Tropics Bar & Grill at the Hilton Hawaiian Village at a beer pairing dinner, 5:30 p.m. Oct. 19, a partnership with Honolulu BeerWorks. Cost is $79. The dinner is a preview to the Third Annual Great Waikiki Beer Festival on Oct. 21 (for more on the festival, see Barfly.
Homecoming hullabaloo
University of Hawaii alumni, it’s time to come home.
Even if you don’t care about football (the game is Saturday), come to Picnic on the Path, a pep rally and food truck event, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday on the Manoa campus’ Legacy Path, between Dole Street and Varney Circle.
The event is free. Trucks and other vendors — among them India Cafe, Uahi Grill and Da Spot — will offer $5 foods, and alumni may claim a limited number of free-food vouchers. Also on tap: entertainment and tours of the Lava Lab, John Young Museum of Art and Warrior Recreation Center.
Call 956-8111 or visit manoa.hawaii.edu/homecoming.
A Big Brothers benefit
Purple will be the color of the night at a cocktail party Saturday to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawai‘i.
The party at the Lanai at the Hyatt Centric in Waikiki will feature a signature purple cocktail made with hibiscus syrup, Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Curacao liqueur, with lime and pineapple juices.
The party runs from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $75, which includes pupu, two drinks, four hours of valet parking and entertainment. Sponsorships are $1,500 for five tickets. Email mtrella@ bbbshawaii.org or call 695-4566.
Hilo to host tasting event
The 19th Annual Taste of Hilo on Oct. 22 will feature more than 35 chefs, restaurants and bakeries.
The Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Hawaii sponsors the annual dining affair, to be held this year from 1 to 3 p.m. at Sangha Hall at the Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin.
Presale tickets are $55; call 934-0177 or email jccih@jccih.org. Admission at the door will be $70.
A portion of the proceeds goes to Hawaii Community College. The Japanese Chamber has raised more than $160,000 for programs at the college through the years.
Breadfruit on the menu
Bring breadfruit to the table at a cooking class from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Kahumana Farm in Waianae.
Cooking with ‘Ulu 101 will begin with a tour of Kahumana Farm’s ulu trees, followed by lessons in judging ripeness and ways to prepare breadfruit in each stage of maturity.
The instructor is Nina Beatty, a Culinary Institute of the Pacific graduate who started experimenting with ulu in 2008 when she noticed so much was going to waste because people didn’t know how to prepare it.
Cost is $20 or $50 for families of up to three (children must be 8 or older). Sign up at 808ne.ws/uluclass or call 483-0678.
Chef Choy to talk story
Chef Sam Choy brings The Choy of Cooking, a cooking demonstration, dinner and talk-story session, to Koloa Landing Resort on Kauai on Oct. 20.
Choy’s menu: tako poke, chicken bites, kalbi and his Kauai Island Salad.
Seatings are at 6 and 7:45 p.m. at Holoholo Grill. Cost is $55, $28 children, free for kids under age 5. Visit choyofcooking.com.
Oktoberfest cooking
Learn to make the food of Oktoberfest at a cooking class Oct. 21 at BLT Steak Waikiki.
On the menu: German potato salad, soft pretzels, short ribs with spaetzle, Wiener schnitzel with braised red cabbage and apple strudel.
Instructors will be BLT chef Fred DeAngelo and chef Guido Ullman, a native of Austria. They’ll also talk about beer pairings and German cooking techniques.
The class includes a three-course lunch with wine or beer pairings and a kitchen tour, plus a gingerbread souvenir from pastry chef Arleigh Agpaoa.
Cost is $100. Call 683-7440 or visit hawaiicooks.brownpapertickets.com.
Quickbites is a weekly listing of dining events. Email items to crave@staradvertiser.com.
