edible Hawaiian Islands Spring 2011

edible

hawaiian islands ®

Celebrating the Harvest of the Aloha State, Season by Season No. 16 Spring 2011

Local Dining Guide Grazing Land • Lomi Hamachi • Rescuing Bees Member of Edible Communities

Spring 2011 Contents

Features 4 6 26 34 37

LETTER OF ALOHA

Departments 10

NOTABLE EDIBLES COOKING FRESH WITH CHEF MAVRO WINE — A DIFFERENT APPROACH EDIBLE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS LOCAL DINING GUIDE

48 BOOK REVIEW 51 FARMERS’ MARKETS 56 ADVERTISER DIRECTORY 58 WHAT IS IT AND

14 20 40 45

GRAZING LAND Preserving the Future

By Martha Cheng THE MIND OF ALAN WONG

By Wanda A. Adams BEE LOVE APIARIES Rescuing Bees

By Tim Ryan THE GARDEN FLIPS THE IMPORT MODEL ON ITS HEAD

By Jon Letman VISITING WITH PETE FELIPE, “From Pineapples to Greens”

By Alberta de Jetley

HOW DO YOU EAT IT — Hibiscus

Cover image HULA by Cindy Conklin conklin@hawaiiantel.net www.cindyconklin.com WWW.EDIBLEALOHA.COM

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Letter of Aloha S

pring—a time of new beginnings, even in the Hawaiian Islands where we have year-round growing, people are surprised that we actually have seasons.

The last of the whale migration ends in spring.

The waves start to calm down, the sun sets later, fragrant, flowering trees start to bud and fruits and vegetables that don’t grow in our cooler winter can now get started.

One of the other changes in spring is apparent in the menus of our favorite restaurants. Chefs around the state are starting to switch up their dishes with the new produce available locally.

This issue is celebrating chefs who do just that.

Enjoy their stories and most of all their delicious creations.

You asked for it, we did it! Many of you call or write wanting to know where to eat locally sourced food. This issue has the premier of our “Eat Local Dining Guide.” It is far from final, as it takes a while to get to everyone on all of our islands, so be sure to check it out. It will also be available as a download on our website www.ediblehawaiianislands.com.

Congratulations to the James Beard Foundation, Semi-Finalists in Hawai`i.

BEST CHEF, PACIFIC: Nominee Chef Kevin Chong of Chef Mavro, Honolulu RISING STAR CHEF: Chef Sheldon Simeon of Star Noodle, Lahaina BEST NEW RESTAURANT: Star Noodle, Lahaina

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Congratulations also to the Founders of “Hawai`i Regional Cuisine.” A Celebration of Twenty Years: 1991 – 2011 In August 1991, twelve of Hawai`i’s most talented chefs from throughout the Islands gathered together and pioneered a new culinary concept – Hawai`i Regional Cuisine. Collaboratively and individually they have put Hawai`i on the national and international culinary “map” and inspired new generations of talented chefs.

The twelve chefs were: Sam Choy, Roger Dikon, Mark Ellman, Amy Ferguson Ota, Beverly Gannon, Jean-Marie Josselin, George Mavrothalassitis, Peter Merriman, Philippe Padovani, Gary Strehl, Alan Wong and Roy Yamaguchi.

HRA (Hawai`i Restaurant Association) will honor the 12 founders with various events. For a list of these events check out their website. www.hawaiiregionalcuisine.com/events A hui hou, Gloria

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Hawaiian Islands Publisher/Editor in Chief Gloria Cohen Editor at Large Steven Cohen Distribution & Advertising FrontDesk@ediblealoha.com Dania Katz, Maui & O`ahu Terry Sullivan, Kaua`i Judith Roberts, Hawai`i Island Contributors Kira Cohen • Melissa Petersen • Tracey Ryder • Carole Toplian Photography Lauren Brandt • Oliver Cohen • Steven Cohen • G. Natale Artists Cindy Conklin • Ed McCabe • Mary Ogle Writers Wanda A. Adams • Martha Cheng Alberta de Jetley • Jon Letman • G. Natale • Tim Ryan Copy Editors Doug Adrianson • Sharon Shay Sloan Food Research Editors John Cox • Ken Love Research & Events Editor Lila Martin Contact Us Edible Aloha PO Box 753, Kilauea, HI 96754 808-828-1559 FrontDesk@EdibleAloha.com www.EdibleAloha.com Subscribe * Give A Gift * Advertise Call: 808-828-1559 Or use the above email or web address Letters For the quickest response, email FrontDesk@EdibleAloha.com Edible Hawaiian Islands is published quarterly by Edible Hawaiian Islands LLC. All rights reserved. Spring * Summer * Fall * Winter Subscription is $28 annually. No part of this publication may be used without written permission from the publisher. ©2011. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If, however, an error has escaped our attention, please notify us and accept our sincere apologies. Mahalo!

Photo by Tim Ryan

Edible Hawaiian Islands is printed in Honolulu, HI

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notable

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IN THIS ISSUE, WE ARE SWITCHING UP OUR NOTABLE SECTION TO HONOR THE WINNERS OF THE 2011 LOCAL HERO AWARDS. I ASKED EACH OF THEM FOR A STATEMENT AFTER THEY FOUND OUT THEY HAD WON. I HOPE YOU WILL SUPPORT THEIR EFFORTS, VISIT THEM AND CONGRATULATE THEM. –ALOHA, GLORIA

CHEF/RESTAURANT: ED KENNY, (TOWN/DOWNTOWN) O`AHU Gloria, I truly appreciate all that your publication does to promote and support locally grown/produced foods in Hawai`i.

“While building TOWN almost six years ago, I recall wondering if people would ‘get it’. Would the community appreciate our mission to support local farmers, our simple ingredient-driven food, and our changed-daily menu that reflects only those ingredients that are at their peak? Today I relish in the reality that TOWN has been embraced by our guests as a leader in the local food movement and more importantly, as a vital member of the Kaimuki community. I’d like to express my appreciation to the informed readers of Edible Hawaiian Islands for voting for us. Thanks for ‘getting it’.” - Ed Kenney www.townkaimuki.com FARM/FARMER: COASTVIEW AQUAPONICS, HAWAI`I ISLAND Coastview Aquaponics is honored to receive a “Local Hero” award from Edible Hawaiian Islands. Being recognized by our customers at such an early stage in our small farm’s growth is an incredible honor and brings us great satisfaction knowing our hard work is appreciated.

We are a neighborhood aquaponics farm dedicated to providing our community with quality, affordable, fresh produce and aquaponics education. Our produce is grown in an organic and sustainable way. Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. The fish provide the fertilizer for the plants and the plants clean the water for the fish.

Our mission is to give everyone the opportunity to eat fresh, local produce. We offer free farm tours to the public and hope that by educating people about aquaponics and its sustainability we can inspire them to grow more of their own food. www.coastviewaquaponics.com GOURMET/RETAIL: JIM MOFFAT, (LIVING FOODS MARKET), KAUA`I Aloha Gloria, First let me say it is an honor to be awarded a “Local Hero” Award and thank you for providing the format for the community to speak. Your Magazine is always a delight and we love being a part of it. Like the market itself, the magazine allows us to showcase the glorious produce our small local farmers grow and it helps tell the story of our commitment to support the small independent farmers on our Islands.

The Goal of “Living Foods Market “ was to offer more healthy food choices to our community and begin the process of teaching our kids & community the benefits of eating locally & seasonally, and that by getting to know where your food comes from you are creating a connection with your community and supporting local business, not to mention gaining the benefits of eating healthier & better tasting food.

We would like to thank the community of Kaua`i for opening there hearts to us. We love our jobs and are honored to being part of this magical place.

Mahalo, Jim Moffat www.restaurantbaracuda.com

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FOOD ARTISAN: MAUI BREWING COMPANY Aloha Gloria, We’re proud to be selected by our community for this award. Our company is committed to brewing worldclass beers with respect for the environment, our community, and it’s people. We believe in integrity and for us that means brewing everything in Hawaii, minimizing waste and adhering to strict green initiatives. Mahalo to Hawai`i and its people for their love and support. www.mauibrewingco.com

FOOD ARTISAN: NAKED COW DAIRY, O`AHU Thank you Gloria, Naked Cow Dairy is a small but unique business in Hawai`i. We are working on developing a small but sustainable Dairy Farm, with very little reliance on mainland feed or input.

We have established a market for locally produced gourmet butter and soft cheeses. We are adding to our line of handmade dairy products to include yogurt, buttermilk, hard cheeses and eventually reusable glass bottled “Cream Top” milk.

We are so grateful that our community has supported our efforts in bringing back the small family style dairy farm, and who appreciates our hand crafted unique flavors of butter.

Mahalo for all of you who support farmers like us! www.nakedcowdairy.com

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION: MALAMA KAUA`I “Mahalo to the people of Hawai`i for supporting us so that we might win this most distinguished award.

Mālama Kaua`i remains committed to increasing the production and consumption of local food. From the school garden network, to the community gardens to our volunteer food planting and harvesting programs, its all about people and food. A special thanks to Edible Hawaiian Islands Magazine, for providing a space for the community to speak on mea`ai, that which feeds us. Aloha!” www.malamakauai.org

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GrazinG Land Preserving the Future

BY MARTHA CHENG

North Kona Unperturbed by ongoing urban development closer to the shore, sheep and goats forage in the uplands of North Kona, nibbling and browsing away at a spectrum of invasive weeds.

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L

ast summer, a fire started behind Wailea Fire Station in Maui. It jumped Pi’ilani Highway and entered into a vacant lot that had been untended for 50 years. “The fuel load in there was astounding,” says Greg Friel, manager of Haleakala Ranch. “Those flames were just astronomical.” The fire department was fighting the fire on two fronts: the northern side, which bordered Haleakala Ranch, and the southern side, which threatened residences. Friel recounts,”[I told the fire chief:] Don’t worry about the ranch boundary; we grazed this off two months ago. The fuel just isn’t there. Just concentrate on the homes. [The fire chief ] was shocked at what happened to that fire when it crossed the fence. It went from roaring flames that were 10 to 15 feet tall down to just glowing embers.”

Our ranches are about more than food. They’re about fire suppression. They’re about groundwater recharge, about carbon sequestration and they’re about beauty. According to Gretchen Daily, a founder of the Natural Capital Project, they are nothing less than our key to economic prosperity, via environmental health.

Ranchers currently steward almost a quarter of Hawai`i’s landmass.

But they’re struggling. They’re looking for new models to survive, and one of those is to tie the business to conservation. The effect of this can be more than just keeping paniolo culture alive. If graziers manage their 750,000 acres of pastureland well, the potential is a more stable climate and healthier ecosystem from which everyone will benefit. “If the land is no longer ranched, it will turn into huge wastelands of weeds that are really prone to burning,” says Daily.

“It’s stunning to see what happens when land isn’t managed.

The ranching community really is in crisis now. It’s going to affect everybody how it’s resolved.”

free—or what we thought was free—needs to be taken into account in new business models. “It’s about quantifying the societal benefits of nature, such as water collection and purification, flood control, climate stabilization and cultural values … benefits to the entire community [that] sometimes [go] somewhat taken for granted and unrecognized,” says Daily.

The new business model, however, isn’t completely market-driven— it requires the intervention of policymakers to create “finance mechanisms for rewarding land stewardship to sustain and enhance these benefits,” says Daily. “The government has a vital role to play because these are mostly public benefits. You look at the other kinds of capital we invest in. There’s human capital—education is a huge deal, so is health. You look at other public goods, [like] clean water.

