Hawaii Food & Wine Festival Raised $413,580 in 2019

Last night, I was honored to have been invited to attend Hawaii Food & Wine Festival's Mahalo Reception, where multiple community organizations received a total of $413,580 towards culinary, agricultural, and educational initiatives.   
 
2019's total of $413,580 donation brings total contributions to nearly $3 million in the nine years of events organized by Hawaii Food & Wine Festival.
 
2019 Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival beneficiaries include:

• American Institute of Architecture Students Hawai'i Chapter - $7,500
• Culinary Institute of the Pacific - $80,000
• Frontera Farmer Foundation - $25,000
• Hawai‘i Agricultural Foundation - $70,000
• Hawai‘i Farm Bureau Federation - $2,500
• Hawai‘i Island Community College Culinary Program - $7,000
• Hawaiʻi LGBT Legacy Foundation - $2,500
• Hawaii Seafood Council - $5,000
• IMUA Family Services - $55,000
• KCC Culinary Arts Program - $55,000
• Leeward Community College Culinary Program - $25,000
• Localicious Recipe Contest Scholarship - $500
• Maui County Farm Bureau - $20,000
• Maui Culinary Academy - $20,000
• Paepae o He‘eia - $10,000
• Papahana Kuaola - $10,000
• Roosevelt High School Leo Club - $1,000
• Sacred Hearts Academy - $2,500
• Miscellaneous - $1,106

Ten public high schools were awarded via the Young Entrepreneurs Program - $13,974

• Aiea High School
• Governor Wallace Rider Farrington High School
• Henry J. Kaiser High School
• Konawaena High School
• Leilehua High School
• Olomana School
• Pearl City High School
• President Theodore Roosevelt High School
• Waipahu High School
• Waipahu Intermediate School

According to a press release:

HFWF19 welcomed 12,778 festival attendees, including 1,530 mainland and international visitors to 22 events featuring 114 renowned chefs, 31 world-class wine makers and sommeliers, 32 top mixologists, 10 local breweries and 173 culinary students statewide. HFWF19 garnered nearly $25 million in publicity value from media coverage including USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, Forbes, Travel Weekly, Travel+Leisure China, Cooking Channel, International Traveller, Pacific Business News, Delta Sky Japan and Travel Weekly China. To learn more, view the 2019 mission video here (www.youtube.com/c/Hawaiifoodandwinefestival).

Attendees at last night's event sipped on cocktails and dined on bites by the following:

Colin Hazama (The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort)

Aromatic Poached Kauai Shrimp

Juniper-Scented Molokai Venison

 Lawrence Nakamoto (Mariposa)

Kona Abalone Arancini

Smoked Kamuela Tomato "Tartare"

Affogato

 Roy Yamaguchi (Roy's Hawaii)

Snapper Crudo

Kakuni Slider

Jennifer Chow (Nobu Honolulu)

Cup Sushi

Short Ribs with Rosemary Miso

 Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits

Saitama Hybrid

Smooth Operator

Save the dates! HFWF20 will be October 2-25!

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Hawaii Food & Wine Festival - Hawaiian Airlines Presents Swirl

Last night, the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival transformed the rooftop at the Hawaii Convention Center into an extravaganza full of flowing wines and delectable dishes at Hawaiian Airlines presents Swirl.

Winemakers and master sommeliers were eagerly filling up guests' complimentary Riedel glasses, while chefs from around the world showcased bites featuring local products.

Raphael Lunetta (Lunetta) - Taco Trio

Seamus Mullen (Tertulia) - Lightly Cured Hawaiian Opah

Lee Anne Wong (Koko Head Cafe) - Hawaiian Kanpachi & Eggs

Wade Ueoka (MW Restaurant) - Mountain View Farms Smoked Bacon, Big Island Abalone and Chirimen Rice

Gale Gand - Coconut Cream Pie

Graham Elliot (Petit Harvest) - Scallop BLT

Michael Ginor (Lola) - Truffled Steak Tartare

Ed Kenney (Town Restaurant) - Kauai Shrimp, Cucumber, Huluhula Waena

Stephan Pyles (Flora Street Cafe) - Hawaiian Ahi Tuna Ceviche

Jonathan Waxman (Barbuto) - Strip Loin with Grilled Eggplant

Bert Agor, Jr. (King's Hawaiian) - Duck Confit Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Hawaiian Heirloom Tomato Bisque

Eric Ziebold (Kinship) - Kinship Piri Piri Beef

Kevin Carvalho (Dean & Deluca) - Seared Duck Breast

Floyd Cardoz (The Milos Group) - Grilled Kauai Shrimp

Keoni Chang (Foodland Supermarkets) - Guava Wood-Smoked Hawaiian Opah

R. Field & Co. (Foodland Farms) - Charcuterie Station

Dahlia Narvaez (Mozza Restaurant Group) - Waialua Chocolate Sesame Tart

Hans Lentz (Hawaii Convention Center) - Foi Style Lentil Mini Musubi + Caramelized Kanpachi Mini Musubi

Rory Herrmann (Herrmann Hospitality Group) - Hamachi Tataki with ECB Duck Proscuitto

Marcel Vigneron (Wolf) - Olena Mukau Me `Ulu

Ravi Kapur (Liholiho Yacht Club) - Surf and Turf Taco

Elizabeth Falkner (Falk Yeah! Productions) - Sticky Rice with Sangkaya Coconut pandan custard

Roy Yamaguchi (Goen Dining & Bar) - Raw Bar

There were so many amazing dishes, but my favorite was Wade Ueoka's take on fried rice and bacon. I'm all about familiar comfort foods, and his twist was just so delicious (I had two servings!).

Hawaii Food & Wine Festival continues through the weekend.  For more information on click here.

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Hawaii Food & Wine Festival - Crazy Rich Cocktails #HWFW19

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.   

Jen Ackrill (Cocktail Artist Essential Bar Ingredients) - The Snoosh

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)

Tiki Sunrise

Midnight Passion

Tropical Punch

Chocolate Coffee-Tini

 Michelle Karr-Ueoka (MW Restaurant)

Singapore Sling meets da Lava Flow

Lilikoi Mojito Truffles

Mai Tai Mochi Baba

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!

Ming Tsai (Blue Dragon) - Sesame Crusted Ono Tataki with Spicy Beef Cheek Ragout

Masaharu Morimoto (Morimoto Asia Waikiki) - Sumibi Steak Don

Susur Lee (Lee Restaurant) - Rack of Lamb Thailandaise

Andrew Le (The Pig & The Lady) - 24K Gold

Yi Yuan (Wuxi Juna Hotels Group) - Wuxi Short Ribs

Xue Chong Ruan (Tim Ho Wan Waikiki) - Pan Fried Turnip Cake

David Lukela (`Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach) - Smoked Hawaiian Kanpachi

Ted & Yong Kim (Seoul Sausage) - The Sticky Chicken

Brandon Jew (Mister Jiu's) - Poached Kona Lobster

Lance Kosaka (Top of Waikiki & Sky Waikiki) - Warabi Salad

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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