Hawaii Food & Wine Festival took over the `Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach's pool deck last night for Crazy Rich Cocktails, an event where craft cocktails and Asian flavors took the leading roles.
Mixologists featured a variety of concoctions to please every type of palate. Since I had a far drive back home, I limited my consumption of cocktails (Hawaii Food & Wine Festival offers hotel + ticket packages for those who wish to stay over at certain event sites), but I did get to try out a few.
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| Jen Ackrill (Cocktail Artist Essential Bar Ingredients) - The Snoosh |
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| Francesco Lafranconi (Mr. Coco) - Crazy Rich Punch |
The Crazy Rich Punch was a lovely drink made with Nikka Coffey Grain Whiskey, King's Ginger Liqueur, sour sop, lemonade, and pandan-coconut flavors.
The cocktail options were plentiful, and so were the food. The highlight for me was the Crazy Rich Dessert Bar, by Belinda Leong of B.Patisserie and Michelle Karr-Ueoka of MW Restaurant.
Belinda Leong (B.Patisserie)
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| Tiki Sunrise |
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| Midnight Passion |
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| Tropical Punch |
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| Chocolate Coffee-Tini |
Michelle Karr-Ueoka (MW Restaurant)
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| Singapore Sling meets da Lava Flow |
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| Lilikoi Mojito Truffles |
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| Mai Tai Mochi Baba |
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| Grasshopper |
I was in dessert heaven! My favorite was the Mai Tai Mochi Baba, which can be described as an "adult Twinkie" - a KoHana Rum pineapple savarin, caramelized pineapples, and haupia sorbet. So yummy!
As for the savory bites, the offerings were just as amazing!
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| Ming Tsai (Blue Dragon) - Sesame Crusted Ono Tataki with Spicy Beef Cheek Ragout |
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| Masaharu Morimoto (Morimoto Asia Waikiki) - Sumibi Steak Don |
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| Susur Lee (Lee Restaurant) - Rack of Lamb Thailandaise |
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| Andrew Le (The Pig & The Lady) - 24K Gold |
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| Yi Yuan (Wuxi Juna Hotels Group) - Wuxi Short Ribs |
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| Xue Chong Ruan (Tim Ho Wan Waikiki) - Pan Fried Turnip Cake |
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| David Lukela (`Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach) - Smoked Hawaiian Kanpachi |
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| Ted & Yong Kim (Seoul Sausage) - The Sticky Chicken |
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| Brandon Jew (Mister Jiu's) - Poached Kona Lobster |
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| Lance Kosaka (Top of Waikiki & Sky Waikiki) - Warabi Salad |
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| Peter Cho (Han Oak) - Pork Belly Bo Ssam |
There were so many fantastic bites featuring local products, such as Hawaiian kanpachi, Big Island abalone, local calamansi, local bean sprouts, and Kona lobster.
It's always neat to see how creative chefs can get with Hawaii products!
My favorite dish was The Sticky Chicken - a crispy, and very tasty piece of Korean Fried Chicken, plus a macadamia nut honey butter rice cake. The combination of textures and flavors was perfect (I ate three pieces!).
Crazy Rich Cocktails was an event full of guests in good spirits (while indulging in good spirits), and the energy was just fantastic.
For more information on Hawaii Food & Wine Festival and to find out what events still have tickets available, click here.
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