It doesn’t make sense for one landowner to have a business plan that supplies everyone with clean water.

“A stable climate is never going to happen if we’re expecting a few landowners to provide a stable climate when we’re all influencing the climate through our use of energy … What we’re proposing is to come together and change policies so that we’re recognizing all these public benefits that are now at risk. We didn’t used to have climate change as a risk. We’ve just become aware of it.”

Daily heads NCP’s work in Hawai`i, which includes state-level policy work, long-term planning with communities and testing out

So why conservation? Where’s the money in conservation? These questions are part of Daily’s work; she recently met with a group of graziers in Hawai`i’s beef, dairy, sheep and goat industries interested in ecosystem conservation alongside commercial production to help them with answers.

The Natural Capital Project The goal of the Natural Capital Project (NCP)—a joint venture between Stanford University, University of Minnesota, The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund—is summed up best with the title of Daily’s latest book: The New Economy of Nature: The Quest to Make Conservation Profitable (Island Press, 2002). As our natural resources dwindle, we’re starting to realize what was once

Gref Friel The Hawai`i Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) is committed to furthering the grazing industry’s contribution to natural-resource and ecosystem conservation. Greg Friel of Haleakalā Ranch on Maui applies managed intensive grazing, which improves the health of the soil and of beneficial grasses and animals. Photo courtesy: Steve Brinkman Photography WWW.EDIBLEALOHA.COM

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BENEFITS OF WELL-MANAGED PASTURELAND (SOURCE: GRAZING LAND CONSERVATION INITIATIVE) Carbon Sequestration Excess carbon dioxide, or CO2, is a principal culprit in the greenhouse gas emissions that are harmful to the planet.

Forests and other plant-rich ecosystems absorb and sequester CO2 from the atmosphere. Carbon can be held above ground, in trees, bushes, shrubs and grasses; it can also be stored below ground in plant roots and soil. Grazing lands store an estimated 30% of soil carbon worldwide, a percentage that can be increased if lands are deliberately managed to maintain organic matter in soils.

A recent United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report suggests that a coordinated global management effort on just 5–10% of all grazing lands on the planet could store 184 million metric tons of CO2 a year by 2020. To put this in perspective, according to a 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the average rate of growth in CO2 emissions from 1995 to 2004 was 920 million metric tons a year. Total CO2 emissions for 2004 came to 38 gigatons.

Groundwater Catchment and Filtration In Hawai`i, more than 98% of drinking water, and half of all fresh water used statewide, is groundwater. Recharging this groundwater through the islands’ aquifers depends in large part on the health of our watersheds. The growing water needs of Hawai`i’s diverse industries, interests and rapidly increasing urban populations are pointing to a crisis—freshwater supplies in the islands are limited.

Soils can process and retain considerable amounts of freshwater. The capacity of managed grazing lands to retain water is significant. Efficient water recharge requires a stable soil structure rich in organic matter, a strong network of roots and good plant cover on the soil’s surface, all of which healthy grassland ecosystems with foraging animals provide.

Well-managed grazing also contributes to the quality of water in Hawai`i. While pollutants and pathogens, which water transports across the land, may compromise the quality of water supplies, managed grazing allows for vegetative stream buffers and improved nutrient systems, while reducing the need for chemicals such as herbicides.

In efforts to protect the water resources of Hawai`i for its communities, skillful stewardship of grazing lands becomes a powerful complement to that of other open space lands, like forested lands.

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different restoration techniques. There are also research projects, like one in Mauka Kona to quantify the roles of pastures and forests in recharging groundwater. Daily says the research seeks to answer “what would the return on investment to society be of paying a little bit more to ensure we have a secure, clean water supply?”

NCP has engagements worldwide, but Daily finds Hawai`i particularly well-positioned for change. “Hawai`i is small enough to take [conservation] decisions more effectively than places where it’s hard to get everybody together.” Having few landowners is another advantage. And most exigent, states Daily, is that “Hawai`i is in an environmental and social crisis.”

Changing course in ranching In an industry that’s often maligned for its intensive use of resources and deforestation practices, ranching and conservation seem unlikely bedfellows. But like careful organic farmers, ranchers are finding that taking better care of natural resources can create a better commercial product. Additionally, in the case of McCandless Land & Cattle Company, a ranch that has about 8,000 acres in native ‘ōhi’a and koa forest lands, conservation can be a product in itself. McCandless has contributed about 3,000 acres of land to a conservation easement program and is beginning the process to market and sell carbon credits. Hopefully, the ranch can see a return for good stewardship while also diversifying its business.

New techniques in ranching “is something that’s long overdue,” says Friel, who has employed multispecies grazing—using sheep and goats alongside cattle to create better forage, resulting in less herbicide usage and more income production per acre—on Haleakala Ranch. “We gotta think outside the box and join the lunatic fringe, not follow what the commodity industry is doing. We can’t keep plugging down the same road for 60 years, and it’s going the wrong way. Fuel costs [and] feed costs are escalating [the ways] the old paradigms of the cattle industry aren’t working anymore: economically, environmentally. So we have to be able to make changes. Get off your rocker and figure out what you gotta do to make it work.”

Pono von Holt, owner of Ponoholo Ranch in North Kohala, Hawai`i Island. The ranch spans 12,000 acres and includes ecologically important watershed forest lands as well as lower-elevation pasture lands prone to erosion. Conservation-oriented grazing has greatly contributed to the health of the lands.

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the Mind of

aLan WonG

BY WANDA A. ADAMS

D

on’t ask Chef Alan Wong a question if you’re not prepared to answer it yourself, because if the question is at all interesting, he will turn it back to you. This is not merely the perverseness of a question-weary celebrity—founding member of Hawai`i Regional Cuisine, winner of the James Beard Award, darling of the food press. No, Wong asks because he is genuinely interested.

“Curious Monkey,” as he calls himself, wants to see if you know something he doesn’t. He delights in the new. Ever the teacher, he wants to poke you: “I’ll say to my staff, go look it up and tomorrow you come back and tell me. You’ll retain it because of the research.”

Although it is a cookbook, Wong’s latest work, The Blue Tomato, The Inspirations Behind the Cuisine of Alan Wong is a thoughtful walk

THE 1-2-3 OF COOKING WITH ALAN WONG 1.

Make sure the food tastes good. Correct seasonings early and often.

2.

Balance flavors—salty, sweet, hot and sour; textures— creamy and crunchy; fats and acids.

3.

Cook it right. Learn cooking skills and pay attention to details for fried foods that aren’t greasy, dishes that arrive at the table at the right temperature, meat or fish that is at the desired degree of doneness. Respect the ingredients.

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with him through the experimental garden that is his professional life. There, the “Curious Monkey,” the gentle coach and surprisingly old school master work together to Kulia i ka nu`u, or “Strive to reach the summit.” (This is how he signs his books.)

Young chefs don’t trust themselves, preferring to bow before his Buddha-like wisdom, he says; like a Zen master, he demures. “What am I thinking?” he’ll ask at a tasting.

Having covered Wong’s career for 20 years, I’ve been on the receiving end of these challenges, delivered in a soft-toned, teasing way. The right response is to engage. “Every response you make might be incorrect but you’re describing how you think,” said Wong. “You wanna be a robot or you wanna be a chef? If you’re trying to teach them how to cook, you have to teach them how to think.”

Wong doesn’t need you to tell him there’s too much salt in the sauce. He wants to you to grow to the point where you don’t need him to tell you, either. Then you can play together.

Some years ago, Wong invited me on his annual staff field trip to visit farms and food purveyors on the Big Island and to attend the barbecue he puts on for the farmworkers. The point of the trip is team building, knowledge building, saying thank you ... and having fun. Few chefs would make this kind of investment, but it is at the core of “The Wong Way.” Two revealing incidents occur on this trip. First, Wong puts his staff up to a “Top Chef”-style cooking challenge in the sprawling, kitchen-equipped inn where they stay. An untrained home cook, I was terrified. Wong noted my distress, put his arm around my shoulder and leaned close. “Come play with us,” he said. This was enough to give me the courage to “chef up” and stop taking myself so seriously—two valuable lessons.

The challenge: Cook something from your childhood. I grinned.

Typical Alan throwing you a curve ball. “Heck, I can do that,” I declare. The next morning, I was thrilled when I caught the staff eating my grandma’s tuna cakes cold for breakfast.

WHAT’S A “BLUE TOMATO?” It’s an idea. If, as a student once asked Chef Alan Wong, a red tomato makes red ketchup and a yellow tomato makes yellow ketchup, would a blue tomato make blue ketchup? “Yes,” he said. “Anything is possible.” Or, as he writes on the opening page of his new book, The Blue Tomato, “It is what it is. But it doesn’t mean it has to be.”

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Roasted Beet, Tomato and Avocado Salad with Li Hing Mui Dressing The gorgeous Beet, Tomato and Avocado salad below—which, at Alan Wong’s Restaurant, is laid out like a haku (braided) lei on vertical plate—represents all that Alan Wong is as a chef.

Among his earliest creations—a brainstorm that came upon him when a young chef’s mother sent a homely gift to the kitchen staff—was a vinaigrette made with pickled mango, giving him the idea to pair the ingredients of his childhood with the techniques of his adult training. The ingredients in this salad speak of his commitment to local farmers. The simplicity and beauty illustrate his honesty and his unerring eye.

Note: Ume, pronounced “ooo-may,” paste is the seedless ground flesh of the salty and tangy Japanese-style pickled “plum”—which is actually a type of apricot—found in Asian stores.

For the beets:

Li Hing Mui Dressing

4 medium beets, 2 red and 2 yellow

1 egg

2 tablespoons butter

7 teaspoons li hing mui powder

4 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon plus 2¼ teaspoons rice wine vinegar 1½ teaspoons ume paste

For the salad:

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 small, ripe avocados

2 teaspoons water

18 1/8-inch slices cucumber, halved

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons canola oil

6 red cherry tomatoes

3 tablespoons simple syrup (half sugar, half water, brought to a boil and cooled)

6 yellow cherry tomatoes 12 small endive tips For the garnish and sauce: Micro basil 1½ cups Li Hing Mui Dressing (recipe follows)

Roast the beets: Preheat the oven to 350°. Tear off 2 large pieces of nonstick foil and arrange beets on each, separated by color. Dot each group of beets with ½ tablespoon of butter, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon water. Wrap beets in loose foil packet and roast about 1 hour, or until easily pierced with a toothpick. Remove beets, unwrap and cool. Cut off ends and peel beets. Slice in half from top to bottom.

Then, cut each half into 8 cubes, about ¾ inch each. Set aside.

Place the egg, li hing mui powder, vinegar, ume paste, lemon juice and water in a blender. Blend well. Slowly pour in the oil to form a thick-ish emulsion. Drizzle in the simple syrup.

Makes about 1½ cups

Chef Alan Wong’s new book, The Blue Tomato (Watermark, 2010; oversize hardback, $40) shares the secrets of some of his diners’ favorite recipes and the base recipes that go into many of his creations.

Prepare salad ingredients: Cut avocados into 8 wedges and cut each wedge in half, horizontally. Remove from skin. Arrange the avocado, cucumber, tomato and endives in a row down the center of a rectangular plate, dividing each ingredient evenly among 6 plates.

To garnish and dress: Garnish with micro basil. Using a squeeze bottle, make graduated dots of dressing on the plate.

