Hawaii Food & Wine Festival's Foodtopia

Each year, the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival celebrates an all-star line-up of chefs, wine and spirit connoisseurs, and other culinary celebrities in multiple events throughout the state. Festivities this year were held on Hawaii Island, Maui and Oahu, and one of the premier events of the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival took place at Ko Olina Resort on Saturday.

This year's theme, Foodtopia, showcased the talents of a diverse group of chefs on the lagoon sands fronting Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa and the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina, and I was fortunate to have been invited to this sold-out event.

The stunning Ko Olina resort was picture-perfect, as hundreds of guests indulged in gourmet bites and sips.

The food, which incorporates a variety of local ingredients, was outstanding!

My favorite savory was an abalone corn dog, and my favorite sweet was an ice cream cone (I ate two of them!).

Kushi-Age Big Island Abalone Corn Dog (Takashi Yagihashi - Slurping Turtle)

Apple Banana Cream Cone with Salted Caramel Gelato (Mark Freischmidt - Halekulani)

Here are other fabulous food items featured:

Smoked Big Island Berkshire Pork (Keoni Chang - Foodland Super Market Ltd.)

Hawaiian Seafood Ceviche (Bobby Chinn - London)

Surf & Turf Tartare (Brian Malarkey - Herb & Wood)

Pickled Sweetland Farm Goat (Ed Kenney - Town)

Coconut Mousse (Mark Freischmidt - Halekulani)

Kona Coffee Caramels (Mark Freischmidt - Halekulani)

Pineapple Ice Cream Sandwich + King's Hawaiian Sweet Bread Pudding (King's Hawaiian)

Maui Venison Tortaliini (Kyle Higa - Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa)

Hawaiian Big Eye Tuna Crudo (Marcel Vigneron - Wolf)

Kari Leaf Smoked Beef Brisket (Martin Knaubert - Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina)

Hawaiian Nairagi Barbecued in Seaweed with Beach Barbecue Sauce (Robert Del Grande - Cafe Annie)

Kauai Shrimp with Hamakua Mushrooms and Kaffir Lime (Vikram Garg - Honolulu)

Elote Corn Sundae (Sherry Yard - Helms Bakery)

VIP Guests who opted for the $500/per person five-course experience were treated to dishes created by Chefs Celestino Drago, Dean Fearing, Chris Kajioka, Ryo Takatsuka and Janice Wong.

One of the VIP tables

Throughout the night, guests at Hawaii Food & Wine Festival's Foodtopia could meet their favorite celebrity chefs and watch them in action, sip on wine and cocktails, enjoy live entertainment, and mix and mingle with other foodies.

Bobby Chin of London

Marcel Vigneron (I watched him on Top Chef!) of Wolf in Los Angeles, CA

Pepper Martin (Shannon Ponche - Leyenda)

Expat Booster (Lauren Mote - Bittered Sling)

Entertainment on the water!

To end the night was an amazing fireworks show.

Foodtopia is such a fantastic event highlighting the talents of chefs, mixologists, and sommeliers from around the world, while at the same time shining the spotlight on our local producers.

Don't miss next year's event - and get your tickets early because I'm sure it will sell out quickly again!