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Every year, the owner of the Beach House Bar & Grill in Kahana throws a fun costume party that combines Halloween kitsch and football fanaticism with the noble cause of supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Touchdowns for Tatas will kick off at noon Monday at the casual, oceanfront and open-air restaurant in West Maui. Dress in fuchsia, mauve, flamingo pink, watermelon or magenta and root for either the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Miami Dolphins while you sip cool brews and eat fun pub food through 8 p.m.
Maui’s reggae ambassador Marty Dread will provide halftime and postgame music, and a silent auction will offer fans a chance to bid on NFL jerseys, Super Bowl tickets, vacation packages and more. Tickets for prize giveaways are $5 each.“We’re aiming for $20,000 as the figure to raise this year for Pacific Cancer Foundation,” says Beach House owner Jim Anderson, exceeding last year’s total of $18,105.
Admission is free; the football starts at 2:15 p.m. Call PCF at 242-7661 or Beach House at 669-5000.
Kokua for a Cause runs through the end of October, so if you dine or shop at any “pink partner” restaurant or business, the Maui Health Foundation will receive donations to help 100 Maui County women get free mammograms. Participants include Betty’s Beach Cafe, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Cafe O’Lei at the Dunes, The Mill House, Panda Express and Cupcake Ladies Catering.
WAILUKU BAR SCENE GROWING
I was picking up some vegetarian dhal at Jini’s Curry, Fijian-Indian Food, at the Wailuku Promenade food court the other day and poked my head into construction happening nearby. Lead designer, carpenter and minor partner Max Poynton said he’s building a new bar that will appeal with small oysters and charcuterie plates along with craft cocktails, particularly of the rum-based variety.
Ester’s Fair Prospect pays homage to the famous Jamaican town of the same name, and you know rum is popular on that island. Partners are Suzanna Navarro (from Miami) and Jessica Everett. There will be bar stools and banquette seating inside and tables on the patio outdoors.
“We’ve got the liquor license already,” said Poynton. “After the build-out, we’ll need to get our certificate of occupancy. We’re hoping to open by the end of next month or before the holiday season is upon us.”
IT’S HAPPENING AT THE MACC
Want to enjoy some of Maui’s best musicians, kumu hula and halau performing all in one spot? Then head to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 to celebrate the newly released songbook “Lei Nahonoapi‘ilani: Songs of West Maui” with an all-star lineup of isle performers.
“It’s going to be a sensational celebration of Maui — not only her mele and hula, but the kanaka who bring them to life in aloha aina,” shared project co-producer Zachary Lum, one-third of the trio Keauhou.
Other performers include Josh Tatofi, Uluwehi Guerrero and Ikaika Blackburn. Festivities will be hosted by Maui radio personality Alaka‘i Paleka. Ticket holders can get discounts on the songbook and CDs. Proceeds benefit the Na Leo Kalele West Maui Hawaiian language immersion program. Tickets are $25, $35 and $50; call 242-7469, visit mauiarts.org or go to the box office.
The sixth annual Hawaiian Airlines Made in Maui County Festival will roll into the MACC on Friday and Saturday as the largest product show representing Maui, Molokai and Lanai. Bring eco-friendly bags for the Exclusive Shopping Day from 1:30 to 6 p.m. Friday with complimentary pupu at 5 p.m. A trio of food trucks will be open for business throughout the day. Feast on Dope BBQ’s brisket plates with two sides and cornbread, Pele’s Pizza Hawaii’s savory pies and Humbowl Wagon’s avocado toast, among other menu items. Admission is $35 per person; keiki 12 and younger get in free.
Saturday is Big Festival Day from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., when admission is $5. There will be live entertainment, fashion shows and 13 food trucks including Aloha Thai Fusion with red curry chicken, Smoke & Spice with spicy sausage and Pastele House with Puerto Rican rum cake.
Shop till you drop both days on great gifts such as Barking Deer Farm culinary seasonings, Haleakala Creamery caramel sauces and branch-to-bar Hana Gold Chocolate.
For a complete list of vendors and food trucks, visit madeinmauicounty.com.
COMPOST YOUR PUMPKIN
I’m glad places such as Kula Country Farms and its Pumpkin Patch can raise Halloween squash cultivars. My sorry backyard pumpkin patch has two, count ’em, pumpkins. Head up to Kula to check out the real deal from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily through Thursday and delight the keiki. Buy a pumpkin or two and decorate to the max.
“But what do you do with your pumpkin when it starts to look like a horror show prop melting away in the heat?” asks Lahaina restaurateur Alexa Caskey. “Pumpkins and other types of organic waste that end up in landfills emit methane gas, a potent (greenhouse gas) with a global warming potential more than 25 times greater than that of carbon dioxide. So they shouldn’t just be tossed in the trash!”
So Caskey and her partner Erica Gale in the zero-waste vegetarian restaurant Moku Roots are accepting pumpkins for composting. Just bring them into the Lahaina Gateway eatery.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Veteran journalist Carla Tracy pops the cork on Maui’s dining and entertainment scene in her weekly column. Email her at carlatracy808@gmail.com.
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