Ulu to be celebrated at festival, summit

Ulu, or breadfruit, a staple food used in sweet and savory preparations throughout the Pacific, is now viewed as a natural way to help reduce obesity, diabetes and, on a more basic level, hunger in Hawaii and across the globe.

The inaugural Laie Breadfruit Summer Fest on Saturday celebrates all things ulu, from traditional uses to new innovations.

The free event, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Marriott’s Courtyard Oahu North Shore, will feature more than a dozen food vendors, many of which will highlight dishes using breadfruit. Others will offer handcrafted items, and entertainment includes music by Kapena and comedy by Da Braddahs. For details, call 531-5050 or visit 808ne.ws/2bBmH9V.

But the festival is just one part of a larger ulu-centered event: the 2016 Hawai‘i Pacific Global Breadfruit Summit, running Saturday through Wednesday at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Cultural practitioners, biologists, food scientists and innovators, economic development specialists and academicians from around the world will gather to discuss breadfruit as the future of social, cultural and economic abundance.

Hawaii chef Sam Choy, a keynote speaker, will conduct a cooking demonstration with breadfruit as the focus. Visit globalbreadfruitsummit.com.

Goat farmer’s cheese lands at Whole Foods

Two cheeses from Sweet Land Farm, the Waialua goat dairy run by Emma Bello, have finally hit the shelves of Whole Foods Market.

Bello’s spreadable fresh chevre and feta cheeses are now in stock at the Kahala, Kailua and Maui locations. The chevre comes in three flavors: straight chevre, roasted garlic and green onion.

Mililani shoppers who frequent the town’s Sunday farmers market have already been enjoying Bello’s cheese, and she also sells caramel sauce and a goat-milk lotion there.

Various restaurants, including Alan Wong’s, features the cheeses on their menus.

Sweet Land Farm opened last year on 86 acres. Bello now tends a herd of 120 goats, which produce 150 to 200 pounds of cheese a week.

Humble Michelin-star venue to join Royal Hawaiian Center

Hawaii will soon be rife with Michelin-star restaurants, thanks not only to the new International Market Place but also the Royal Hawaiian Center.

Dim sum restaurant Tim Ho Wan, a humble Hong Kong- based eatery, is expected to open at the center early next year. Chef Mak Kwai Pui developed the venue, known as the most inexpensive Michelin restaurant in the world.

The chain has restaurants in Singapore, Taiwan, the Philip- pines, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Sydney, Melbourne, Thailand and Melaka in Malaysia.

Other shops to open at the center, later this year:

>> Dean and DeLuca, the upscale grocery store that began in New York in 1977 and has gone global, with stores across the U.S. and in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, South Korea and the Middle East.

>> Tito Ernie’s, a dessert venue from Maui that will join the center’s Pa‘ina Lanai Food Court, with treats including ge- lato, sorbetto, halo halo, premium ice cream and crepes.