If a police officer approaches your table while you’re eating out this weekend, do not be alarmed.
It’s Tip a Cop time at California Pizza Kitchen locations, a three-day benefit for Special Olympics Hawaii.
Off-duty volunteer officers will clear tables, deliver food and assist servers on Friday, 5 to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m., to collect tips as donations for Special Olympics athletes and programs.
Officers come not just from the Honolulu Police Department, but also the Department of Homeland Security, Air Force, Army, Marines and the U.S. Probations Office.
In its 29-year run, Tip a Cop has raised $312,487 for Special Olympics.
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Restaurant success stories
The founders of Panda Restaurant Group and Raising Cane’s will speak at a Talk Story session, 4 to 5 p.m. March 28 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Andrew Cherng, co-founder and co-CEO of Panda, the Chinese takeout chain, and Todd Graves, founder and CEO of Raising Cane’s, a Louisiana-based chicken finger restaurant, will speak about their careers and how they developed their restaurant brands.
Panda has more than 2,200 stores across 49 states and in more than 10 countries; Raising Cane’s has 430 restaurants in 26 states and five countries.
The event, in the Campus Center ballroom, is free, but online registration is required. Go to 808ne.ws/talkstory.
Call 956‑2389 or email contact@uhalumni.org.
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An ulu how-to at Castle
Breadfruit is the ingredient of choice at this month’s Eat Well for Life cooking demonstration, “Eating Sustainably: Wonderful Dishes with Ulu,” 6 p.m. March 28 at Adventist Health Castle.
Hannah Vernon, founder and head chef of Homecooked With Love, a catering and meal-preparation business on Oahu, will explain how to use breadfruit to make a Parmesan-like condiment, pizza dough and poke.
The class is held in the Wellness & Lifestyle Medicine Center auditorium. Cost is $12, which includes recipes and generous samples.
Payment and reservations are required a week in advance; call 263-5050.
Panel discusses fishing
“Fishing for Answers — Wild & Farmed ” is the topic of the next Eat Think Drink session, March 28 at ‘Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach.
Keynote speaker will be John Finger, co-founder and CEO of Hog Island Co., a California producer of oysters, clams and mussels, harvested sustainably.
John Kaneko of the Hawaii Seafood Council will then moderate a panel to include local fishing experts Brooks Takenaka of the United Fishing Agency, Ron Weidenbach of Hawaii Fish Co. and Guy Tamashiro of Tamashiro Market. They will discuss fishing methods, farming practices and ways to inform consumers about seafood choices.
And then, dinner, including oysters from Hog Island and Kualoa Ranch, and featuring chefs David Lukela of the ‘Alohilani, Joshua Goetz of 53 by the Sea, Michelle Karr-Ueoka of MW Restaurant, Bao Tran of the Street Food Hall and Jake Saito of Stripsteak Waikiki.
The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Cost is $55 in advance, $65 at the door, which includes an open bar. Purchase tickets at hawaiiagfoundation.org (click on “events.”) Eat Think Drink runs quarterly, organized by the Hawaii Agricultural Foundation.
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Charcuterie meets whiskey
Pai Honolulu is featuring chef Kevin Lee’s charcuterie in a whiskey-pairing dinner Tuesday.
The three-course dinner includes a charcuterie board: lamb sausage, finocchiona and soppressatta salamis and chorizo, paired to a flight of Bunnahabhain 12-year single-malt scotch, Macallan 15-year Triple Cask single-malt and Green Spot Irish whiskey.
Wine pairings are available as an alternative.
Cost of each dinner is $95, with seatings at 5:45 and 8 p.m. Tickets and menus are available at paihonolulu.com.
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Jamba Juice debut
Downtown denizens can get a fruit fix Friday along with a look at the renovated Jamba Juice in the Financial Plaza of the Pacific, 130 Merchant St.
The grand reopening includes smoothie and food samples, from 11a.m to 1 p.m., along with a performance by the University of Hawaii Marching Band.
Quickbites is a weekly listing of dining events. Email items to crave@staradvertiser.com.