Makes 6 servings

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The second incident: The late night, wine-fueled Boggle game.

Later, he confirmed that there was method to his madness in insisting on the game. He explained, “You see how fast the mind has to work. You start to understand the thought process of how to attack a problem, how to look at all the various aspects.”

These are the moving parts of his genius as both a chef and one who helps to develop other chefs and purveyors: playful curiosity coupled with no fear of hard work, listening and researching, probing and challenging, honesty and courage and, always, respect, kindness and gratitude.

When he was honored by the Hawai`i Department of Education for his work with schoolchildren, Wong’s invited guest was the man he still calls “Mr. Polendy,” his fourth grade teacher at Kipapa Elementary in Kunia. “This guy was the toughest teacher I had ever encountered. He gave us, one, two hours homework every day. By demanding that, he set the tone.”

Alongside Mr. Polendy was Wong’s mother, a cook in Japanese restaurants and divorcée who raised her children without much money. She taught her son to earn what he wanted. He couldn’t play sports unless he made the honor roll, she said. So he did both.

Later would come his culinary mentors: Joe Kina, an instructor and advisor at Kapi`olani Community College; Chef Mark Erickson of the Culinary Institute of America and Food and Beverage Director Rod Stoner of the Greenbriar Resort, where Wong apprenticed; and the great Andre Soltner and Chef de Cuisine Christian Bertrand of Lutèce where Wong had his first chef job.

A CHANGING PALATE After several decades in the kitchen, Chef Alan Wong says he’s experiencing a change in his palate, and his menus reflect it. His preferences today, in his own words:

Kina was a hardworking “old school” sort, big on under-appreciated culinary arts: ice carving, pastillage, tallow and vegetable carving, cake decor and chocolate work. Wong recalls staying up 60 hours straight to craft a competitive presentation. “These have become lost arts, but they were so valuable to me. You train your eyes. You look at food differently. You learn hand skills, perseverance, stamina, commitment,” he recalled.

From Soltner and Bertrand, he said, he learned that you have to have a solid foundation before you can get creative. And it was there with them at Lutèce that he began keeping his “little Bibles,” notebooks in which he recorded facts, ideas and recipes. Even now, so many years later, they live right behind his office desk. Today, he shares these lessons daily at his flagship restaurant on King Street in Honolulu and the Pineapple Room at Ala Moana.

He gestures to the third-floor dining room above his head. “This kitchen upstairs, it’ll test you,” he said, with not a little relish. “I’m not going to say anything. I’m going to watch you and when the time is right, I’ll pull you aside and we’ll have a very long conversation.”

He’s watching not for cooking skills but for less easily quantifiable attributes like a desire to work and get better at the craft or getting along with others. “The word is synergy. One plus one is not supposed to be three but if one plus one equals three and the kitchen [is] humming, that’s a beautiful thing,” he said.

He also watches for spoons coming out of white coat pockets: “Cuisine begins when chefs begin to taste their own cooking.” Obvious, but vital. Taste, taste, taste and evaluate at every stage.

Twice a year, the chefs undergo grueling, closed-book tests that range from listing the five mother sauces and the temperature at which egg whites coagulate to the seven immigrant groups that populated Hawai`i and how Alan Wong reinterpreted the leche de tigre.

Eighty-six of 100 points passes—after 22 years of writing about food in Hawai`i, I answered 66 of 100, and some of those were probably wrong.

Less sweet, more acidic.

Bitter, which I didn’t used to like, is okay.

Still like spicy.

Less salt.

Less butter and cream.

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Another test: weekly menu development meetings where menu items are reworked and new proposals are critiqued. “It’s important to put yourself out there and get the feedback. Put yourself in the moment, abandon yourself and find [new ideas],” he said. “Now you’re becoming a chef.”

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Bee Love apiaries Rescuing Bees STORY AND PHOTO

BY TIM RYAN

T

he blonde, petite woman proudly showing me her halfdozen beehives on a tree-covered section of this15-acre Big Island farm in Papa`aloa guides me away from a buzzing beehive box full of worker bees, drones and a queen.

“We should stay away from that one,” says Jenny Bach, 29. “They get easily annoyed.”

I interpret that to mean the 10,000 German bees—also known as black bees—that make up each of the hives at Bee Love have a tendency to sting. I give the hive a wide berth.

Jenny, who lives on this nearly completely self-sustainable farm with her husband, South African Jio Rosenberg, directs me to a friendlier group. “Over here; these bees are very mellow,” said Jenny, who was born on O`ahu and raised on the Big Island. Jenny then asks, “Are you afraid of bees? Are you allergic?” I reply, “Only the stinging variety,” joking, but I am the only one laughing. “No, not at all. The last time I was [stung I was]12 and I stepped on the bee.”

Jenny is anxious for me to see the inner workings of a colony: the honeycomb, honey and the queen. “Just so you know, they sense fear,” Jenny says. “If a few bees start to swarm around you just walk away slowly. No rapid moves. OK? They’ll eventually go back to the hive.”

“What exactly do you mean by swarm,” I said picturing thousands of bees using me as a pincushion. “Just a few buzzing around you, but they’ll be close,” a smiling Jenny says. “It’s basically a warning, a defense measure. They’re protecting the hive.”

Bee Love is near the end of a mauka road meandering from Highway 19 along the lush east slopes of Mauna Kea. A narrow dirt driveway flows past a newly planted orchard, a light-filled cottage, an electricity-producing windmill and an 11,500-gallon water tank that ends at a modest L-shaped house powered by solar and photovoltaics. A gas generator supplements power when necessary.

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I’m greeted by three barking, tail-wagging dogs, Epo and Happy— both rescued animals—and Kula, a rambunctious 9-week-old border collie. “Hello and welcome to Bee Love Apiaries,” Jenny says from the porch with its 180-degree view of the Hamakua coastline.

Everywhere I look at Bee Love, there’s evidence of care and affection for the land: The trees are all mulched and thriving; the vegetable gardens behind the house are flourishing; bees are pollinating the flowers; butterflies flutter; birds chirp; an `Io, or Hawaiian Hawk, soars before disappearing into a canyon. Wind is the only sound.

“So where are the bees?” I ask Jenny.

The couple doesn’t raise bees for commercial purposes though they do sell some of the honey at the local farmers’ market or trade with other farmers for food. The bees produce several types of honey, including lehua, eucalyptus and mixed fruit.

“We don’t want to industrialize our bees,” Jenny says. “The bees are part of our family.”

Husband Jio emphasizes later that honey production at Bee Love “is not an issue for us.”

“The honey is too precious,” he says. “What’s important is raising people’s consciousness about the immense benefits of bees and increas[ing] the bees’ genetic diversity.”

The bees are rescue bees of sorts, removed from homes and other buildings where they set up shop much to the dismay of the owners.

There’s no mistaking that the bees are the children that Jenny has yet to have.

The Puna area was where Jenny fell in love with bees when she lived off the land while attending the University of Hawai`i at Hilo, graduating with a degree in biology. It was here where a friend who rescued bees “took” her into her first domesticated beehive.

“From the moment he opened the hive I was completely [put into] a trance by [the] bees,” she said. “The sound, the smell, the organi-

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zation, the selflessness of their work. It was a perfect community.”

Jenny hesitates to continue. “I would go into the hives at night and get stung on purpose,” she says. “Then I’d go to bed and have all these dreams about bees. I felt like every time they stung me they were inoculating me with their wisdom … giving me a little bit of their medicine.” These stings of wisdom occurred 50 to 100 times.

“There’s a common story that bees find their beekeepers, and I really feel the bees found me,” she says. Jenny also was interested in learning how to properly capture rescue bees from homes and buildings without injuring them or their hives. “I saw a niche and a life I wanted to live … I could save bees and make some money,” she says.

Besides managing her own bees, milking the three Nubian goats on the property and a myriad of other farm work, Jenny has a two-year grant from the Resource Conservation and Development Office in Hilo to do outreach programs in schools through the Honeybee Education Program educating students about bees. This includes not only classroom visits but also students coming to Bee Love. “So many people don’t understand the beehive,” she says. “Kids who don’t like bees usually have had a bad experience. They got stung.

[But] if you understand how to handle yourself around bees you’re a lot less likely to be stung and that means you don’t throw a rock at the hive.” When Jenny shows a group of skeptical students the gentleness of a bee sitting on a flower collecting pollen, she says, “It’s amazing to see that fear change to love and fascination.”

An important part of the couple’s bee affection is to have more Big Island people raising hives. “More hives will hold generations of bee diversity for this island,” Jenny says. “Pollination in Hawaii goes on year-round.”

Jio arrives from a nearby mushroom farm with a truck bed filled with compost. He’s a fit man with dark intense eyes, and the inability to be anything but honest. Successful in South Africa’s financial industry, Jio confesses his self-indulgences “back then” had been “huge” and reflects, “I was always chasing the money.” He goes on, “There was a hugely self-destructive part of me throughout my 20s,” he says. “In my early 30s I went back to my truth, my core.”

A devotee of Kundalini yoga, Jio met Jenny in 2008 at a Lower Puna yoga teacher-training program. “Jenny—the way she lived her life, her honesty was a huge influence on me,” Jio admits. “Changing my life to something this real and substantial and honest was a huge adjustment.”

The couple purchased the farm property in late 2009. “Most of the trees here were pretty much dead … from lack of care, lack of attention and energy,” he said. “The transformation has been amazing.”

Jio also coordinates the Big Island’s Bee Guardian program, a project initiated in Boulder, Colorado. “It allows the person … who doesn’t have much experience being with bees to get involved with bees, to learn about them, get close and get honey with backyard hives.”

“The goal is sustainable beekeeping with backyard top-bar hives using a ‘bee guardian’ model of beekeeper,” Jio says.

He lists several issues affecting honeybees including disease, habitat destruction, pesticides, the use of chemicals in hives, an overly commercialized beekeeping industry focused on forced productivity and Colony Collapse Disorder. “There’s concern that that the [honey]bee genetic pool is shrinking and losing generations of behavioral traits,” Jio says.

Jio and company want to establish a program to introduce bee colonies into broad regions of the Big Island cared for and maintained by independent backyard “Bee Guardians.” A Bee Guardian is interested in aiding bees as a species in order to recapture their genetic vitality and diversity. According to Jio, Bee Guardians utilize organic, sustainable beekeeping methods that respect the honeybee. They also oversee the local environment, ensuring it to be safe for the bees.

“Diversity is critically important for the survival of this most precious natural resource,” he says. The hope is that enclaves of Backyard Bee Guardians using alternative hive designs and organic methods will be able to restore genetics through natural breeding while providing a sheltered setting.

The Big Islands’ Bee Guardianship puts out swarm traps to capture bees from wild colonies to keep the genetic diversity going. The group will build a database of Bee Guardians to monitor the traps.

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“As soon as they see a swarm mobbing in, they’ll call us and we’ll have a team of people to collect these swarms,” Jio says.

The Bee Guardians use a “top-bar hive,” a specially designed structure that’s a more natural bee environment than what traditional beekeepers use. “These are not designed toward honey production or collection but to provide a more natural environment for bees,” Jio says.

On the Big Island, bees have been under attack by the varroa mite— discovered on O`ahu in 2007—and the small hive beetle that weakens the hive and can eventually kill the bees.

In just two years the insects have decimated as much as 90% of Big Island bee colonies, including those at Bee Love and the couple’s hives in Puna. Currently, the State Agriculture Department is surveying bee colonies on the Big Island to determine how widespread the problem is.

