Quick Bites
National ads feature Big Island chef

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Chef Wilhelm Pirngruber of the Hilton Waikoloa Village is being featured in a national almond ad campaign for Blue Diamond Growers.

"Chef Willy," as he's known, was photographed chest-deep in almonds for the print ads, holding his signature dish: Almond-crusted Pacific 'ahi with ume-miso-chili syrup and lilikoi sauce, served with sun-dried cranberry couscous and Hilo hearts of palm slaw.

The ads will be published in food service publications. The San Francisco shoot, said Willy, "was a nutty experience."

Nu'uanu Avenue fete is Saturday

"Napa comes to Nu'uanu," a food and wine street fair set for 5 p.m.-10:30 p.m. Saturday on the artsy side of Chinatown, will feature food from eight premier restaurants, tastings of up to 100 wines from the Napa Valley, live entertainment, no-host cocktail bars and art sales.

The fund-raiser for the Victoria Foundation (a clearinghouse for children's charities) costs $40 a person and will be set up along Nu'uanu Avenue from Pauahi to King Street and on Hotel Street from Bethel to Smith Street. Tastings will be in a "Historic Downtown Food Pavilion" with food from Roy's, 3660 on the Rise, Parc Cafe, Side Street Inn, Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar, Indigo and Honolulu Coffee Co.

Tickets: Indigo Restaurant, Island Keepsakes, Pitre Fine Arts or participating restaurants, or call L.A.K. Enterprises, 545-4195.

Italian restaurant opens on the row

In the revolving door of eateries that is Restaurant Row, Lucarelli's Italian Bistro is the latest entry, having opened in the old Jameson's Seafood Grill location.

The restaurant is owned by Alan Beall, Ed Green and Jan and Al Sieverts, but daily operations are the responsibility of Two Davids (David Lucarelli and David Miles), who own Lucarelli's Hop Tomato, a restaurant and microbrewery on Front Street in Lahaina.

They will be open Mondays through Saturdays for lunch and dinner and will provide appetizers to the neighboring Row until midnight. Lucarelli's has a wood-burning pizza oven and features rustic fare: pizza, pastas, salads, sandwiches and chef's specialties.

Kaka'ako Kitchen gets a new chef

Russell Siu has hired Marcia Cades as executive chef at Kaka'ako Kitchen, his plate-lunch eatery at Ward Centre. Cades, originally from California and a Culinary Institute of America graduate, formerly worked at Sunset Grill, Portlock and the All-Star Cafe.

Three Kona brews win national honors

Three Kona Brewing Co. beers — Pacific Golden Ale, Hula Hefeweizen and Lavaman Red Ale — received awards in the recent U.S. Beer Tasting Championships. Judges evaluated 422 beers from 143 breweries.

Pacific Golden Ale was awarded "best" in the Northwest/Pacific Region. Hula Hefeweizen won the regional wheat beer award. And Lavaman Red Ale was recognized with an honorable mention in the regional amber/red ale category.

Kona Brewing Co., which sells bottled beers in stores as well as at its Kailua-Kona microbrewery, increased production at its Big Island headquarters by more than half last year to 4,300 barrels. Another 25 percent increase is planned for this year. Information: (808) 334-BREW or www.konabrewingco.com.

December dates worth remembering

Dates to save: The 10th annual Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel Sam Choy Poke Festival, previously postponed, is set for Dec. 7-9 at the hotel on the Kohala coast of the Big Island. Info: (808) 880-3023. Alan Wong's second annual Gingerbread Festival, during which families can build their own gingerbread houses with prepared gingerbread, will take place from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 2 at the Neal Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall; it helps support home economics training for teens with disabilities and special needs in a program organized by Easter Seals Hawai'i. Reservations: 536-1015.