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COFFEE BOUNTY IN A CHOCOLATE BAR
The coffee comes from Kona, the chocolate from Belgium. They meet in Napa Valley, Calif., to become Kona Bars.
The candies come in milk and dark chocolate, with macadamia nuts or infused with passion fruit, coconut, Tahitian vanilla, raspberry or hibiscus.
They are the creation of Christian Zenger, who once owned the art gallery Hula Prints at Aloha Tower Marketplace but has since turned into a candy man. His goal was to create a chocolate bar with the flavor profile of the chocolate-covered espresso beans he loved eating.
Zenger made the first bars in his kitchen and tested them on friends. His first sales, about five years ago, were to ABC Stores. “I wanted a $2 product that everyone could enjoy, and I wanted to use high-end ingredients.”
That meant Kona coffee beans, supplied by Lion’s Gate Farms, which also provides his mac nuts. The chocolate and other ingredients, including dried organic hibiscus blossoms, are sourced elsewhere, as Zenger says Hawaii just doesn’t produce enough to meet his needs.
Those needs? A month’s supply, at Le Belge Chocolatier in Napa, runs 50,000 to 90,000 bars, Zenger said.
Kona Bars are available in limited amounts at some ABC, Walmart, 7-Eleven and Longs Drugs stores. The best place to find them is at a Costco road show — those pop-up events where vendors sell products for a few days at a time. Look for them Thursday to Sunday at the Iwilei Costco, Nov. 15 to 18 and Dec. 6 to 9 on Kauai, Nov. 29 to Dec. 2 in Kona, and Dec. 12 to 15 in Hawaii Kai.
A portion of sales goes to a range of charities, such as the Surfrider Foundation.
To order online: konabar.com.
— Betty Shimabukuro, Star-Advertiser
NEW AT JAPAN VILLAGE WALK
Several new vendors opened at Shirokiya’s Japan Village Walk last week:
>> Gourmet Plaza: 14 outlets feature wagyu beef and seafood dishes
>> Ramen Plaza: Eight vendors specialize in ramen styles of miso, shoyu, tonkotsu (pork broth), gyukotsu (beef broth), mazesoba (without soup), champon (Nagasaki-style), and ramen with tempura and takoyaki
>> Individual vendors: Hageten (tempura), Sakura (yakitori and donburi), Misono Ramen (Hokkaido miso ramen), Miyakonjo and Pupu Dining Engiya (two izakayas) and Wacky Dog (hot dogs)
>> Sweets: Kazan Cafe (coffee and baked goods), Lemon Supply (lemonade and frozen drinks), Sweetaz Waffles (waffle pops), Choco Magic (chocolate fondue) and Charmy Ice Cream (soft-serve ice cream and candies)
Village Walk is in the Ewa wing of Ala Moana Center, open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and until 9 p.m. Sundays.
BENEFITS FOCUS ON KOREAN FLAVORS
Ten Oahu restaurants will provide their takes on Korean cuisine at Taste of Korea, a fundraiser to support the building of a Korean cultural center.
The fifth-annual event runs 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 12 at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.
A sampling of the menu: miso short rib stew and Korean kabocha from MW Restaurant; pork jerky from the Pig & the Lady; and mushroom-bulgogi pasta from Auntie Pasto’s.
More traditional dishes will be served by a number of Korean restaurants.
Korean liquor samples will also be served.
Tickets are $80, buy at hawaiikcc.com. Call 349-2642 or 535-8460, or email hawaiikccnow@gmail.com.
Quickbites is a weekly listing of dining events. Email items to crave@staradvertiser.com.
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