Sheraton worker wins national chef contest
Melanie Tancinco will represent Hawaii and the Pacific Islands Region in the National Jeunes Chefs Competition May 17 in Miami Beach, Fla.
Tancinco, employed at the Sheraton Waikiki, beat five contestants to win the Chaine des Rotisseurs, Hawaii/Pacific Islands Region’s Jeunes Chefs Rotisseurs Competition Feb. 22.
Tancinco prepared an appetizer, main course and dessert with items from a mystery basket: kampachi, lamb racks, veal sweetbread, asparagus, beets and Korean pears. Her menu included pan-seared kampachi with pickled beets; herbed lamb; asparagus puree and veal sweetbread croquette; and chocolate cremeux and Korean pear gelee.
In the national competition, Tancinco will be competing against nine others. If she wins, she will compete in September for the world title in Durban, South Africa.
Aloha Plate food truck will serve food at Spam Jam
Chef Adam Tabura will serve up a Spam dish from his winning Aloha Plate food truck at the 12th Annual Waikiki Spam Jam Festival on May 3.
The truck, which makes a rare appearance in Hawaii, is run by Tabura, his brother Lanai Tabura and Shawn Felipe, the team that won season four of Food Network’s "Great Food Truck Race."
The Taburas host 12 videos featuring various Spam recipes; visit youtube.com/user/SPAMbrand.
The videos will also run during the second season of "Cooking Hawaiian Style" (7:30 p.m. Mondays, OC16) that begins April 7.
No James Beard awards for isle chefs this year
None of Hawaii’s contenders for the 2014 James Beard Awards made the list of finalists announced Tuesday.
In February, four Honolulu chefs and one Honolulu restaurant were named semifinalists.
Chefs Chris Kajioka of Vintage Cave and Andrew Le of the Pig & the Lady were up for the Rising Star Chef award. Michelle Karr-Ueoka of MW restaurant was included in the Outstanding Pastry category, and Ed Kenney of Town was a semifinalist for Best Chef: West.
It was Kenney’s second time as a semifinalist. The category includes chefs from Hawaii, Nevada and California. This year’s finalists all hail from California.