Jenny, Jio and I are standing alongside the “mellow” hive they’ll open for me. We wear protective bee suits. I choose not to wear gloves to better operate my Nikons. Jenny, smiling like a proud mom, gently lifts the wooden lid. I’m already planning my escape route in case of a “swarm.” But the bees hardly take notice of the disruption as they continue to scramble around the glistening amber honeycombs. Ten thousand strong, the bees are a workforce of cooperation, sharing, collective consciousness and sense of duty.

“There’s the queen,” Jenny says.

She is longer than her minions, more amber in color, her wings shimmering, royalty. The other bees huddle around, grooming and cleaning her. “They’re beautiful, she’s beautiful,” I whisper during a chicken-skin moment. Jio and Jenny smile at me.

“Sustaining their hive is not an individual thing,” Jenny says while removing a flat of honeycomb filled with honey and feeding bees.

“They all want to take care of the next generation.”

I’m photographing just inches from several busy bees, lost in their iridescent wings, fuzzy bodies, immense black eyes, even their stingers. I hear nothing but buzzing as I shoot several frames a second. Some bees fly in front of the lens, then disappear. I now understand Jenny far better than I did two hours ago. I feel changed.

Then it happens—once on my exposed right hand, then twice on my left. “I’m stung,” I yell, standing up, walking away slowly. Jenny quickly follows me holding some spray. She delicately plucks the three stingers out, then squirts the wounds. The sting subsides.

“Are you OK?” she says, concerned. “Look at me! What are you feeling?” I peer in her eyes, smiling. “Wisdom.”

Bee Love Apiaries, Hawai`i 808.640.0278 www.beelovehawaii.com and www.honeybeesforfarmers.com

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Cooking Fresh CHEF MAVRO RESTAURANT

F

oodies come from all over the world to savor the trendsetting flavor combinations and wine pairings created each season by Chef Mavro and his young culinary team.

Chef / proprietor George Mavrothalassitis is a founding member of Hawaii Regional Cuisine and a James Beard award-winner. Born in the sunny Mediterranean city of Marseilles in Provence, Mavro has set deep roots in Hawai`i over the last 23 years embracing the people and taking inspiration from their diverse culinary traditions. He has consistently partnered with local farmers and fishermen to offer menus dedicated to regional products from baby greens and tomatoes to vanilla and lavender. “Sometimes buying local means the cost is higher and sometimes it takes more time but the reward is huge. Local farmers succeed and my guests enjoy fresh, regional ingredients and a dining experience they could have only in Hawai`i,” explains Mavrothalassitis.

Chef de Cuisine Kevin Chong is a graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America and is recognized as one of America’s top young chefs. He shares Mavro’s approach to cooking, recipe development, and commitment to local farmers. They cook from the philosophy: always buy the best and freshest, buy local, treat all products with great respect, and start afresh every season with new ideas and creative recipes.

Enjoy this sampling from Chef Mavro.

808-944-4714 chef@chefmavro.com 1969 S. King St. Honolulu HI 96826 at the corner of S. King & M Cully, Honolulu. Five minutes from Waikiki.

Reservations confirmed 24/7 on the web www.chefmavro.com Follow Chef Mavro on Twitter @chefmavro and friend him on Facebook

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George Mavrothalassitis, chef/owner Kevin Chong, Chef de cuisine

Rice Flakes crusted Flounder with Tamarind Curry, Braised Green Papaya and Brocolini Florets “The flounder is from sustainable aquaculture on Big Island in a recipe of Indian inspiration. The Poha rice flakes come direct from India. We make our own curry and spices from scratch. The tamarind curry and spices are all created in house from scratch. The advantage of the flakes is to protect the fiilet of flounder from being over cooked.”

Ingredient for rice flakes-crusted flounder:

Ingredients for tamarind curry:

¼ cup As needed 5 each As needed As needed

Cumin oil Indian rice flakes Skinless filets of flounder Sea salt Fresh ground white pepper

As needed

Clarified butter

1 Tbsp 1 Tbsp 1 Tbsp 1 each 1 tsp ½ tsp 1 tsp 1 tsp 2 Tbsp 2 cups ¼ cups As needed As needed

Method for rice flakes-crusted flounder Season the fish with salt.

Brush the flounder with cumin oil.

Crust one side with rice flakes Saute crust side down with clarified butter.

Ingredients for braised green papaya and brocolini florets:

Tamarind Grated ginger Chopped garlic Diced onion Tumeric Fenugreek Coriander seeds Fennel seeds Lime juice Nage Coconut milk Sea salt Fresh ground white pepper

1 each

2 bunches 1 Tbsp 1 Tbsp 2 Tbsp As needed As needed

Small green papaya, cut in to match sticks and braised in nage Brocolini florets, blanched Onion seeds Sliced garlic Canola oil Sea salt Fresh ground white pepper

Method for braised green papaya and brocolini florets:

Method for tamarind curry: Saute the onion, garlic, ginger in oil.

Add the spices and cook.

Add tamarind and cover with nage and coconut milk.

Simmer for 20 minutes.

Place in a blender on high speed.

Strain through a fine sieve.

Season with salt & pepper and lime juice

Heat the canola oil in a sauté pan.

Saute all the ingredients and season with sea salt and fresh ground white pepper.

George Mavrothalassitis, chef/owner Kevin Chong, chef de cuisine Chef Mavro restaurant 1969 S. King St. Honolulu Hawaii 96826 (808) 944-4714 • www.chefmavro.com

Photo Adriana Torres Chong

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Big Island Goat Cheese Mousse with Li Hing Mui Apple Tart 10 portions “The fresh goat cheese from the Hawaii Island Goat Dairy is one of the best fresh goat cheeses I know. The combination of goat cheese mousse, the apple and li hing mui tatin is a trilogy of flavors and a winning combination.”

Ingredients for goat cheese mousse: 8 oz.

Big Island goat cheese 1/4 cup Heavy cream 1 teaspoon Chives, sliced 1 lemon Lemon zest 1 ea Gelatin sheets to taste Sea salt to taste Fresh ground white pepper

Ingredients for tart: 3 each Granny Smith Apples, peeled and cut in half ¼ cup Brown sugar ¼ cup Granulated white sugar 1 ½ oz Butter Lemon juice of 1 lemon ½ teaspoon Li Hing Mui powder 20 circles Brioche, cut into 1 ½ inch circles

Method for goat cheese mousse: Whip the goat cheese in an electric mixer with sea salt and fresh ground white pepper.

Whip for 5 minutes Bloom the gelatin in ice water and dissolve in a table spoon of heavy cream Add the dissolved gelatin, chives and lemon zest to the goat cheese.

Whip the heavy cream into a Chantilly consistency and fold into the goat cheese mixture Place the mixture into dome molds or let it set in a container and scoop out with an ice cream scooper

Method for tart: Melt the butter in a sauté pan Add the brown and white sugar Add the lemon juice and cook over low heat for 3 minutes Add the li hing mui powder Add the apples and place in a pre heated oven at 300˚F for 10 minutes Turn the apples over and baste and cook for another 10 minutes Remove the apples from the oven and cool at room temperature Reserve the remaining sauce Toast one side of the brioche circles on a Teflon pan

Photo Adriana Torres Chong

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Ingredients for salad: 3 bunches as needed to taste to taste

Hirabara baby lettuces Lemon vinaigrette Sea salt Fresh ground white pepper

Method for salad: Season the baby lettuces with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and the lemon vinaigrette Ingredients for candied walnuts: Walnuts, cut into pieces 2 oz Super fine sugar 1 tablespoon Method for candied walnuts: Place the walnuts and sugar in a sautĂŠ pan on low heat Slowly caramelize the walnuts and cool on a sheet pan

Assembly: Place one brioche circle on a plate Place the apple on top Top the apple with another brioche circle On top of the brioche place the goat cheese mousse Place the seasoned lettuces on side of the tart With a spoon sauce the plate with the li hing mui syrup Sprinkle the chopped caramelized walnuts around the plate

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Confit Hamachi lomilomi salmon, Big Wave tomatoes, sour cream, salmon roe WINE: DANIEL CHOTARD, 2002 SANCERRE, FRANCE (2 servings) Confit hamachi lomi lomi – This is my interpretation of the lomilomi salmon recipe. The only addition is adding sour cream to the lomilomi to avoid the watery consistency of the original recipe, to add smoothness and a very interesting combination of acidity and tartness. The salmon is cured in house of course.”

Ingredients for the hamachi: 2 pieces 2 cups

Hamachi, medallions, 3 ounces each Extra virgin olive oil Salt pepper to taste

Ingredients for the lomilomi salmon: 3 ounces Salted salmon, de-salt the salmon in water all night, dice into 1/8” pieces 4 tablespoons Sour cream 1 medium Tomato, peeled, core removed, diced 1 medium Shallot, minced 1 tablespoons Green onions, sliced 4 tablespoons Vegetable broth 2 tablespoons Salmon roe Salt pepper to taste Method: In a small sauce pan, bring the olive oil to 130 degrees. Poach the hamachi for 8 minutes (make sure the fish is totally submerged in the oil).

In a mixing bowl, combine the sour cream, the vegetable stock, shallot, salmon, green onions, season.

Place the lomilomi salmon in the center of each individual plate with the hamachi on top.

Finish by placing 1 tablespoon of salmon roe on the hamachi.

George Mavrothalassitis, chef/owner Kevin Chong, chef de cuisine Chef Mavro restaurant 1969 S. King St. Honolulu Hawaii 96826 (808) 944-4714 • www.chefmavro.com

Photo Justin Morizono

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Meli Melo of Ma’o Farm Vegetables Meli Melo – “This recipe is a tribute to the diversity of organic vegetables from Ma’o Farms in Waianae. We treat each vegetable individually – we braise, steam, blanch, pickle, confit, bake them so that every single vegetable is cooked separately in the best way to enhance the specific flavor of each one – from shaving raw to baked in Hawaiian salt.”

Ingredients for Chickpea Fritters: 1 pound 1 ½ each 6 each 4 each 2 Tbsps 1 ½ Tbsps 1 ½ Tbsps 1 tsp 1 Tbsp 2 Tbsps 4 Tbsps 1 Tbsp 1 cup To taste

Cooked Chickpeas Large Onion, diced Garlic Cloves Whole eggs Oregano, dried Ground Cumin Ground Coriander Dried Crushed Chiles, chopped Paprika Ground Fennel Lemon Juice Salt Fine Bread Crumbs Fresh ground white pepper

Method for Chickpea Fritters: Place all the ingredients in to a food processor.

Blend for 2 minutes.

Chill the mixture.

Form the mixture in to the size of a marble.

Deep fry until golden brown.

Ingredients for Eggplant-Tahini Puree: 4 each Japanese Eggplant 1 Tbsp Tahini 3 each Garlic Cloves ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil ½ Tbsp Lemon Juice To Taste Sea Salt To Taste Fresh Ground White Pepper Method for Eggplant-Tahini Puree: Pierce the Japanese eggplant with a knife.

Place the Japanese eggplant in a 300°F oven until soft Remove the Japanese eggplant and split in half with a knife.

Using a spoon, scrape all the meat from the skin.

Place the meat in a blender and blend with the remaining ingredients.

Strain the mixture in to a fine sieve and chill.

