QUICK BITES
Kona resorts offer a festival of food
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor
The new Hawai'i's Big Island Festival, set for Oct. 30 to Nov. 3 at various Kona coast resorts, is shaping up as the one not to miss with a schedule of events that's kept the fax machine humming: Every time I check there's something new.
The latest news is the Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto will host an event Nov. 3 that pits Hawai'i's star chefs against Food & Wine magazine's Best New Chefs of 2002; it's a 20-minute cookoff involving secret ingredients a la "Ready, Set, Cook" and "Iron Chef." And Tony Abou-Ganim, legendary "beverage specialist and master mixologist" ("don't call him bartender") of the Bellagio in Las Vegas will be shaking Bellinis at the festival's Grand Tasting Pavilion and at various events during the weekend.
Chef André Soltner, formerly of New York's famed Lutéce, is working with the Hilton Waikoloa Village to prepare a special dinner Nov. 1 and an educational lunch Nov. 2.
Other events of interest to foodies include Peter Merriman's annual Big Island Tomato Tasting Nov. 2, appearances by celebrity chefs for daily cooking classes and demonstrations and nightly grazing events. Participating resorts include Keahou Resort, Mauna Lani Resort and Waikoloa Beach Resort; hotels are the Hilton Waikoloa Village, Kona Village Resort, Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows, Outrigger Waikoloa Beach and The Orchid at Mauna Lani.
The event is a production of an advertising consortium, the Big Island Group, composed of the Big Island Visitors Bureau, the County of Hawai'i, and hotel, resort, airline, golf and activity firms.
For information, visit www.bigislandfestival.com. For reservations, call (866) 424-FEST (424-3378). A kama'aina ticket package is $200, including three-day admission to the Festival Pavilion, Grand Tastings, and culinary seminars; admission to other special events is a separate ticket purchase.
Happy anniversaries
Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar on Honolulu's Restaurant Row is celebrating its second anniversary from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 15 with a dinner and silent auction to benefit the Nisei Project, which will finance the 2003 tour here of "Nisei," a story-dance production dedicated to Japanese-American World War II veterans. The $100 per person ticket price, of which $60 is tax deductible, includes food, beverage, tax, and tips. Chef-owner D.K. Kodama and his staff of chefs — Keith Endo, Yoshi Nakamura, Ivan Pahk, Donald Nakamura, Eric Abrogast and Kiefer Takasaki — will be on hand for the "food station"-style event. Reservations: 536-6286.
Chef Russell Siu is preparing a special menu for the 10th anniversary celebration of 3660 on the Rise, the restaurant he owns with partner Gale Ogawa. The event, 6:30 to 9 p.m. Oct. 4, includes tasting stations and table service for a menu that ranges from Chinese roast pig with plum sauce to a raw bar featuring oysters and poke, sweet chili chicken to salmon and asparagus skewers. Heartsong will perform and prize giveaways will take place throughout the night. Tickets are $45, and the event benefits the Hawaii Foodbank. Reservations: 737-1177.
Restaurant news
Cowbells and oompah bands ... it must be Oktoberfest. Ala Moana Hotel is gearing up for its 32nd annual Oktoberfest Oct. 8 to 13 with a nightly festival celebration and a kama'aina hotel package starting at $89 a night. The event will take place 6 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 6 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 5 to 11 p.m. Sunday in the Hibiscus Ballroom. The hotel's executive chef Ryan Day, formerly of Sunset Grill, is drawing on his German heritage (his mother is from Hamburg) to prepare wursts, roast chicken with pig knuckles, dumplings, sauerkraut, potato salad and apple strudel and Black Forest cake. There will also be a selection of German beers. Tickets are $5 weekdays and Sunday, $8 Friday and Saturday. Information: 955-4811.
Quick Bites is published every Wednesday in The Advertiser's food section. Food editor Wanda A. Adams welcomes tidbits of food news. Reach her at The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; 525-8069; or at taste@honoluluadvertisercom.
