QUICK BITES
Kapi'olani chefs share expertise
By Wanda A. Adams
Food Editor
Cooking classes can be hard to find in Hawai'i; a number of schools and organizations that used to sponsor regular classes have ceased to do so or gone out of business. However, Kapi'olani Community College's culinary program has begun a series of noncredit courses offered on Saturday mornings for the convenience of those who work weekdays.
Courses include a Cooking Basics Series with chef Grant Sato (Feb. 16-March 23) — Knife Skills and Cutting, Stocks, Soups, Classic Causes, Sauteing and Quick Sauces, and Braising and Simmering. Aslo to be offered, a Baking Basics series with chef Daniel B. Swift including (Feb. 16-March 16) Cookies, Yeast Breads, Quick Breads, Pies Fillings and Meringues, Cake Building and Decoration. The Vegetarian Basics Cooking series with guest chef Alyssa Moreau will include Appetizers, Soups, Salads and Dressings and Entrees (April 6-27). Finally, cooking and tasting demonstration classes will include Brunch for Easter (March 7) and Tea for Two (May 2).
Class fees range from $20 for cooking demonstration courses to $35 per class for the various basics courses. As food orders for these courses must be placed early, advance registration is required. Some classes already are full (Knife Skills); others have limited space (Cookies). For information, contact the college information office at 734-9211.
Regional chefs star at Kea Lani
The Food and Wine Masters series at the Fairmont Kea Lani Hotel in Wailea on Maui is one of the Hawai'i's underappreciated treasures. The weekend package includes intimate cooking demonstrations by exceptional chefs from around the country, paired with a lunch, and a formal dinner prepared by the chef along with the Kea Lani staff and a tasting of one vintner's wines.
Coming up next, March 22 and 23, instead of the usual out-of-town guests, the Food and Wine Masters will present a rare opportunity to see four Hawai'i Regional Cuisine charter members working together: Amy Furguson-Ota of the Big Island, Mark Ellman and Bev Gannon from Maui and George Mavrothalassitis from O'ahu. And Mark Okumura, pastry chef at Alan Wong's, will handle the sweet end of things. Featured wineries will be Beringer Vineyards, Benziger Family Winery and Sequoia Grove Vineyards.
Tickets for the events can be purchased a la carte: $45 for cooking demo and lunch; wine tasting and dinner for $125. Information: (800) 798-4552 or (808) 875-4100.
Bada Bing, baby, in Kihei, Maui
We can't get enough of Italian food, it seems. Yet another southern Italian restaurant has opened in the Islands, this one on Maui, its name a humorous reference to the strip club on HBO's addictive "The Sopranos."
Bada Bing Italian Restaurant and Music Club, at 1945 S. Kihei Road on Maui, serves "New Jersey-style" Italian: spaghetti and meatballs, pasta with clam sauce, pizza, the usual marsalas, piccatas and such and some very interesting-sounding antipasti — fried ravioli and mozzarella en carozza (fresh mozzarella cheese wrapped in basil and bread dough and pan fried). Prices are affordable (dinner entrees $7.95 to $17.95; lunch from $5.95) and most dishes can be customized with the sauces or toppings you prefer.
Food is the focus from noon to 10 p.m. daily and then the place, like so many others today, turns into a music club featuring live local bands on Saturdays and a mixture of live music and deejay music other nights. (808) 875-0188.
This one really is hot off the press
If you're the kind of person for whom a fiery pepperoncino is a great snack, who can't sit down to eat without a bottle of Tabasco or chili pepper water at your elbow, who loves Cajun and Mexican and spicy northern Chinese food, you will find yourself right at home with Chile Pepper magazine, subtitled Cooking Zesty.
The February issue explores the roots of American chili, introduces hot New Orleans Creole chef Jacques Imo, offers a spa chef's guide to low-fat spicy cooking, and gives a fond farewell to the late Cajun chef Justin Wilson. Order online at chilepepper.com or call toll-free (888) SPICYHOT.
Quick Bites appears every Wednesday in The Advertiser's food section. Food editor Wanda Adams welcomes tidbits of food news. Reach her c/o The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802 or at 535-2412 or taste@honoluluadvertiser.com.