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Ingredients for Vegetables: ¼ cup

Shaved Baby Carrots

¼ cup

Pickled Tokyo Turnips

¼ cup

Roasted Beets

¼ cup

Braised French Breakfast Radishes

1 bunch

Sumida Watercress

3 Tbsp

Coriander Oil

1 Tbsp

Lemon Juice

To Taste

Sea Salt

To Taste

Fresh Ground White Pepper

Method for Vegetables: Toss everything in a mixing bowl.

Season with coriander oil, lemon juice, sea salt and fresh groundwhite pepper.

Plating: Spread the eppglant-tahini on the plate with the back of a spoon.

Place the chickpea fritters on the puree.

Arrange the marinated vegetables around the chickpea fritters.

George Mavrothalassitis, chef/owner Kevin Chong, chef de cuisine Chef Mavro restaurant 1969 S. King St. Honolulu Hawaii 96826 (808) 944-4714 • www.chefmavro.com

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a different approaCh to

Wine

Honolulu’s Chef Mavro focuses on what works with the food

BY HARVEY STEIMAN n the plate, the food looks simple. Two thick slices of big-eye ahi tuna, a swirl of pink sauce and a pool of green sauce under a lovely little deep-fried quail egg garnish. I mix all the flavors together on my fork. The pink sauce buzzes with espelette, a sort of hot paprika-like pepper powder, and the delicate topping of green picholine olives on the tuna adds another southern French touch. The green sauce of parsley and oregano jumps with freshness under the quail egg.

O

Although traditionally what comes together on the plate might reflect the ideas of a single chef, the truth is that successful dishes often evolve as more palates and more minds fine-tune them. That’s true at this restaurant, too, where Mavro works with his other chefs and cooks on developing the dishes as they change with the seasons.

To be sure, the differences in Hawaii’s seasons are subtle, but the availability of certain fish and seafood, fruits and vegetables does vary through the year.

Five adjacent wineglasses hold four whites and a rosé, but I have no idea what they are. The double-blind tasting is designed to ferret out which wine would please the most palates at one of my favorite restaurants anywhere, Chef Mavro in Honolulu. The owner and chef, George Mavrothalassitis, brings his finely honed French sensibilities to Hawaii’s abundance of unique ingredients. It’s exciting food, and it’s wine-friendly.

From day one, Mavro has offered three set menus, of three, four and six courses, each dish matched with a specific wine. To complete each dish with an appropriate wine, four times a year he gathers his staff and a few invited friends of the restau-rant to taste the new dishes and try five different wines with each plate. Whichever wine wins the most votes goes on the menu.

And, in fact, all of the wines taste just fine with this dish, a compliment to the restaurant’s sommelier, Todd Ashline, who picked the possibilities.

Wine as a garnish.

It’s a concept.

“We are not looking for the best wine,” explained Mavro. “The best might be too acidic, too sweet, with the dish. That’s why you and I are not the best people to choose a wine for the restaurant. We find a wine we love and go ‘Wow!’ We will drink it with anything. But the public might not like it so much. Here, democracy rules.”

Since he opened his restaurant in December 1998, Mavro has been trying to get me to one of these tastings; finally, a vacation to Hawaii coincided with one. With no wine list, his menu offers specific wines to serve with the individual dishes on its menus the same way a chef chooses garnishes to complete the main ingredient of a dish.

It’s a unique approach.

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The first wine, which tastes vaguely like Sauvignon Blanc but seems a bit tired, gets brighter with the tuna. No go for me. I hate it when a wine needs food to correct a fault. The watery finish on the next one keeps it from being the refreshing sip the dish needed. The sweetness of the next, which reminds me of a German Riesling with some age, appeals to me, finally a real candidate. The sweetness balances the spice. I love the minerality of the next white but its texture gets a bit hard with the food. The rosé, however, hits all the right notes. Its tangy balance, delicate pomegranate flavors and sense of refinement deliver the wow factor.

The rosé is the group favorite, too: Domaine de l’Hermitage Bandol Rosé 2009. Mavro, originally from Marseilles, beams. The Riesling I liked turns out to be Schloss Vollrads Spätlese 2004. Not a bad second choice.

“When we first started doing this we were all over the board, but after about a year it amazed me how often one wine just jumped out for everyone,” Mavro said. “You go, nice, nice, OK, and then wow.”

The group and I certainly agree on how fully the passion fruit flavors and refined balance of Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc Martinborough 2009 snuggle up with a truffled poached egg with potato mousseline and serrano ham. The rich texture and blackberry and plum flavors of a juicy Spanish red, Finca Sandoval Manchuela 2005, do wonders with Kurobuta pork loin roasted with shallot and sichuan peppercorn crust and a black garlic sauce that reminds me of a lighter, less sweet hoisin.

These and the picks for the other dishes go on the menu starting Dec. 19 and continue through March.

I ask Mavro how his unique system has fared with wine aficionados.

“At first,” he said, “people didn’t get it. They wanted their California Chardonnay or red Bordeaux and some even got up and walked out in the first few months. But now they seem to like it.

They get into the spirit.”

For a serious wine buff, there is a tradeoff. You can’t plunder a deep list for a great wine to drink through dinner. The overall quality of the wines, though solid, sometimes exciting, seldom reaches for greatness. After all, it’s designed to please the most palates. The current menu pairs hamachi confit with Jermann Pinot Grigio 2008 and a pork dish with Slovenian Pinot Noir (although an up-charge can get you Lignier Morey-St. Denis 2005). I think of it as part of an adventure. And it’s relaxing not to have to think about which wine to choose, for a change.

Wine as a garnish. It’s a concept.

By Harvey Steiman, Editor at Large of Wine Spectator, originally published on WineSpectator.com on Dec. 7, 2010, and reprinted with permission.

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LOCAL DINING GUIDE This is the premier of our Local Dining Guide, we have only just begun to send out invitations, so be sure to check with each new issue. Restaurants are chosen for this dining guide because of their emphasis on using local, seasonal ingredients in their menus, creating a distinctly Hawaiian Islands Experience. — Let them know we sent you. Aloha!

Mala Ocean Tavern: Fantastic Ocean View. Chef Mark Ellman and his wife Judy, and daughters, Michelle & Ariana make Mala a family business.

Farm fresh organic foods, Mark has been delighting Maui for 25+ years along with his other restaurants, Avalon, Maui Tacos, & Penne Pasta Cafe. Remember to Practice Aloha. 834 Front Street Lahaina (808) 667-9394 M-F 11am-10pm, Sat/Sun 9am-9pm

O`ahu 12th Ave Grill An Award Winning Neighborhood Gem offering the Ripeness of the Season and the Best of Hawai`i’s farms and ranches. Wine list, unique microbrew beers and scratch bar cocktails are the perfect pairings for any palate. Warm service in a Bistro style complement this serious Contemporary American Cooking. Reservations 732.9469. www.12thavegrill.com. . Also introducing SALT Opening May 1st, 2011

Chef Mark Ellman presents Mala Wailea - offering stunning sunset vistas over the Pacific. Mala upholds a tradition of organic, healthy, fresh, and delicious food. Authentic menu of Mediterranean and Pacific Rim cuisine, award winning beautifully crafted dishes will please the palates of revered guests. Breakfast & Dinner (808) 875-9394 Located inside Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa

Town — Eat the change you want to see in the world. www.townkaimuki.com • www.slowdowntown.com

Market Fresh Bistro – Global Influence – Local Ingredients. We are striving to be the global platform showcasing Hawai`i’s finest produce & products.

The Slow Food style of our restaurant is European, what makes it Hawaiian are our ingredients & Aloha Spirit. Serving breakfast lunch & dinner plus Farm Dinners on Thursdays – Global Dinners on Fridays.

3620 Baldwin Ave. Makawao (808) 572-4877

V Lounge keeps the craft of the pizzaiolo alive. We adhere to the principles of any great pizzaiolo; “Never take shortcuts and make the pizza the way that it is supposed to be made.” The final product is the same type of pizza and flavors that you would get in Naples. Open Mon-Sat, 5pm-4am. 808-9530007 http://vloungehawaii.com

Star Noodle, an intimate restaurant blending many flavors across Asia. Specializing in a variety of house made noodles and inventive Asian share plates served in a contemporary stylish setting.

Open 7 days a week for Lunch and Dinner at the top of Lahaina Business Park at 286 Kupuohi Street in Lahaina. (808)667-5400

Maui Flatbread Company — Fresh, local, organic, salads, authentic wood-fire handmade, locally grown produce, micro beers, martini’s & mojito’s, open daily Sun-Thur 11:30-10PM FRI & SAT 11:3011PM (808)579-8989 Located at 89 Hana Hwy Paia www.flatbreadcompany.com - Like us on Facebook

Kaua`i 22 north — Farm to table on a Farm

Lahaina Grill features innovative New American cuisine that uses the freshest ingredients from Maui’s local farms, dairies and surrounding waters.

Voted “Best Maui Restaurant” for eighteen consecutive years by HONOLULU Magazine readers’ poll (1994-2011), Lahaina Grill delivers impeccable service and a delicious meal. Open nightly from 6pm, 127 Lahainaluna Road, Lahaina, www.lahainagrill.com, reservations recommended (808) 667-5117

We feature dishes created with the vegetables, fruit and herbs from the on-site farms here at Kilohana Plantation. Kaua`i-grown meats, produce and fresh fish paired with condiments and flavors from around the world. Check out our unique ‘farm-to-bar’ cocktail list. $10 2 course lunch, and $25 3 course dinner specials. 245-9593. 22northkauai.com

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Living Foods Market and Café’ — The market’s

Kaua`i continued Bar Acuda: Kaua’i’s coolest place to relax with friends and share a tapas menu filled with locally sourced ingredients. You know it’s going to be a fun evening as soon as you walk in the door. The atmosphere is welcoming. The bar area is cool, with a large-screen TV showing anything from Blue Planet series to old B&W movies. In Hanalei Town 808-826-7081 The Hanalei Dolphin has greeted visitor and local alike as they enter the town of Hanalei. Both the restaurant and fishmarket are known for the freshest fish caught by local fisherman, produce grown by local farmers and a second-to-none ambiance; one can enjoy a peaceful riverside lunch on umbrella shaded tables, outstanding dinner fare in a nostalgic tropical setting or just hang out in the stylish, world class sushi lounge. 5-5015 Kuhio Hwy, at the entrance of Hanalei 808-826-6113 www.hanaleidolphin.com At Hukilau Lanai we love our local farmers & fishermen! Being in business for nine years, we can’t imagine life without them. We strive to use the finest ingredients & products from Kaua`i and the neighbor islands. Join us for dinner Tuesday Sunday, from 5-9pm for casual, ocean view dining.

We offer a 5 course tasting menu from 5-5:45 daily.

822-0600

Kalaheo Café — Freshly baked pastries, desserts and bread. A relaxing café menu with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Fresh salads, sandwiches and more! Open at 6:30 am. Dinner; Tue-Sat. 5:00-8:30.

2-2560 Kaumualii Hgy 808-332-5858 www.kalaheo.com Kauai Grill — A comfortable yet elegant hideaway—Kauai Grill is the latest in creative dining experiences from Michelin awarded Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Featuring a selection of signature appetizers, side dishes and accompaniments from his portfolio of domestic and international restaurants. Kauai Grill opened from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

Closed Sunday and Monday. For reservations contact The St. Regis Princeville Resort at 808826-9644 or www.stregisprinceville.com.

cafe’-style restaurant offers a simple European-style menu; from poached eggs, grilled panini, pizzettas & crepes to Nicoise salads, and roasted chicken to enjoy on a 1,000+-sq ft open air deck. The cafe’ also roasts their own coffee on-site, with beans from each of the Hawaiian islands, and fresh fruit agua fresca throughout the day. Daily 8am to 8pm. In Kukui`ula Village 808-742-2323

Makana Terrace Restaurant — Dining at the Makana Terrace Restaurant is a culinary journey that embraces island lifestyle and farm to table cuisine.

