QUICK BITES
Winemakers here for HPR event
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor
Hawai'i Public Radio's annual wine event has been renamed "Hawai'i Uncorked: A Celebration of Wines" and will take place from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. March 10 at the Sheraton Waikiki Grand Ballroom. Events include a wine auction, a workshop on wine and food matching, three tastings organized by R. Field Wine Co. and five guests chefs pairing food with wines. Tickets are $65 per person (individual wine tastings are an additional charge).
The working/tasting schedule is: 11 a.m.-noon wine and food matching with Christophe Davis of Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates ($25); noon-1 p.m. zinfandel tasting with Ehren Jordan of Turley Wine Cellars ($50); blind tastings of cabernet sauvignons and chardonnays with Gary Patzwald of Kendall-Jackson Great Estates ($100); and a tasting of Stag's Leap Wine Cellar's Cabernet Sauvignon Cask 23 from various years with owner Warren Winiarski ($100). All these events are limited to 50 people.
Tickets: 955-8821. Additional information on wine tastings: R. Field Wine Co., 596-9463.
College planning dinner with wines
Leeward Community College's culinary training program is planning its Spring Chef-Wine Dinner March 13 at The Pearl restaurant. Reservations will be accepted for between 5:30 and 8 p.m. Chefs include DK Kodama of Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar; Jackie Lau, corporate chef of Roy's Restaurants-Hawai'i; Mike Nevin, chef of the Pavilion Cafe, Honolulu Academy of Arts; Richard Wagner, pastry chef, the O'ahu Country Club. Sommelier Chuck Furuya will pair wines with the dishes; cost is $55 per person. Reservations: 455-0475.
Restaurants here branch out, reopen
Lots of restaurant news to report: Dave & Buster's has established a take-out service where you can call to place an order, then pick it up on your way home: 589-2215. ... Kaka'ako Kitchen has a new take-out restaurant at Airport Industrial Park, called Kaka'ako Kitchen Express. It's open 6:45 a.m.-9 a.m. for breakfast, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. for lunch. Plate lunches and okazuya style bentos are featured; also pastry chef Lisa Siu's bakery specials. Information and take-out orders: 833-3322. ... The Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort has opened a new Kuhio Beach Grill with casual resort dining by chef Armin Alfaro; the indoor-outdoor restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. ... Heidi's closed its Bishop Square Deli and is open now in two locations: Heidi's Downtown Bistro & Deli in the Pacific Guardian Center and Heid's Deli at Pioneer Plaza on Fort Street Mall in Cunha's Alley. ... Ruby's Diner, a Mainland chain of '40-style family diners, opened its first Hawai'i location in Ka'ahumanu Center on Maui earlier this month. It's known for burgers, shakes and malts. ... Benihana of Tokyo reopened after at $1 million facelift at its Hilton Hawaiian Village location.
Friday fine dining at All Star Hawaii
The All Star Hawaii Restaurant on Kalakaua Avenue is launching a new Friday Night Live weekly fine-dining experience in the downstairs cafe, featuring specialties by new chef James Palmer, who formerly cooked at the Mobile Four Diamond Strawberry Hill Resort in the Caribbean. The restaurant is known primarily for quick, casual foods, but Palmer has imported a broader approach and is inaugurating this effort to give the restaurant a presence among fine dining pots. The three-course fixed-price menu will be available with matched wines ($55), or without ($40). Palmer will prepare the food in the open-plan kitchen. Friday Night Live events begin this Friday; the dinner each Friday is from 7 p.m., with one seating. Reservations are required. Call 955-8326.
