste then wrapped in soft, chewy mochi. The best spots are Hilo’s Two Ladies Kitchen and O‘ahu’s Saturday Grandma’s Mochi. Two Ladies Kitchen, 274 Kilauea Ave., Hilo, Hawai`i. Tel: 808.961.4766 / Saturday Grandma’s Mochi. 98-718 Moanalua Rd., Pearl City, O`ahu, Tel: 808.484.0052. Or KCC Saturday Farmer’s Market, 4308 Diamond Head Rd. O`ahu; madeinhawaiistore.com

A taste of Hawai‘i in its purest form can be found in the wilds of small country farm operations. It’s no secret that Hawai‘i is the only U.S. source of premium coffee, but it’s not yet common knowledge that Ka‘u Coffee may soon match esteemed Kona beans. Rustic estate coffees like Rusty’s Hawaiian and award-winning Will & Grace Farm’s Rising Sun are the region’s aromatic, full-bodied and flavorful rising stars. Rusty’s Hawaiian, 16 Pa Au Au St., Pahala, Hawai‘i; Tel: 808.928.8916 / Will & Grace Farm’s Rising Sun, 95-5657 Mamalahoa Hwy., Hawai‘i; Tel: 808.557.4441

Around the corner is Ka‘u’s small-scale Artemis Smiles Honey Company, whose rare, raw single blossom honey—either astoundingly clear and floral glysine (tropical clover), golden Christmas berry, or prized pure-white Lehua—is something even residents feel lucky to know about. wildbeesandhoney.com

One of the most surprising facets of Hawai‘i’s burgeoning specialty agricultural industry might be the premium Hawaiian chocolate sourced from local cacao plantations. The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory and Waialua Estate Chocolate package bars and truffles under their own labels, and local chocolatiers are increasingly using Hawaiian chocolate alongside Venezuelan, Belgian and other fine cacao in delectable alternatives to chocolate-covered Mac nuts. The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory, 78-6772 Makenawai St., Kona, Hawai`i, Tel: 808.322.2626 or originalhawaiianchocolatefactory.com / Waialua Estate Chocolate, Dole Plantation, 64-1550 Kamehameha Hwy., Wahiawa, O‘ahu; doleplantation.com

The popular Big Island Candies can always be counted on for inventive treats with locally grown ingredients, whether they’re chocolate-covered coconut brownies, macadamia rocky road chocolate bars, or a suite of chocolate-dipped macadamia shortbreads. This month, the shop debuts caramel almond brownies and chocolate mints. 585 Hinano St., Hilo, Hawai`i; Tel: 808. 935.8890 or bigislandcandies.com

And Sweet Paradise Chocolatier’s award-winning artisan chocolates are raising the bar, entwining luxurious local flavors like strawberry guava, lychee, and Hawaiian chili pepper with local and global cacao, hand-shaped into works of art that won’t be gazed at for long. sweetparadisechocolate.com

For Hemispheres Magazine

Categories: Art and Architecture, food, Travel

Bit O’ Honey

Posted on October 12, 2008

I just can’t say enough good things about Alison Yahna. Her passion and respect for bees, and the nearly indescribable honey I tasted straight from her Ka’u hives earlier this year–yep, I dipped my finger in and popped it straight in my mouth: clear, floral, raw and delicious–have me abuzz.

What this article doesn’t mention is that Alison is also available to give talks, short classes or even customized meetings about holistic beekeeping, so don’t be afraid to contact her. Her energy and enthusiasm is as contagious as her glysine honey is addictive.

Yahna’s Gold
By Christine Thomas
Published in Hana Hou Magazine
October/November 2008

“Make your spirit like honey,” said the bees. While Alison Yahna was a high school biology teacher in Portland, Oregon, she had been dreaming about bees. Then a swarm settled in a tree near her home, and Alison helped a friend and former beekeeper transfer the bees to a hive. Suddenly, the dreams made sense.

“They’d drop to the bottom of the paper bag I was holding and start crawling up on my arms,” Yahna recalls. “Then I remembered my dream. I was just thinking ‘make your spirit like honey’ because I was afraid they would sting me.”

She didn’t get stung, but she did contract “bee fever,” a healthy obsession that eventually led her to the Big Island to learn permaculture, raise queen bees and become a full-time beekeeper.

Even more remarkable than Yahna’s dedication to “her girls,” as she calls them, is the rare, single-blossom honey her colonies produce at her Artemis Smiles Bee Sanctuary. In wild areas of Ka‘u unspoiled by pesticides and fertilizers, her bees feed each season on just one type of flower. They make aromatic honey from sea-misted Ka Lae glysine (tropical clover) in winter; brilliant white lehua honey from ‘ohi‘a trees in spring and summer; and golden Christmas berry honey from lowland scrub forest in the fall. Yahna hand-harvests the raw honey; she never processes, heats or filters it, which preserves its flavor and its healing properties: People have used raw honey since antiquity as an antiseptic, digestive tonic and cough suppressant.

But for true lovers of honey and bees, Yahna offers five- to eight-day workshops at the sanctuary, where aspiring apiarists learn hive building, honey harvesting and, most important, how to keep bees healthy. To Yahna, sharing her knowledge of small-scale holistic beekeeping is her kuleana (responsibility); it’s her way of combating the problem of colony collapse threatening bees worldwide.

Yahna’s honey is available at the Na‘alehu open market and through her web site. “It takes the nectar from 3 to 5 million flowers to make a cup of honey,” she says. “It’s really special. I treat it as a sacred food.”

Artemis Smiles Honey Co. and Bee Sanctuary
www.wildbeesandhoney.com

Photo by Jack Wolford

Categories: Environment, food, Travel

Literary Lotus

I travel. I read. I write.

Posts from the “food” Category

These Vegetables Need a Home

Posted on September 10, 2010

Food Spotting: What Hawai’i Chefs Eat

Posted on September 7, 2010

Interview: the Green Giant (aka Ed Kenney of Town)

Posted on September 3, 2010

Are you hungry?

Posted on September 1, 2010

Interview: Dishing the Dirt with Dean Okimoto

Posted on September 18, 2009

Interview: Daniel Dae Kim and D.K. Kodama’s Close EnCounter

Posted on September 13, 2009

Interview: Bev Gannon is Cooking on the Edge

Posted on September 9, 2009

Let Them Eat . . .

Posted on September 3, 2009

Island Treasures

Posted on October 19, 2008

Let’s Talk Stories: Read up on Hawai‘i before your trip.

Tropical Treasures

Exceptional Accessories

Bath and Body

Gourmet Goodies

Bit O’ Honey

Posted on October 12, 2008

Posts from the “food” Category

Posted on September 10, 2010

Share:

Posted on September 7, 2010

Share:

Posted on September 3, 2010

Share:

Posted on September 1, 2010

Share:

Posted on September 18, 2009

Share:

Posted on September 13, 2009

Share:

Posted on September 9, 2009

Share:

Posted on September 3, 2009

Share:

Posted on October 19, 2008

Let’s Talk Stories: Read up on Hawai‘i before your trip.

Tropical Treasures

Exceptional Accessories

Bath and Body

Gourmet Goodies

Share:

Posted on October 12, 2008

Share: