Chef Yves Garnier, left, of the Halekulani, is being honored tomorrow with the presentation of the Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite Agricole, conferred by the French minister of agriculture. The order is among the distinctions instituted by Jules Méline, minister of agriculture in 1883, to honor those who rendered services to French agriculture. From its creation, the agricultural award has been assigned according to identical criteria, based on the dedication to the cause of agriculture — in this case, marrying French products and techniques with Island tastes.

The French consul in San Francisco, Frédéric Desagneaux, and the honorary French consul in Honolulu, Patricia Lee, will be on hand for the invitation-only event tomorrow at the hotel, where Garnier has been chef de cuisine at the award-winning French restaurant La Mer since December 1995.

KINDEST CUT

SHARP-EDGED GIFT SAVES CULINARY CAREER

Chef Mark Ellman, of Mala and Maui Tacos, tells a heart-warming story from Maui. Recently, a Maui Community College culinary student who was living temporarily in a shelter lost a brand-new $1,000 set of chef's knives when his car was burglarized. Without resources to replace the set, for which he had worked and saved, 20-year-old Joseph Sado would have been hard pressed to continue his education.

Reading about it in the Maui News, Ellman, his wife, Judy, and their partner, Shep Gordon, forwarded a check to Clyde Sakamoto, chancellor of Maui Community College, to buy new knives for Sado. "We hope this will encourage other businesses to reach out," Ellman said.