Hawai’i Food and Wine bounty goes to various causes

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STAR-ADVERTISER / 2018

Hosts of Monday night’s Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival Mahalo Reception were festival CEO Denise Yamaguchi, center, and chairmen Alan Wong, left, and Roy Yamaguchi. [PHOTOS]

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rick Bayless, from Frontera Grill and Topolobompo in Chicago, poses on the red carpet before the 2016 James Beard Awards in Chicago, Ill. [PHOTOS]

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A total of $384,750 in proceeds from last year’s Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival is going to 23 culinary, agricultural and community organizations throughout the state, festival CEO Denise Yamaguchi announced Monday.

The largest share, $80,000, goes to the Culinary Institute of the Pacific. Another $55,000 is allotted for Kapiolani Community College and $25,000 for Leeward Community College, in both cases to support the schools’ culinary programs.

Other major recipients: the Hawaii Agricultural Foundation, $70,000; Imua Family Services, $50,000; and the Maui County Farm Bureau, $20,000. Eight public high schools also will share in the bounty, with the most, $21,750, going to Olomana School, which serves incarcerated and at-risk youths.

The donations, announced at a Mahalo Reception at Neiman Marcus’ Mariposa restaurant, bring the total issued by the festival to nearly $2.5 million in eight years.

HERO CHEF IS TRAILBLAZER IN MEXICAN CUISINE

The Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival has proclaimed a new hero, celebrity chef Rick Bayless, who will be honored at a dinner in April, then will help launch this year’s festival.

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Bayless, a seven-time James Beard Foundation Award winner, is a Chicago-based chef credited with turning a culinary focus on traditional Mexican dining, beginning with Frontera Grill in 1987. His restaurants now number nine.

He is the host of the PBS show “Mexico: One Plate at a Time” and the author of nine cookbooks.

The festival has named him its second culinary hero. He will appear at two events:

>> Culinary Hero Dinner: 5:30 p.m. April 25, Ka ‘Ikena Laua’e, Kapiolani Community College. The five-course dinner will feature dishes by Bayless and Hawaii’s James Beard- winning chefs Alan Wong, Roy Yamaguchi and George Mavrothalassitis. Cost is $350.

>> No Borders: 6 p.m. April 26, Kahala Hotel & Resort. Although the main festival events are in October, a launch event is traditionally held in the spring. Bayless will be joined by nine local chefs presenting dinner, followed by fireworks. Cost is $150.

For tickets to either event go to HFWF.me.