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FESTIVAL SEEKS KEIKI CHEFS
Young chefs are invited to put their best recipes forward for the Localicious Recipe Contest, part of this fall’s Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival.
Entry deadline is Sept. 13 for the annual competition that seeks original recipes using locally grown ingredients.
Students in fourth through 12th grades may enter. Finalists will prepare their dishes for a panel of judges at the festival’s Keiki in the Kitchen Family Sunday event Oct. 27 at Victoria Ward Park.
Entries are being accepted in two age groups: grades 4 to 8 and 9 to 12. Grand prize in each group is a two-night stay at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa. A $500 cash scholarship also goes to the winner in the older group.
Rules and an entry form are posted at HFWF.me. Email questions to contest@hawaiifoodandwinefestival.com.
The festival runs Oct. 5 to 27, with dining events on three islands. For tickets and a full schedule go to HFWF.me. Keiki in the Kitchen is a free event that will include chef appearances and trick-or-treating. Chef Buddy Valastro of “Cake Boss” will lead a decorating session on Halloween-themed cupcakes (cost is $10 for the workshop).
THE PEARL SHUTTERS FOR SEMESTER
Leeward Community College’s student-run restaurant, The Pearl, will be closed for the fall semester.
Ongoing repair work in the dining room has sidelined the restaurant for a few months. It is normally open while school is in session.
The culinary program expects to reopen the restaurant for the spring 2020 semester with a “refreshed” dining room.
The school will still host its semiannual guest-chef dinner, set for Nov. 15, featuring a menu by chef Colin Hazama, executive chef of the Royal Hawaiian. The menu, pricing and other information have yet to be set. Details will be posted on the website leeward.hawaii.edu/thepearl, or call 455-0298.
VEGAN COOKING AND EATING
Watch award-winning vegan chef Hitoshi Sugiura demonstrate his craft, then enjoy a tasting menu with sake and wine pairings, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at Lyon Arboretum.
The chef will present his unique perspectives on haute vegan cuisine, rooted in shojin ryori (Buddhist monk cuisine) philosophy.
As executive chef of menu development for Japan’s Onodera Group, Sugiura oversees operations throughout the country and around the world. He is a master of sushi, sake and fugu (pufferfish) preparation in Japan.
The event is $50. To register, call the arboretum at 988-0456. The arboretum is at 3860 Manoa Road.
>> Also: Sugiura will also be preparing a modernized version of 13th-century shojin ryori cuisine, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at Vegan Hills restaurant. Cost is $45. Reserve a seat at 808ne.ws/sugiura. The restaurant is at 3585 Waialae Ave.
KID-FRIENDLY EATERIES
Three Oahu restaurants, three on Maui and one on the Big Island have been named to a list of 50 Most Kid-Friendly Restaurants in America, as compiled by Open Table, an online restaurant reservation provider.
Wolfgang’s Steak House in Waikiki, Monkeypod Kitchen in Kapolei and Cattle Company Steakhouse in Pearl City were noted on Oahu, while Monkeypod locations in Kihei and Lahaina, the Mill House in Waikapu and Mama’s Fish House in Paia were selected on Maui. Rounding out the list was Keoki’s Paradise in Koloa on Hawaii Island.
Quickbites is a weekly listing of dining events. Email items to crave@staradvertiser.com.
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