Life didn’t even give Tracey Apoliona or Scott Hiraishi lemons, but they nevertheless made lemonade — out of locally grown ingredients.

Following the success of the Hawaii Island Ranchers Dinner at Sam Choy’s Kai Lanai in March, and with the recent Roast & Roots event still ahead of them, the two formed a new culinary partnership: The Feeding Leaf.

Hiraishi cooked for the Ranchers Dinner as executive chef at Sam Choy’s Kai Lanai and incorporated a bit of theater, igniting salt to heat rocks on which he cooked Hawaii island-grown tenderloin before serving the beef with a teriyaki truffle sauce.

Other dishes he prepared comprised 100 percent Hawaii island-grown ingredients.

The Ranchers Dinner "was sold out, jam-packed, so we just decided one day to do this for ourselves," Apoliona said.

The Feeding Leaf debuted July 19 at Roast & Roots, an event hosted by the Hawaii Coffee Association in collaboration with Kamehameha Schools and the state Department of Agriculture at the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay. Apoliona was the event coordinator.

As the pair tells it, "He lau maona," in Hawaiian, means "the leaf that feeds until satisfied."

It is a reference to the kalo, or taro plant, which was and remains a key root-to-leaves Hawaiian source of food and symbolism.

To Apoliona and Hiraishi their company name expresses sharing of food rooted in culture and prepared and served artfully.

Given their collective work experience, "we already work with farmers and ranchers … and we have farmers coming to us saying, ‘I have asparagus,’ or ‘I have arugula,’" for instance, Apoliona said.

They have a network of suppliers and will focus largely on Hawaii-island grown beef, pork and other proteins. They will buy from Kona abalone and lobster growers as well as fruit and vegetable farmers but also will find other ingredients from other islands for the culinary events they plan.

"We’re open to almost anything," Apoliona said. Roast & Roots had about 1,000 attendees, "but we are able to do smaller groups" as well, she said.

Apoliona and Hiraishi are scouting commercial kitchen locations and have gotten interest from destination management companies for catering of large group functions, she said.

The company also will get attention at the upcoming Hawaii Food and Wine Festival, as Hiraishi will be representing The Feeding Leaf at the Pa’ina on the Pier event. The team also is preparing for Mealani’s Taste of the Hawaiian Range, on Sept. 26 at Hilton Waikoloa Village.

In addition to gaining visibility through well-attended culinary events, The Feeding Leaf actively is promoting itself via its website and Facebook page.

On the Net:

» www.thefeedingleaf.com

“Buy Local” runs on Aloha Fridays. Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.