Enjoy weekly culinary experiences such as the Mailani Dinner Show on Thursdays or an evening dedicated to Hawaiian seafood and vegetables with tropical marinades and exotic spices. Open from 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. For reservations contact The St. Regis Princeville Resort at 808-826-9644 or www.stregisprinceville.com.

Postcards Café’ — Casual/ Fine Dining in Hanalei We’re big on buying locally for our seafood and vegetarian restaurant. But we also grow our own organic fruits, vegetables and herbs, like garlic chives and basil. Our fresh, delectable dinners have made us one of Kaua`i’s top restaurants - for 15 years!

Open nightly from 6:00. Entering Hanalei, we’re first on the left. Reservations for 4 or more: 826.1191.

The Garden at Common Ground on Kaua`i’s north shore, provides fresh, healthy and locally acquired organic and natural foods that are prepared daily into delicious meals with all recipes from scratch at a great value. The dining environment is quaint and beautiful providing views of the fields where the daily harvest comes from for your meals.

Open for breakfast and lunch daily. Weekend brunch 4900 Kuawa Rd, Kilauea Hi 96754, 808-8281041 www.commongroundkauai.net

Advertising in this directory is by invitation.

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the I Garden flips the import Model on its head

t’s a well-known fact that roughly 90% of the food eaten in Hawai`i is imported, but in Kīlauea on Kaua`i’s North Shore, one restaurant simply called The Garden, has flipped that model on its head. The basic concept of this restaurant is simple: Grow and raise healthy, organic food where it can be harvested, prepared and eaten all in the same spot on the day it’s picked.

No, this is not about standing in a muddy field gnawing on wheatgrass and alfalfa sprouts. This is about growing the best food in the purest way and enjoying that food in a beautiful, clean, green environment. It’s about knowing exactly where your meal came from because you can gaze out at the field over one shoulder and glance back at the kitchen over the other.

The Garden founder, chef and self-described forager and food alchemist Jay Sklar explains, “Most food in Hawai`i is imported. We flip that around so about 90% of what we serve is from here, and about 10% imported. Just by eating this food you are supporting a paradigm shift in how food is consumed in Hawai`i, never mind the nutritional value.”

Sklar and his kitchen and field staff of 10 are part of a larger resource center called Common Ground which was built on the 60acre site of Kaua`i’s defunct Guava Kai Plantation just mauka of Kīlauea town.

Common Ground was established by Chris Jaeb as a communitybased body to produce practical, sustainable systems and solutions that address the challenges of food, water and energy security on a local level. Besides being home to The Garden, Common Ground collaborates with the nonprofit organization Mālama Kaua`i which is located beside the restaurant. Both buildings are surrounded by the former guava plantations where today The Garden grows its food.

Before partnering with Jaeb and opening The Garden last September, Sklar had long recognized the nutritional and environmental value of working with community farmers to produce delicious food that is as good for the body as it is for the earth. Over a dozen years’ time, Sklar honed his skills as a private chef on both the East and West Coast on the mainland and in Hawai`i, cooking for clients who could afford to eat “the best of the best,” a concept he has applied to the menu that dictates what The Garden’s garden grows.

PHOTOS AND TEXT BY JON LETMAN

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“I’ve taken this idea and created a menu which is affordable to ordinary people with the goal of making an overall healthier community,” Sklar says. Serving breakfast, lunch and, on weekends,

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brunch, The Garden offers healthful dishes people will recognize and enjoy: salads, wraps, grilled sandwiches, Mexican dishes and what Sklar calls “tropical Mediterranean.” “I am meeting people where they’re at in terms of diet. We offer vegan and vegetarian dishes, but also serve locally caught fish and Kaua’i-raised grass-fed beef.”

An important concept behind The Garden’s menu is that nourishing food comes from a well-nourished field. In this case, the roughly three acres Sklar’s farmers tend, is the former guava plantation which is fortified with mulch made from, among other things, ground up guava trees which provide nitrogen and cover crops like buckwheat and Sudan grass (Sorghum) which are grown and tilled back into the earth as organic “food” for the soil.

Vegetables are grown on a seasonal basis and fruits are picked from trees on property or from nearby farms. The Garden raises chickens for eggs, sheep for mutton and buys fish caught in the waters around Kaua`i. Nearly everything you’ll eat at The Garden—the greens and

herbs, the roots and fruits, the Okinawan spinach, the Mexican oregano, purple, white and orange sweet potatoes, green papayas, sunburst-colored tomatoes, striped lemons, salt, sugar, honey, goat cheese, coffee and hibiscus tea—all come from Kaua`i, or at furthest a neighbor island. Only grains, beans and oils not produced in Hawai`i are imported from organic farms outside the state—about 10% of the menu, according to Sklar.

This 90-10 model works, too. The food is a hit with diners who are about 80% local. “Every day I get someone who goes out of their way to tell me this is the best food they’ve ever eaten. Period,” remarks Sklar.

Today few people in industrialized countries, particularly in the United States, can enjoy a meal made entirely from scratch, uncompromised by a long list of manufactured ingredients. Instead, meals are assembled in a factory and then packaged in paper and plastic before being shipped, flown and driven hundreds or thousands of miles from the sources of origin to the point of consumption.

Eating the 90-10 way is easier on the earth, easier and the body and, despite the misconception that “eating healthy” is inherently expensive, just as easy on the pocket book as grabbing the average prefab burger or processed meal.

The Garden’s cupboards are far from bare, but they aren’t overflowing with food either. Using this model requires a quick turn over: Food goes from the field to the kitchen to the plate in a very short time. Each day new food is stored in the kitchen’s small cold storage, and by evening almost everything is gone. A day’s worth of food is harvested the next morning, fresh fish are delivered and the process begins anew.

Another benefit of true farm-to-plate cooking is a huge reduction in waste. “We don’t have a dumpster. We’re doing a decent volume, but we sell out of everything we prepare every day, producing two household [garbage] cans a week. That’s it.”

Eating a meal at The Garden, overlooking beautiful, well-tended fields speckled with color and form, as chickens cluck, nearby sheep bleat and trade winds carry wild bird songs across the sky is nothing short of the embodiment of what a wholesome meal should be: fresh, natural, simple and close to the earth.

For more information, visit www.commongroundkauai.net or call 808.828.1041

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visiting With pete felipe, “from pineapples to Greens”

BY ALBERTA DE JETLEY

“Don’t be afraid of weeds,” Lana’i master gardener Pete Felipe tells me as I interview him on the mechanics of gardening and his personal history.

“Weeds are a sign your soil is healthy and you can use them in your compost pile.”

We are seated on old salvaged metal chairs found at a garage sale, in the shade of ironwood pine trees bordering his garden on the island of Lana’i. Several cats lounge on the clutter surrounding us: old equipment parts, rolls of fencing material and piles of lumber. And, he says with his eyes twinkling, “Never throw anything away as you may need it later.”

Pete Felipe was the model for time/motion studies for the Dole Company’s Lana’i plantation. The engineering department needed a person who knew how to do all of the different tasks involved with picking and planting pineapples. “So they made me their guinea pig,” Pete laughed.

Now the 79 year-old concentrates on slowing down, taking the time to enjoy his garden as it unfolds day-by-day under the Lana’i sun.

Pete’s face lights up when he has an audience for sharing his gardening stories. We flit from story to story, two butterflies dancing across a meadow, “talking story” local-style.

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Pete was born in 1935 at Keahua, a sugar plantation camp that was located below Hali’imaile, Maui. As one of eight children, four boys and four girls, it was his job to help his father with the family’s vegetable garden. His brothers took care of the pigs and goats; and his sisters, the chickens, house and laundry. “We all worked,” Pete said, “and we all went to school.”

School was difficult for him, Pete recalled. The family spoke Filipino at home and Pidgin English outside. “We had Dick and Jane books at school—none of us could understand them. Everything was transposed backward. If we had classes in our own language, we would have been smart!”

What they weren’t learning in school, Pete and his siblings learned at home. The family worked together to sell all their extra produce to neighbors on the plantation. They butchered their animals and helped their mother cook Filipino specialties to sell at cockfights. All the siblings attended the camp school until they completed the sixth grade and continued on to St. Anthony’s for high school. Pete graduated in 1955 and still remembers how they helped to earn their tuitions to attend the parochial school.

In 1958, Pete moved to Lana’i to pick pineapples on the Dole Plantation. In 1960, he married his wife, Charlotte, and they began their family that would later include four boys.

A good worker, Pete was moved to other divisions of the plantation.

One of his favorite jobs was working as an overseer for the young Mormon boys who came to Lana’i to work. In those days, all of the island’s teenagers “hit the line” the day they turned 15, the youngest age they could be employed. The plantation relied heavily on their young employees to help bring in the harvest and recruited teens from other states to come to Hawai`i for a working vacation. Pete gave the teenage crews the guidance they needed while cutting them some slack, a balancing act at which he excelled.

In 1986, Pete was sent to Mindanao in the Philippine Islands. His job was to teach the workers how to “work smart,” showing them how to use their bodies so they did not injure themselves.

When he returned to Lana’i, Pete moved to the plantation’s diversified agriculture division. New crops began sprouting up all over the island. Pete planted oats in the Palawai Basin, citrus and coffee trees beneath the shadow of Lana’ihale and sweet bulb onions and papayas at Kaunolu, the area Kamehameha chose as the site for his summer fishing village.

The old piggery in the Palawai was reopened and stocked with hogs and chickens, and cattle roamed the range. Next to the Lana’i Airport, in an agricultural subdivision, the Lana’i Master Gardens opened.

Soon, fresh herbs and salad greens were shipped to O’ahu stores.

Pete and Charlotte were offered a chance to have their own farm but found they had to relearn the jargon.

“You have to sweeten your soil,” University of Hawaii Extension Service Agent Alton Arakaki told Pete.

“What, you mean put sugar on it?” Pete asked.

Although Pete had grown up using organic farming methods, he did not have the words to describe what they did. He did what his father showed him to do. “Take advantage of the extension services and farm bureaus,” Pete says. “Use the information they give you so you don’t have to start from scratch.”

Unfortunately, Pete and Charlotte weren’t prepared to share their farm with the deer who visited them nightly, taking dainty bites of their vegetables. Rather than continuing to struggle with the deer, they decided to move their operation to the Lana’i Community Gardens located on the edge of Lana’i City.

When the Lodge at Koele opened in 1990, Pete was able to work closely with Chef Edwin Goto. “I could see what happened to the vegetables I grew,” Pete said. “I followed them through the kitchen onto the guests’ dinner plates.”

When mice got into his seed packets and ate holes in them, Pete scattered the remaining seeds onto a garden bed. That’s how he ended up growing mixed baby greens for Chef Goto, he explained.

The pineapple plantation closed in 1992 and shortly thereafter, the diversified agriculture division also closed. Today, only a grove of macadamia nut trees remain. Surrounded by tall guinea grass, the trees are tenacious, just like Pete. A frown crosses Pete’s face. “Who would think back then that all of the pineapple fields would be gone? We thought it would go on forever.”

