QUICK BITES
Up close with 'Molto Mario'
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor
Chef Mario Batali of the Food Network's "Molto Mario" and "Mario Eats Italy" TV shows and the Manhattan restaurants Babbo, Esca and Lupa, will headline a master class series presented by the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows March 21-24 exclusively for its guests.
If you can afford $3,500 per person (including accommodations and events), this will be a chance for considerable personal contact with the chef; only 10 parties will be accommodated for the Culinary Conversations event.
The three-part series begins with a reception with Batali on the evening of March 21; continues with a hands-on culinary workshop in a Mauna Lani resort home on March 22 and a dinner with the chef, accompanied by wines selected by master sommelier Chuck Furuya; and ends with a culinary workshop at Hirabara Farms March 22 with Mauna Lani chef Edwin Goto and a luncheon prepared by Goto and class members with foods they harvest.
Information: Susan Bredo, Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows, (800) 367-2323.
From the mailbox: Recipes, ingredients
Conard Eyre, owner/hostess of the Green Goose Lodge bed and breakfast in Volcano, dropped a line to say that she, too, has a recipe in the "Entertaining the Costco Way" cookbook; it's Oooh La La Lasagna. (In a previous column, I'd mentioned some others from the Islands who have recipes in the new collection.)
And Kathleen Swenson of O'ahu said she found ricotta salata (or salada) at R. Field in Foodland Beretania; it's an ingredient called for a couple of times in the Buca di Beppo cookbook "Into The Sauce: From Our Cucina to Your Kitchen" ($24.95 at the restaurant or from bucadibeppo.com). I'd mentioned that it was hard to find here in an earlier review of the book.
Taste of the Stars set for May 3
Taste of the Stars, the annual campus fund-raiser for Leeward Community College's culinary program, will be from 6-9 p.m. May 3.
Island chefs will present a sampling of special dishes at this grazing event set up under tents on the school lawn. A silent auction will be held with lots of interesting items and culinary adventures to bid on, and there will be entertainment as well.
Tickets are $100. This popular event usually sells out. Call 455-0392. Based on last year's popularity, get there early to stake out a table, bring a group to fan out and score the food before lines form, then relax.
Quick Bites runs every Wednesday in The Advertiser's food section. Food Editor Wanda A. Adams welcomes tidbits of food news. Write to her c/o The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802. Call: 525-8069. E-mail: taste@honoluluadvertiser.com.
