Bartending duo to promote guide

Jesse Greenleaf and Amie Fujiwara, authors of "The Cocktail Handbook: Cool Drinks from Hawaii’s Hottest Bartenders," will be signing their book at Barnes & Noble bookstores this month.

From noon to 1 p.m. Saturday, the duo will be at Ala Moana Center’s branch; then, at 1 to 2 p.m. March 26, they will sign books at the Kahala Mall bookstore.

"The Cocktail Handbook" features more than 80 drink recipes from 22 Hawaii bartenders. Greenleaf and Fujiwara tend bar at Duke’s Waikiki.

The book retails for $15.95 in bookstores, stores and online, or direct from the publisher, Watermark Publishing. Call 587-7766 or visit www.bookshawaii.net.

Raw food chef tells culinary tale

Raw food chef Douglas McNish shares his story of navigating the culinary world to healthy cuisine in a lecture Saturday at McCoy Pavilion at Ala Moana Beach Park.

McNish, executive chef at a raw food restaurant in Toronto, started cooking at a young age and jumped wholeheartedly into the world of haute cuisine. The impact of gourmet food on his body, however, led him to explore healthy, cruelty-free, gourmet cooking. Today, he cooks organic, vegan and raw food.

The lecture, presented by the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii, starts at 7 p.m. and is free. Call 944-8344.

Schools due to get salad bars

Whole Foods Market recently awarded grants to seven Hawaii schools to install salad bars for school meals.

Halau Ku Mana and Waikiki School on Oahu, Kanuikapono Public Charter School and Kapa’a High School on Kauai, and Maui Haleakala Waldorf School, Hana School and Kihei Charter School on Maui were recipients of funding from the Salad Bar Project.

The grants provide a healthy salad bar kit that includes a five-well bar, utensils, pan inserts, chilling pads and training tools.

Awards came after Whole Foods shoppers surpassed a goal of raising $750,000 for the project during a four-week campaign in September.

Since then, Whole Foods has helped found Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools, with the goal of providing 6,000 salad bars nationwide by 2013. Visit saladbars2schools.org.

A few St. Patrick’s Day deals

» Treating yourself to a meal at the Kahala Hotel & Resort won’t break the bank if you partake of corned beef and cabbage tomorrow at the Plumeria Beach House. It’s just $15. Call 739-8760. 

» At the Counter Custom  Built Burgers, enjoy a $3 green beer or green shake when you say to your server “Get Lucky.” And if you can show that you “Like” the Counter on Facebook, get a green shake for free. Call 739-5100.

» All month, Maui Tacos is featuring an Irish burrito, a spinach tortilla filled with corned beef, sautéed cabbage and potatoes. The wrapped meal goes for $7.95. Visit www.mauitacos.com.