A philosopher as well as a gardener, Pete has this advice for aspiring gardeners: “Only do so much. Do what you enjoy doing; don’t let your garden make a slave of you. Make time to enjoy your garden.”

“I grow beautiful weeds!”A wide smile crosses Pete’s face, he follows his own advice. Sitting back, gazing into his garden, Pete smiles.

He’s a contented man.

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book review

BY G. NATALE

Chasing Chiles Hot Spots Along The Pepper Trail BY: CHEF KURT MICHAEL FRIESE, KRAIG KRAFT AND GARY PAUL NABHAN

Two years ago, The Economist reported that “the diet in the rich world is heating up,” as Europeans and North Americans increasingly began incorporating chiles into their cooking, chasing the adrenaline rush of ever-hotter varieties, and flooding the market with products like chile chocolate and chile-infused olive oil. But climate change could soon render the trend obsolete. In Chasing Chiles, three American chile-lovers—an agroecologist, a chef, and an ethnobotonist—set off on a year-long “pepper pilgrimage” to uncover the cultural traditions and humble beginnings of North and Central America’s own most beloved, and most threatened, varieties.

Setting out in a van they dub their “Spice Ship,” Kraig Kraft, Kurt Michael Friese, and Gary Paul Nabhan invite readers along on their journey through eight pepper-growing states and to Mexico in search of rare chiles, along with the local dishes and cultural traditions they inspire. The voyage takes them to the dusty streets and roadside stands of Sonora, Mexico, where they find the incendiary chiltepin stuffed in old bottles, and to northern Florida where salty growers eke out a living from the endangered datil pepper.

Chasing Chiles is both a rollicking travelogue from three guys on the hunt for authentic food and cultural experience and an adventure with a larger, sobering mission: to understand the effects of climate change by zeroing in on one critical crop and the people whose lives are most deeply intertwined with it.

Kraft, Friese, and Nabhan seek out and listen to farmers, chefs, and others who rely on the chile, and document their struggle to protect local foods and livelihoods in the face of unpredictable weather, decreased biodiversity, and sporadic availability.

Chasing Chiles—complete with hard-to-find recipes for place-based cuisine—is the story of three unlikely travel companions united by a shared passion and a quest to uncover not only the future of peppers, but the future of food.

At your favorite bookseller $17.95. Published by Chelsea Green

edible hawaiian islands market place

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farmers’ Markets Kaua’i Farmers’ Markets SATURDAY Kaua`i Community Market At Kaua`i Community College Front Parking Lot (across from Grove Farm) 10:00 am – 1:pm Kekaha Neighborhood Center (Sunshine Markets) Elepaio Road, Kekaha 9 a.m.

Kilauea Keneke St. Behind the post office 12 noon

WEDNESDAY Kapa`a New Town Park (Sunshine Markets) Kahau Road, Kapa`a 3 p.m.

Kaua`i Culinary Market 4:00pm – 6:00pm Kukui`ula Village, Po`ipu In Conjunction w/ Kaua`i County Farm Bureau

THURSDAY

MONDAY West Kaua`i Agricultural Association Po`ipu Road and Cane Haul Road, Po`ipu 8 a.m.

Koloa Ball Park (Knudsen) (Sunshine Markets) Maluhia Road, Koloa Noon Kukui Grove Shopping Center Lihue 3 p.m.

TUESDAY Kalaheo Neighborhood Center (Sunshine Markets) Papalina Road off Kaumualii, Kalaheo 3:30 p.m.

Hawaiian Farmers of Hanalei Waipa, Hanalei 2 p.m.

Waimea Town Market At Parker School 65-1224 Lindsey Road Waimea/Kamuela HI 96743 Sat. 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 pm.

Hanapepe Park (Sunshine Markets) Old Hanapepe Town 3 p.m.

Waimea Hawaiian Homestead Farmers’ Market Mamalahoa Hwy., 2 miles east of Waimea town 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon

Kilauea Neighborhood Center (Sunshine Markets) Keneke off Lighthouse Road, Kilauea 4:30 p.m.

Honokaa Farmers’ Market Honokaa town near Honokaa Trading Co. Hilo Farmers’ Market

SUNDAY

FRIDAY Hanalei Saturday Market Hanalei 9:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

North Kohala Across from Hawi Post Office, under banyan tree 7 a.m.–noon

Pahoa Farmers’ Market Luquin’s/Akebono Theater parking lot 8 a.m.–3 p.m.

Vidinha Stadium (Sunshine Markets) Hoolako Road, Lihue 3 p.m.

Makuu Farmers’ Market Keaau-Pahoa bypass road 8 a.m.–2 p.m.

Hawai`i Island Farmers’ Markets

Volcano Farmers’ Market Cooper Center, Wright Rd., Volcano 6:30–9 a.m.

SATURDAY Keauhou Farmers’ Market Keauhou Shopping Center, Keauhou 8a.m. – 12 noon

South Kona Green Market At the Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden Captain Cook 9 a.m. – I pm

Kino`ole Farmers’ Market Kino`ole Shopping Plaza 1990 Kino`ole St., Hilo 7 a.m.-noon

TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS

Space Farmers’ Market Space Performing Arts Center 12-247 West Pohakupele Loop Pahoa, HI 96778 Sat. 8:00a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Kekela Farms Organic Farmers Mkt 64-604 Mana Road Waimea, HI 808-887-0023 Tues. & Fri. 2:00-5:00pm 100% organic

Waikoloa Village Farmers’ Market Waikoloa Community Church across from Waikoloa Elementary School 7:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS Corner of Mamo and Kamehameha Ave., downtown Hilo Saturdays, 8 a.m.–noon

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Naalehu Farmers’ Market Ace Hardware lawn 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

Royal Kunia Park-n-Ride (People’s Open Market) Kupuna Lp/Kupohi Street, Waipahu 9:30–11 a.m.

O`ahu Farmers’ Markets

Waikele Community Park (People’s Open Market) Waipahu 11:30 a.m. –12:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAYS

SATURDAYS Banyan Court Mall (People’s Open Market) 800 North King Street, Honolulu 6:15–7:30 a.m.

The Mililani Sunday Farmers’ Market at Mililani High School 95-1200 Meheula Parkway, Mililani High School Parking Lot 8 a.m. –Noon

Kaumualii Street (People’s Open Market) at Kalihi Street, Honolulu 8:15–9:30 a.m.

Kalihi Valley District Park (People’s Open Market) 1911 Kam IV Road, Honolulu 10–10:45 a.m.

Manoa Marketplace Honolulu 7–11 a.m.

Country Market & Craft Fair Waimanalo Homestead Community Center 1330 Kalanianaole Hwy. 9 a.m.–4p.m.

Salt Lake Municipal Lot (People’s Open Market) 5337 Likini Street, Honolulu 11:15a.m. –Noon

Waianae Framers’ Market Waianae High School 85-251 Farrington Hwy 8 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Hawai`i Kai Park-n-Ride (People’s Open Market) 300 Keahole Street, Honolulu 1–2 p.m.

North Shore Country Market at Sunset Sunset Beach Elementary School, Haleiwa 8 a.m. –2 p.m.

The Saturday Farmers’ Market at Kapiolani Community College Campus 4303 Diamond Head Road, Honolulu 7:30–11 a.m.

MONDAYS Manoa Valley District Park (People’s Open Market) 2721 Kaaipu Avenue, Honolulu 6:45–7:45 a.m.

Makiki District Park (People’s Open Market) 1527 Keeaumoku Street, Honolulu 8:30–9:30 a.m.

Mother Waldron Park (People’s Open Market) 525 Coral Street, Honolulu 10:15–11 a.m.

Waialua Farmers’ Market Waialua Sugar Mill 8:30 a.m. –Noon Hawai`i Kai Town Center Kalanianaole Highway at Keahole Street, Honolulu 7:30 a.m. –3 p.m.

Waianae Framers’ Market Makaha Resort 84-626 Makaha Valley Road Waianae, 808-848-2074 1st and 3rd Sat of the month 7:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.

City Hall Parking Lot Deck (People’s Open Market) Alapai & Beretania Street, Honolulu 11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Hawai`i Kai Town Center Kalanianaole Highway at Keahole Street, Honolulu 7:30 a.m.–3 p.m.

TUESDAYS Waiau District Park (People’s Open Market) 98-1650 Kaahumanu Street, Pearl City 6:30–7:30 a.m.

SUNDAYS Hale`iwa Farmers’ Market The Heart of Hale`iwa Traffic Signal @ Kamehameha Hwy. & Cane Haul Rd. Next to the North Shore Marketplace (free parking) 9am.-1pm.

Kapolei Community Park (People’s Open Market) 91-1049 Kamaaha Loop, Kapolei 7–8:30 a.m.

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Fort Street near Wilcox Park Honolulu (in front of Macy’s) 8 a.m.–2 p.m.

Manoa Marketplace Honolulu 7–11 a.m.

Waikiki Farmers’ Market Waikiki Community Center Parking Lot 7 a.m.–1 p.m.

WEDNESDAYS Palolo Valley District Park (People’s Open Market) 2007 Palolo Avenue, Honolulu 6:30–7:30 a.m. .

Old Stadium Park (People’s Open Market) 2237 South King Street, Honolulu 8:15–9:15 a.m.

Queen Kapiolani Park (People’s Open Market) Monsarrat and Paki Street, Honolulu 10–11 a.m.

Hawai`i Kai Towne Center Kalanianaole Highway at Keahole Street, Honolulu 7:30 a.m.–3 p.m.

Honolulu Farmers’ Market at Neal Blaisdell Center Local Bounty 808-848-2074 4:00-7:00 pm Waialua Farmers’ Co-Op At the Sugar Mill 4:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

THURSDAYS Waimanalo Beach Park (People’s Open Market 41-741 Kalanianaole Highway, Waimanalo 7:15–8:15 a.m.

Kailua District Park (People’s Open Market) 21 South Kainalu Drive, Kailua 9–10 a.m.

Kaneohe District Park (People’s Open Market) 45-660 Keaahala Road, Kaneohe 10:45–11:45 a.m.

Manoa Marketplace Honolulu 7–11 a.m.

Waipahu District Park (People’s Open Market) 94-230 Paiwa Street, Waipahu 8:15–9:15 a.m.

The Kailua Thursday Night Farmers’ Market Kailua town 5–7:30 p.m. behind Longs on Kailua Road

Wahiawa District Park (People’s Open Market) N. Cane & California Avenue, Wahiawa 10–11 a.m.

Halawa District Park (People’s Open Market) 99-795 Iwaiwa Street 7–8 a.m.

Mililani District Park (People’s Open Market) 94-1150 Lanikuhana Avenue, Mililani 11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

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FRIDAYS

Ewa Beach Community Park (People’s Open Market) 91-955 North Road, Ewa Beach 9–10 a.m.

Pokai Bay Beach Park (People’s Open Market) 85-037 Pokai Bay Road, Waianae 11–11:45 a.m.

Fort Street near Wilcox Park Honolulu (In front of Macy’s) 8 a.m. –2 p.m.

Waikiki Farmers’ Market Waikiki Community Center Parking Lot 7 a.m. –1 p.m.

