Chef Mavro shows gratitude
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
George Mavrothalassitis wants to celebrate the fifth anniversary of his Chef Mavro restaurant on Friday by throwing a feast for the fishermen and farmers who produce the Island-grown food that he turns into magic.
Richard Ambo The Honolulu Advertiser
David Sumida, operations manager of his family's 75-year-old watercress farm, was stunned when he got the invitation to dine with Mavrothalassitis and 14 other local farmers and fishermen.
Chef George Mavrothalassitis, left, visits David Sumida of Sumida Farm Inc. in Pearlridge. Sumida, operations manager of the watercress farm, has been invited to Chef Mavro's fifth anniversary feast on Friday.
The closest Sumida ever got to a similar invitation was one to attend the opening of a new warehouse for a food wholesaler.
"We've never been the honorees like this before," Sumida said. "So it's something that we really appreciate."
Mavrothalassitis' decision to celebrate with local farmers and fishermen represents a public acknowledgement of a network of producers, wholesalers and retailers — mostly in the food industry — who are committed to local commerce.
The value of Hawai'i crop and livestock sales has fallen steadily in the past 20 years and in 2001 accounted for $489 million in sales, according to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Last year, however, farm sales rose by 2 percent on the strength of sugar and pineapple, while diversified agriculture, considered the future of the local farming industry, showed flat growth as farmers coped with weather and price changes.
Even as the overall value of Hawai'i's crops fluctuates, individual farm costs remain high.
Island farmers usually pay more for land and labor and cannot churn out the same volume as larger Mainland operations, who have greater economies of scale. The result is local produce prices that run 25 percent to occasionally 100 percent more than Mainland prices, even with the cost of shipping goods 2,500 miles across the Pacific.
Restaurants and food wholesalers also can't get everything they want locally.
Lamb, certain cuts of beef, carrots, potatoes and other root vegetables all have to be shipped in. And even reliable, local produce can suffer from sudden changes in weather.
Mike Nevin, the chef at Pavilion Cafe at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, would rather support local producers despite the higher costs because he likes the quality.
"I can't think of any negatives," Nevin said. "It's picked fresh in the morning and you serve it that day."
From goat cheese to tomatoes to eggplant, Nevin buys everything he can from O'ahu and Neighbor Island producers who try to accommodate him in return.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
"If I need something special," Nevin said, "I can't call a California farmer and say, 'I need some special things.' "
The 75-year-old Sumida Farm operates its 10-acre watercress farm along Kamehameha Highway next to Pearlridge Center. The farm produces about 6 tons of watercress a week.
Especially in the food business, Mavrothalassitis said, restaurants get what they pay for.
Mavrothalassitis, who drives a Mercedes, compares the cost of locally grown produce to the difference between a $10,000 compact car and an $80,000 high-performance, luxury vehicle.
"With food, it's the same thing," Mavrothalassitis said. "Would you rather have leather seats or plastic?"
Even so-called fresh fish can be dead for a week by the time it reaches Honolulu. So Mavrothalassitis always buys fresh fish at auction.
"What you call fresh ingredients is not fresh anymore," Mavrothalassitis said. "You pick up a bunch of watercress from Florida, you package the watercress, you send it to the airport. It flies from Florida to Dallas, from Dallas to L.A., from L.A. to Honolulu.
"When it arrives, it's totally dead. Strawberries the same thing. If you want to send your strawberries to Hawai'i, you pick them green not ripe. But Kula, Maui, strawberries are picked ripe and you can eat them directly from the field."
For the dinner he's making Friday night, Mavrothalassitis wants to prepare one of his signature dishes that features North Shore tomatoes slowly baked for a day and a half at 140 degrees. He comes from Provence, an area in the South of France known for its tomatoes, and Mavrothalassitis wants to show off what he can do with tomatoes grown in Hawai'i.
But the dish means Mavrothalassitis will have to ship in lamb from Colorado that's unavailable in Hawai'i. And that might not be in keeping with the message of the evening. So Mavrothalassitis is thinking of substituting other recipes featuring only Island-bred protein and produce.
"I want to celebrate my anniversary with my growers," Mavrothalassitis, "because I cannot reach this kind of quality without them.
Whatever Mavrothalassitis serves, local producers such as Sumida will be happy just to attend.
"It's new to me to be treated in such a way," Sumida said.
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
