QUICK BITES
Artist back on Maui to debut wine labels
By Wanda A. Adams
Sometime Hawai'i resident and artist Guy Buffet returned to Lahaina from his home in the South Pacific last week to debut new work at Lahaina Galleries. That included labels he designed for a line of wines from Guy Buffet Cellars as the Guy Buffet International Collection, distributed by Knightsbridge Fine Wines, sourced from vineyards in California, Australia, and Argentina. Knightsbridge is acquiring and entering into joint ventures with wineries around the world. The goal is to give smaller fine wineries better distribution and marketing.
The partnering of wine and art is one of the strategies. The first Guy Buffet Collection wines were released to the hotel and restaurant market in 2003. The company recently announced that Andy Warhol artwork will appear on labels in its Amer*Icon collection of premium Napa Valley wines.
Low-carb dishes on menu at Sheratons
Sheraton Waikiki executive chef Daniel Delbrel was team leader for a group that worked under the chain's executive chef, Richard Faeh, to develop a low-carb menu for the six Sheraton hotels in Hawai'i, part of a pilot project for the entire Sheraton chain. The new menu, now in place in the hotels here, features 16 low-carb dishes plus six low-carb drink options. Most of these menu items — including portobello chicken burger, salmon lettuce wraps, no-bun burgers and chicken wings — feature fewer than 5 grams of carbohydrate. From the bar, you can get low-carb beer, gin and tonics and specialty drinks such as the Leanytini (vodka, vermouth, lemon twist).
The idea occurred to Starwood chairman and chief executive officer Barry Sternlich when he noted that the low-carb box lunches ran out before the sushi and salads at a recent Starwoods global conference attended by 5,000 international travelers. The Starwood executive dining room has already gone low-carb. A low-carb catering menu is in the works, and even the mint left on your pillow is being switched to one with fewer carbs.
And in more hotel news: La Mer at Halekulani is the only Honolulu restaurant listed in Gourmet's World's Best Dining Rooms guide in this month's magazine.
Sergio's features happy-hour specials
Sergio's at the Hilton Hawaiian Village has introduced new happy-hour and early-evening specials, including $3 drinks from a selected menu from 5 to 7 p.m. daily, and early dinner menus including soup or salad and an entree (certain chicken, eggplant and pasta dishes), served between 5 and 6 p.m. for $20.95, including coffee or tea. Reservations: 951-6900.