Maui Farmers’ Markets SATURDAY Kula Country Farms Kula Hwy at Kekaulike Ave, Kula 11 a.m. – 4 pm Maui Swap Meet University of Hawaii, Maui College 310 Ka`aumanu Ave in Kahului 6 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Upcountry Farmer’s Market Kula Malu Shopping center 55 Kiopaa Street in Pukalani 7 a.m. – 12 Noon Lipoa Street Farmers Market 95 Lipoa Street in Kihei 8 a.m. – 12 Noon Hana Fresh Farmer’s Market 4590 Hana Hwy, in Hana 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

SUNDAY Kula Country Farms Kula Hwy at Kekaulike Ave, Kula 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Hana Fresh Farmer’s Market 4590 Hana Hwy, in Hana 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Ono Organic Farms, Farmer’s Market Across from Hasagawa Store, Hana 10:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.

MONDAY

THURSDAY

Farmers’ Market of Maui-Kihei 61 Kihei Rd Suda Store parking lot on South Kihei 8 a.m.–4 p.m.

Kula Country Farms Kula Hwy at Kekaulike Ave, Kula 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Farmers’ Market of Maui-Honokowai 3636 Lower Honoapiilani Road, Kahana (Lahaina) 7a.m.–11 a.m.

A local tip: Get there early!

Hana Fresh Farmer’s Market 4590 Hana Hwy, in Hana 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Hana Fresh Farmer’s Market 4590 Hana Hwy, in Hana 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Ono Organic Farms, Farmer’s Market Across from Hasagawa Store, Hana 10:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Ono Organic Farms Across from Hasagawa Store, Hana 10:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

FRIDAY

TUESDAY

Kula Country Farms Kula Hwy at Kekaulike Ave, Kula 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Kula Country Farms Kula Hwy at Kekaulike Ave, Kula 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Green Dragon Farmer’s Market Kahului Shopping Mall, Kahului 65 Ka’ahumanu Avenue 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Green Dragon Farmer’s Market Kahului Shopping Mall, Kahului 65 Ka’ahumanu Avenue 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Farmers’ Market of Maui-Kihei 61 Kihei Rd Suda Store parking lot on South Kihei 8 a.m.–5 p.m.

Farmers’ Market of Maui-Kihei 61 Kihei Rd Suda Store parking lot on South Kihei 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Farmers’ Market of Maui-Honokowai 3636 Lower Honoapiilani Road, Kahana (Lahaina) 7–11 a.m.

Hana Fresh Farmer’s Market 4590 Hana Hwy, in Hana 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

Hana Fresh Farmer’s Market 4590 Hana Hwy, in Hana 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Kula Country Farms Kula Hwy at Kekaulike Ave, Kula 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Lana`i Farmers’ Market

Green Dragon Farmer’s Market Kahului Shopping Mall, Kahului 65 Ka’ahumanu Avenue 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.

SATURDAY Lana`i Market Place Dole Park 8 a.m.-1p.m.

Farmers’ Market of Maui-Kihei 61 Kihei Rd Suda Store parking lot on South Kihei 8 a.m.–4 p.m.

Farmers’ Market of Maui-Honokowai 3636 Lower Honoapiilani Road, Kahana (Lahaina) 7–11 a.m.

Hana Fresh Farmer’s Market 4590 Hana Hwy, in Hana 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Farmers’ Market of Maui-Kihei 61 Kihei Rd Suda Store parking lot on South Kihei 8 a.m.–4 p.m.

Moloka`i Farmers’ Market SATURDAY Ala Malama Street Kaunakakai 7a.m.-1p.m.

Makawao Farmers Mkt 3654 Baldwin Ave across from Rodeo General Store 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

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advertiser directory This Directory is meant to help you quickly find our supporters listed by island, enjoy and let them know we sent you. Aloha

Kaua`i 22 North 3-2087 Kaumualii Hwy.Lihue 808-245-9593 • www.22northkauai.com Anahola Granola www.anaholagranola.com Aunty Lilikoi 9875 Waimea Rd., Waimea, HI 96796 866-545-4564 • www.auntylilikoi.com Bar Acuda Restaurant Reservations: 808-826-7081 5-5161 Kuhio Hwy Hanalei, Kaua`i www.restaurantbaracuda.com Garden Ponds Nursery Mauka of Banana Joe’s Kilauea, Kaua`i (808) 826-6400 • www.gardenpondskauai.com Hanalei Dolphin 5-5016 Kuhio Hwy., Hanalei, Kaua`i 808-826-6113 Healthy Hut On the way to Kilauea Lighthouse 808-828-6626 • www.healthyhutkauai.com Hendrikus Organics 808-828-0099 • www.hendrikusorganics.com Hukilau Lanai Kapaa Coast Resort Kapaa Kauai Reservations Recommended 808-822-0600 • www.hukilaukauai.com Kalaheo Café & Coffee Co. On Highway 50 in Kalaheo 808-332-5858 • www.kalaheo.com Kilauea Fish Market 4270 Kilauea Rd., Kilauea, Kaua`i 808-828-6244 Kilauea Town Market 2474 Keneke St., Kilauea, Kaua`i 808-828-1512

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Koa Properties 808-651-1777 • www.koakauai.com Kukui`ula Village Kaua`i Culinary Market Po`ipu Roundabout at Kalanikaumaka 808-742-9545 • www.kukuiulavillage.com Living Foods Market Kukui`ula Village Po`ipu (on the south side) 808-742-2323 • www.livingfoodskauai.com Moloa`a Sunrise Fruit Stand Corner of Kuhio Hwy and Koolau Road * Phone orders welcome 808-822-1441 Nani Moon Mead Tasting Room in Kapa`a 4-939 D Kuhio Hwy 808-823-0486 • www.nanimoonmead.com Papaya’s Kaua`i Village Shopping Center In the courtyard by the waterfall, Kapa`a, Kaua`i 808-823-0190 • www.papayasnaturalfoods.com Harvest Market Hanalei 5-5161 Kuhio Hwy., Hanalei, Kaua`i 808-826-0089 Postcards Café Hanalei • 808-826-1191 Princeville Center 5-4280 Kuhio Highway, Princeville, HI 96722 808-826-9497 T. • 808-826-9850 F. www.princevillecenter.com The Coconut Cup Juice Bar & Café At the Coral Reef Resort, Kapa`a 808-823-8630 • www.coconutcupjuicebar.com The Garden at Common Ground 4900 Kauwa Road, Kilauea 808-828-1041 www.commongroundkauai.net/thegarden The Wine Garden 4495 Puhi Road, Lihue 808-245-5766 • www.kauaiwinegarden.com

EDIBLE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

O`ahu Chef Leslie Ashburn (808) 398-2695 • www.macrobiotichawaii.com Down to Earth For Locations on O`ahu, Maui & Hawai`i` Island, see our ad on pg. 25. www.DownToEarth.org Hagadone Printing Co. 274 Puuhale Road, Honolulu, HI 96819 808-847-5310 • www.hagadoneprinting.com Honu Group Inc. 1001 Bishop Street, ASB Tower, Suite 2800 Honolulu, Hawai`i 96722 808-550-4449 • tabenoja@honugroup.com www.honugroup.com Kula Fields On O`ahu 808-281-6141 On Maui 808-280-2099 www.kulafields.com Town Kaimuki, 3435 Wai’alae Ave #103 808.735.5900 • www.townkaimuki.com Whole Foods Market Kahala Mall in Honolulu, 4211 Wai`alae Ave www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Maui Ali`i Kula Lavender 1100 Waipoli Rd. Kula 808-878-3004 • www.aklmaui.com Aloha Mixed Plate 1285 Front Street Lahaina (808) 661-3322 • www.alohamixedplate.com Alive & Well 340 Hana Highway, Kahului 808-877-4950 • www.aliveandwellinmaui.com Archipelago Maui Lahaina Design Center 75 Kupuohi Street #103 Lahaina 808-781-3791 • www.archipelagomaui.com

Chef Susan Teton 808-250-1535 • www.chefteton.com Cupcake Love Maui 808-205-9699 • www.cupcakelovemaui.com Chef Dan Fiske Private chef serving all islands 808-280-1138 • www.privatemauichef.com Down To Earth For Locations on O`ahu, Maui & Hawai`i` Island, see our ad on pg. 25. www.DownToEarth.org Flatbread Pizza Company 89 Hana Hwy, Paia 808-579-8989 • www.flatbreadcompany.com Hana Herbs & Flowers 808-248-7407 • www.hanaherbs.com Kula Country Farms Kula Highway across from Rice Park, Kula 808-878-8318 Kula Fields On Maui 808-280-2099 On O`ahu 808-281-6141 www.kulafields.com Lahaina Grill 127 Lahainaluna Road, Lahaina 808-667-5117 • www.lahainagrill.com Mala Ocean Tavern 1307 Front Street, Lahaina 808-667-9394 • www.malaoceantavern.com Maui Country Farm Tours 808-280-1621 • www.mauicountryfarmtours.com Maui County Farm Bureau www.mauicountyfarmbureau.com

Moloka`i

Ocean Vodka Hawai`i Sea Spirits LLC 250 Alamaha St, S9, Kahului 808-877-0009 • www.oceanvodka.com

Coffees of Hawaii Order on website www.coffeesofhawaii.com

Old Lahaina Luau Maui’s Traditional Hula & Feast 1251 Front Street, Lahaina 808-667-1998 • www.oldlahainaluau.com

National Slow Food Hawai`i Island Shelby Floyd • sfloyd@ahfi.com

Ono Organic Farms 808-248-7779 • www.onofarms.com

Slow Food Kaua`i Patrick Quinn Icingonthecake.Kauai@gmail.com

Star Noodle 808-667-5400 • www.starnoodle.com Surfing Goat Dairy 3651 Omaopio Rd., Kula 808-878-2870 • www.surfinggoatdairy.com Chef Jana McMahon 808-281-8393 • www.chefjana.com

Slow Food Maui Jana McMahon/Susan Teton info@slowfoodmaui.org www.slowfoodmaui.org Slow Food O`ahu Laurie Carlson • laurie@honoluluweekly.com

Whole Foods Market Maui Mall, 70 East Ka’ahumanu Ave 808-872-3310 • www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Slow Food Nation www.slowfoodnation.org

Hawai`i Island Down To Earth For Locations on O`ahu, Maui & Hawai`i` Island, see our ad on pg. 25. www.DownToEarth.org Kona Coffee and Tea Toll Free 888-873-2035 In Kona 329-6577 www.konacoffeeandtea.com Original Hawaiian Chocolate Whole Foods Kahala/O`ahu 808-322-2626 • 888-447-2626 (toll free) www.ohcf.us

Maui Film Festival June 15-19, 2011 in Wailea 808-579-9244 mauifilmfestival@mauifilmfestival.com Maui Prime Fine Foods 142 Kupuohi St. #F7 Emerald Plaza (By Lahaina Gateway) 808-661-4912 • www.mauiprime.com WWW.EDIBLEALOHA.COM

SPRING 2011

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What Is It and How Do You Eat It

hiBisCus Roselle; (Hibiscus sabdariffa) is a species of Hibiscus. Often used in teas, it has been known to have medicinal benefits.

After washing, make an incision in the tough base of the calyx below the brackets and remove the seep capsule. You can chop and added to fruit salads, they can be cooked as a side-dish, or used for pie fillings. They may be left intact, if tender, and cooked with sugar. For a smoother sauce or juice, marmalade, relish or chutney the calyces can be passed through a meat grinder. Or the calyces, after cooking, may be pressed through a sieve. Some cooks steam the roselle with a little water until soft before adding the sugar, then boil for 15 minutes.

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EDIBLE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS