Combine dinner with a farm tour and an education about the local meat industry at the Forage Hawaii Farm to Table Dinner, 5 to 9 p.m. Nov. 11 at Mari’s Gardens in Mililani.
A five-course menu, prepared by natural foods chef Sarah Burchard, author of “The Healthy Locavore” blog, includes a charred pineapple and breadfruit poke, peppercorn-spiced pork loin, and venison with red wine, coffee and cocoa.
The event includes a tour of the aquaponic and hydroponic farm, with much of the farm’s produce incorporated into the dinner. Representatives of 2 Lady Farmers, supplier of the pork, and Maui Nui Venison will introduce their products.
Cost is $99, BYOB, available at healthylocavore.com/events or call 594-2119. Mari’s Gardens is at 94-415 Makapipipi St. in Mililani.
KCC STUDENTS JOIN JAMES BEARD WINNER
Miami chef Michelle Bernstein will be working with culinary students at the Le‘ahi Concept Kitchen in Waikiki to put on a Latin-inspired dinner Tuesday and Nov. 8.
Bernstein, 2008 winner of the James Beard award for best chef in the South, owns Crumb on Parchment cafe in Miami.
Her four-course menu includes a canape of Cuban-style braised oxtail and octopus griddle-cooked with almond soup, opakapaka with shishito peppers.
Cost: $125, $150 with wine or beer. Seatings begin at 6:30 p.m. Call 971-6302.
The concept kitchen, a teaching restaurant run by the Culinary Institute of the Pacific, is at the Waikiki Parc Hotel, 2233 Helumoa Road.
RESERVE IMU SPACE FOR ONO HOLIDAY FEAST
A turkey out of an imu is one of Hawaii’s unique holiday delights, and the Kailua High School athletic program helps make it happen with its Thanksgiving fundraising imu.
Show up on Thanksgiving eve, Nov. 22, with your thawed turkey properly packed in a heavy disposable baking pan, well wrapped in foil (up to 25 pounds). In the morning, you simply pick up your cooked bird. Cost: $25 per tray.
Pork butt, beef roasts and ham also do well in the imu. But there’s room for only 400 orders, so reserve space now: Send a check to Kailua High School, 451 Ulumanu Drive, Kailua 96734. Write “Attention: IMU” in the lower left corner of the envelope.
Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope to receive a confirmation ticket. Include name and telephone number.
Questions? Call athletic director Ramona Takahashi, 266-7910, or Kai Hovey, 391-8275.
KENNEY, COSENTINO SERVE OFFAL AT POP-UP
Chef Ed Kenney will collaborate with San Francisco chef Chris Cosentino to present a five-course dinner reflecting their mutual love of offal, Sunday at Mud Hen Water.
While the menu is not yet set, dishes will likely include a few recipes from Cosentino’s recently published book, “Offal Good: Cooking from the Heart, with Guts.”
Meals are $160 with beverage pairings and include the book. Seatings: 6, 6:30, 7, 7:30 and 8 p.m.
Visit eventbrite.com for reservations. The restaurant is at 3452 Waialae Ave.
VINTAGE CAVE NAMES NEW EXECUTIVE CHEF
Michelin chef Hide Yamamoto, who as executive chef of the Ritz Carlton in Washington, D.C., served in inauguration festivities for three U. S. presidents, has been named chef of Vintage Cafe Honolulu.
Yamamoto’s career has also included work in restaurants in Tokyo, Italy and San Francisco. During his time at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo, each of the property’s three restaurants earned one Michelin star.
SHARE SEEDS, MEAL AT GARDENING FAIR
Got seeds and cuttings from favorite plants in your garden? Want to grow a tried-and-true favorite of someone else? On Sunday, Slow Food O‘ahu and Hawai‘i Seed will present a free seed exchange and gardening fair at Waimea Valley, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The day will also include workshops on banana cultivation, backyard chickens, taro huli banking and backyard beekeeping.
Register at eventbrite.com. Waimea Valley is at 59-864 Kamehameha Highway.
CAKE DECORATOR TAKES SECOND IN MILAN
Bryson Perkins, the young cake decorator featured in Crave on Oct. 18, fell short by only half a point of winning the top prize at the Cake Designers World Championship in Milan, Italy, last week.
The sole U.S. representative in the competition, held by Pastry Ice Cream Chocolate International Federation, Perkins drew on his Big Island roots to sculpture his chocolate and coffee-flavored cake, topped by the goddess Pele rising from a volcano.
Quickbites is a weekly listing of dining events. Email items to crave@staradvertiser.com.