Kailua food tour offers good eats, camaraderie

Alesia Cloutier’s first attempt at cooking solo literally went up in smoke.

Twelve years old at the time, she was at home with her grandmother, trying to make an omelet. She wound up burning it so badly it set off the smoke detector alarm, which was connected to a fire monitoring service.

“The next thing I knew, fire engines were pulling up outside of my house with their sirens blaring,” said Cloutier, owner of Flavor of Hawaii Culinary Adventures. “All of my neighbors were standing outside, watching. I was mortified; I had to tell the firemen that there was no fire, just a burnt omelet. Sadly, my cooking skills have not improved too much since then, but that led me to eat out a lot and develop a discerning palate.”

Today, Cloutier heads a company that offers two Oahu walking tours revolving around food. Launched in September, the three-hour Kailua Food Tour is set in the scenic suburb where she was born and raised.

“I’m passionate about food and learning about new flavors,” Cloutier said. “I designed the tour to showcase my favorite stores and restaurants in Kailua. It’s a delicious introduction to my hometown. Instead of sitting in a bus and looking out a window, visitors are immersed in the community.”

Among the eight stops is Agnes’ Portuguese Bake Shop, which serves hot mala­sa­das to the group. During the height of the sugar plantation era from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, Fat Tuesday was known as Mala­sada Day in Hawaii.

On that day — the last day devout Christians ate rich, fatty foods before the fasting season of Lent began — Portuguese immigrants, who were predominantly Catholic, would make large batches of the fried dough. They shared them with fellow workers of other ethnicities, which, as the story goes, is how mala­sa­das became a popular treat in Hawaii.

When Cloutier played softball in elementary school, her team often sold Agnes’ mala­sa­das as a fundraiser. “My mom always wound up buying several boxes of them,” she recalled, laughing. “I’d eat at least half a dozen mala­sa­das in one sitting.”

In high school Cloutier worked at Morning Brew Coffee House and Bistro, where she took a fancy to chai drinks. Chai is made by brewing black tea with aromatic spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Kailua Food Tour participants sip Morning Brew’s Chai Shake, a blend of chai, ice and vanilla ice cream topped with cinnamon and whipped cream.

Poke ranks first on Cloutier’s list of favorite foods. “I attended the University of Washington in Seattle,” she said. “Whenever I came home during breaks, my mom always kept a pound of poke in the fridge for me. I would eat poke every day I was home.”

At Hibachi, poke chef Keo­many Poun­panya describes the different kinds of fish that are auctioned daily except Sunday at Hono­lulu Harbor’s Pier 38. Occasionally he’ll have a whole ahi (yellowfin tuna) on hand. He’ll cut a portion of it and prepare poke as guests watch.

“There are always a few people on the tour who haven’t tried raw fish before, and I love that this is their introduction to it,” Cloutier said. “They’re pretty sure they won’t like it, but once they taste it they do a complete turnaround. They realize it was more the thought of eating something raw that they didn’t like. It’s a lot of fun being part of those moments of discovery.”

John Memering, owner and chef of Cactus, escorts tourists into the restaurant’s kitchen, where he talks about his commitment to serving dishes made with organic, locally grown ingredients, including plantains and ruby-red Hama­kua tomatoes from Hawaii island.

One of the samples — a taco filled with pork from Shinsato Farm and accompanied by a piquant pineapple pico de gallo — always earns raves. Set against the Koo­lau Mountains in Kaha­luu, Shinsato is the only farm on Oahu that has a USDA-certified slaughterhouse on site.

Although the route and menu are the same for each Kailua Food Tour, no two are exactly alike because the interests of the participants are different. Some want to learn about the backgrounds of the chefs and restaurants; others are curious about the origins of the food and beverages they’re tasting; still others are focused on ingredients, preparation tips and cooking techniques.

The tours are kept to 12 people or fewer people to encourage conversation and camaraderie. “Everyone is welcome to share their dining experiences and opinions about the things we’re sampling,” Cloutier said. “Before long we’re all chatting like longtime buddies. It’s great to see how friendships are formed over food.”

In recent years, food shows on television have skyrocketed in popularity, making Jamie Oliver, Anthony Bourdain, Paula Deen, Rachel Ray, Gordon Ramsay and Giada de Laurentiis household names. Thanks to those shows, Cloutier points out, travelers have become savvy about food and often plan their vacations around where and what they want to eat.

At the end of the Kailua Food Tour, she distributes a list of the stops and the items that were tasted. She also suggests other restaurants on Oahu that participants might want to try.

“Flavor of Hawaii’s tours educate both visitors and kama­aina about the diversity of Hawaii’s cuisine,” Cloutier said. “Dining out in Hawaii can be fun and exciting. Our goal is to help guests continue their tasting adventures long after our tours have ended.”