Lanikai Brewing Co.’s new Kahiki brew pays tribute to the Polynesian Voyaging Society and its mission to perpetuate the practice of traditional navigation.
The beer was introduced Saturday when the voyaging canoe Hokule‘a officially ended its three-year world tour.
The limited-edition beer was brewed using “canoe plants” — coconut, sugar cane, turmeric, breadfruit, ti leaves and kalo — those carried to Hawaii by the original voyagers.
Only 1,000 bottles have been issued, available at the Lanikai Brewing tap room in Kailua and at Village Bottle Shop and Tasting Room in Kakaako while supplies last. The brewery will donate a portion of sales to the voyaging society.
The beer will also be poured during a “Talk Story” fundraiser for the voyaging society, 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Growler USA in Kapahulu. Five Hokule‘a crew members, including Nainoa Thompson, will attend the Q&A session.
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Star-Advertiser staff
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A whole lotta giving
All three Hawaii Whole Foods Markets will donate 5 percent of Thursday’s net sales to the Hawaii Culinary Education Foundation.
The Hawaii outposts of the national grocery chain select a nonprofit beneficiary for Whole Foods’ Community Giving Days twice a year.
Members of the foundation’s board of directors will be at each store from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to explain the foundation’s work, which includes bringing culinary professionals to high schools to boost students’ skills in the kitchen.
Those workshops reach 6,000 students each year.
Whole Foods’ Hawaii stores are at Kahala Mall, at 629 Kailua Road and on Maui.
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Erika Engle, Star-Advertiser
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A taste of the 808 served up in the 702
If while visiting the ninth island you find yourself yearning for island delicacies, think 808 Sushi.
Located about 20 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, the restaurant offers an all-you-can-eat lunch menu from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for $21.95. Oahu native Dean Okada carried the taste of Hawaii with him when he left for Nevada about 10 years ago.
“When I moved to Vegas, I wasn’t planning on opening a restaurant,” Okada said from his Vegas shop. “I wanted to play … travel.” But after working as a sushi chef, Okada decided to give it a shot.
Okada was a partner in Lunch Box Kitchen of Hawaii on Sand Island years ago, and is a former director of operations for Genki Sushi.
He opened 808 Sushi about eight years ago and the all-you-can-eat menu is extensive. Okada offers agedashi tofu, garlic chicken, pork gyoza, salmon katsu, shrimp and vegetable tempura, somen salad, beef and chicken teriyaki, ahi poke and desserts of mochi ice cream, green tea ice cream and a Banzai Special — deep-fried apple spring roll with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.
And that’s just what’s on the cover of the menu. The remaining pages list a variety of nigiri, hand rolls and specialty rolls that include five deep-fried rolls and four baked ones.
Sushi rolls run from $3.25 to $7.50. The baked Japanese Lasagna roll (California roll, cucumber with a dollop of cream cheese and a sweet “Yumyum sauce”) is $6. I’m craving the velvety texture of the cream cheese and sweetness of the Yumyum sauce as I write this.
One day I won’t have to travel so far for those baked rolls. Okada has been scouting locations for an Oahu restaurant.
Meanwhile, 808 Sushi is in the Rhodes Ranch Town Center on Durango Drive. Call (702) 541-7874.
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Michelle Ramos, Star-Advertiser
Quickbites is a weekly listing of dining events. Email items to crave@staradvertiser.com.
