The Moana Surfrider’s latest Love of Libations pau hana event, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Friday, is themed “Bourbon, Whiskey & Rye.”
The menu: whiskey sour made with Redemption High Rye Bourbon, an Old-Fashioned with Knob Creek Rye Whiskey and a Manhattan with Makers 46 Bourbon. They will be served with a blue cheese tart with apple chutney and a Maui onion tart with bacon and smoked cheese.
Cost is $35. The tasting session is held on the veranda of Vintage 1901. Reservations: moana-surfrider.com/vintage-1901.
Sammy’s opens at airport
Passengers flying in or out of Daniel K. Inouye International Airport have a new dining option: A Tex-Mex restaurant named for Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sammy Hagar.
Sammy’s Beach Bar & Grill has opened in the Ewa Concourse Terminal next to Gate 28, sharing Hagar’s “love for great food, beach living, and rock ’n’ roll music,” according to the state Department of Transportation.
The restaurant is one of four that HMSHost has opened in U.S. airports. Hagar donates his restaurant proceeds to HUGS, a nonprofit that supports families of seriously ill children, through the Hagar Family Foundation.
The menu is a mix of Tex-Mex and American cuisine fused with HawaiI influences. Cocktail offerings include drinks made with Sammy’s Cabo Wabo Tequila and Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum.
Paina time at Merriman’s
Merriman’s restaurants on the Big Isle and the Garden Isle are hosting dinners featuring guest chefs from Honolulu to benefit the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust. All proceeds will go toward the trust’s land conservation efforts:
>> Hawaii Island Paina: Andrew Le of The Pig & the Lady and Piggy Smalls joins Merriman’s chef Vince McCarthy to present a three-course meal, 5:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at Merriman’s Restaurant Waimea. Cost is $125.
>> Kauai Island Paina: Oahu chef Mark Noguchi joins chefs Mark Arriola and Neil Murphy of Merriman’s Fish House in a three-course, farm-to-table dinner, 5:30 p.m. Dec. 14. Cost is $99.
Reservations: MerrimansHawaii.com/giving-back.
New chef at helm at Mahina
Erik Leong has been named executive chef at Mahina & Sun’s.
Leong worked at Town restaurant, also owned by Ed Kenney, for nine years, last serving as sous-chef.
Leong cites his mother’s joy in cooking as one of the main reasons he decided to become a chef and says he tries to incorporate childhood influences in his menu dishes.
Mahina & Sun’s is in the Surfjack Hotel, 412 Lewers St., in Waikiki.
Life is sweet for fest chefs
Pastry chefs from throughout Maui’s Wailea resort will compete to create a top dessert at the eighth annual Life is Sweet festival Sunday.
The festival runs from 2 to 5 p.m. at The Shops at Wailea and is a fundraiser for Best Buddies Hawaii, a nonprofit that supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
For the competition, chefs from Four Seasons Maui, Grand Wailea, Hotel Wailea Relais & Chateaux, Fairmont Kea Lani, Mulligan’s, Longhi’s Wailea, Fabiani’s and Gannon’s will compete to make the best dessert.
Tickets are $65, which includes tastings of appetizers and desserts, entertainment and a silent auction.
Visit bestbuddies.org/lismaui.
Quickbites is a weekly listing of dining events. Email items to crave@staradvertiser.com.
