Drinking, dining choices excel at Hungry Monkey

Mixologists and winemakers were on hand to serve up potables alongside the comestibles at Thursday’s Hungry Monkey event held poolside at the Modern as part of the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival.

The festival raises funds for culinary scholarships and other nonprofit purposes, and provides opportunities for culinary students to work alongside industry luminaries, as did several Kapiolani Community College students.

Examples of some of the dishes of the night:

>> “Iron Chef” Masaharu Morimoto served tonkotsu ramen with a rich, velvety broth, chasu Pono Pork, sesame seeds, thinly sliced wood ear mushrooms, green onion, soft-cooked egg, and yaki nori.

>> Beijing chef Aiyin Li’s great grandfather was the cook for the imperial family in China’s Forbidden City, and she is now the fourth generation to have the revered recipes passed down. Her Kulana beef dish was prepared in a style formerly reserved for royalty, served alongside a soybean puree.

>> Richard Rosendale, a certified master chef as well as a restaurateur, served whole roasted Pono Pork with Thai barbecue sauce, assorted island pickled vegetables and grilled Gaucho bread. Rosendale and junior chef Corey Siegel also represented the U.S.A. at the Bocuse d’Or competition in 2013, placing 7th out of 24 teams.

>> Chef and restaurateur Hugh Acheson of Georgia, plates his Hawaiian Kampachi crudo with boiled peanuts, charred maui onion, Kahuku sea asparagus, warabi shoots and uni dressing.

The Hawaii Food and Wine Festival continues through Sunday.