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Chef Sheldon Simeon of headline-grabbing restaurant Star Noodle in Lahaina, Maui, has been nominated by Food and Wine magazine as one of the best up-and-coming chefs of the year in the Northwest & Pacific region.
Simeon also was a semifinalist for a 2011 James Beard Award as one of the rising star chefs of the year. Star Noodle also was among the semifinalists for best new restaurant last year.
As often happens, however, neither Hawaii-based name was included among the finalists nor, naturally, among the eventual winners.
Food and Wine magazine allows public voting, which you can do via the magazine’s website, through Sunday.
Chefs with the most eligible votes in each region will be among 10 regional winners, and the chef with the most votes will be named The People’s Best New Chef for 2012.
The APEC Host Committee and its CEO, Gregg Yamanaka, will be honored by the American Marketing Association Hawaii Chapter as the 35th Hawaii Marketer of the Year at its annual award luncheon.
The organization’s other winners are Disney Aulani Resort and Spa, for best marketing of a new product or service; Farmers Insurance Hawaii Inc. for best e-marketing; and the Film Offices of the Hawaiian Islands for best nonprofit/government/noncommercial marketing.
Global attention focused on Hawaii for the APEC 2011 meeting in Honolulu, and Yamanaka and the APEC Host Committee are being lauded for conducting a coordinated effort of product enhancement, enhanced airport signage, anti-graffiti projects and coordinated efforts between government and private-sector entities that extended benefits even after the conference had ended, AMA Hawaii officials said in a statement.
The luncheon honoring the winners will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. April 17 at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.
Further information about reserving seats can be found on the association’s website.
Honolulu and Lahaina have been chosen by TripAdvisor.com users as the Nos. 5 and 8 beach destinations in the nation — and the Nos. 15 and 19 beach destinations in the world, respectively.
The TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice winners are selected based on millions of reviews and opinions from travelers around the world, travel site officials said in a statement.
"Travelers seeking a brief beach respite from the cold or planning their grand summer getaways will quickly warm up to the thought of trips to these award-winning beach destinations," said Barbara Messing, chief marketing officer for TripAdvisor.
The top beach destination on the planet is Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos islands in the Caribbean, while two Florida beaches, St. Pete Beach and Miami Beach, were the top U.S. beach destinations.
Boy, would those Florida beach visitors learn a thing or two from a Hawaii beach, as to what beaches and ocean water are supposed to look and feel like.
A Hawaii executive who traveled to Florida for a conference once excused herself from taking a dip at Miami Beach along with mainland colleagues who were excited to be there. It wasn’t just that the sand and beach were not up to her standards; she described them as "gross."
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