Photo courtesy of the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival.
The 3rd Annual Hawai`i Food & Wine Festival continued its festivities on Sept. 7 on the Rooftop Garden at the Hawai`i Convention Center. The evening event “Taste Our Love for the Land” showcased local ingredients, farm-to-table sourcing and cooking practices.
The Hawai`i Food & Wine Festival runs Sept. 1-9, 2013. For more information, visit www.hawaiifoodandwinefestival.com.
Hawai`i Convention Center Executive Chef Jacob Silver prepares pan-roasted tilapia with red tomato crema live on KHON2’s “Hawaii’s Kitchen” with reporter Manolo Morales, showcasing the main entree for the Hawai`i Agriculture Conference’s 100 Percent Local Hawai`i Products Awards Luncheon at the HCC later that day.
It was a menu more than three months in the making.
As part of the sixth Hawai`i Agriculture Conference, the Hawai`i Convention Center food and beverage team served up a luncheon of fresh fish, salads, fruits, and desserts for 400 guests – with one catch: Each ingredient had to be sourced from Hawai`i.
Although the Center features local ingredients in its menus as much as possible, it was only the second time that the team has been tasked with creating a menu from 100 percent locally sourced foods, following similar efforts for more than 400 guests at The World Congress of Zero Emissions Initiativesin September 2010.
Chef Mark Noguchi of Pili Hawai`i (far left) prepares a locally sourced steak and vegetables dish live on KHON2’s “Hawaii’s Kitchen,” while reporter Manolo Morales talks with taro farmer Daniel Anthony, founder of Mana Ai, about pounding taro. Noguchi and Anthony were featured chefs at the Hawai`i Agriculture Conference later that day at the HCC.
The two-day agriculture conference, from September 20-21, featured seminars and programs to highlight how partnerships and collaboration can strengthen the state’s agriculture sector.
Registered attendees and guests with a special “Foodie Pass” were able to attend the All-Hawai`i Products Luncheon on September 20, as well as a Pau Hana Reception later that evening. The reception included nine demonstrations from Hawai`i chefs and farmers ranging from cooking with local invasive species to preparing meals with local produce easily purchased at the grocery store. The kick-off demonstration, from Hawai`i Convention Center Chef Gary Matsumoto, showcased how to cook meals from a CSA – or community-supported agriculture – box.
Hawai`i Convention Center Chef Gary Matsumoto leads the kick-off cooking demonstration at the Hawai`i Agriculture Conference’s Pau Hana Reception at the HCC. Matsumoto showcased how to cook meals from a CSA – or community-supported agriculture – box.
“It’s a really important thing, cooking locally,” Hawai`i Convention Center Executive Chef Jacob Silver told KHON2’s Manolo Morales during a “Hawai`i’s Kitchen” morning show segment. “It’s important everywhere, but especially in Hawai`i because we are so isolated here and it’s important to support our economy and get everyone on board with eating locally. It’s always better to eat what’s near you and what’s fresh because it always tastes better.”
To best showcase the rich variety of foods available from Hawai`i’s farms, ranches, and waters, the Center created a multi-faceted luncheon menu that included pan-roasted tilapia raised in an aquaponics system in Waiawa; strawberries, lavender, and pickled onions from Maui; and brittle and oil from macadamia nuts grown on the Big Island. The menu also included tomatoes, cucumbers, asparagus, mixed greens, and potatoes from farms throughout Oahu, as well as a red tomato crema and honey vanilla fromage blanc using cream from a North Shore Oahu dairy.
The menu did not come without challenges, including hand-making vinegar several months in advance for the pineapple citrus vinaigrette, and the lack of popular items such as flour, rice, black pepper, and shoyu.
Live segment #1: Chef Mark Noguchi
Live segment #2: Chef Mark Noguchi and Daniel Anthony
Live segment #3: Chef Jacob Silver
Live segment #4: Chef Jacob Silver
The 2012 Hawai`i Agricultural Conference will be at the Hawai`i Convention Center September 20-21, 2012.
The Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawai`i will host the 2012 Hawai`i Agriculture Conference at the Hawai`i Convention Center on September 20 & 21, 2012.
Inspired by the United Nations “Year of the Cooperative,” this year’s theme will be Leveraging Partnerships for Profit. Through lessons and tools focusing on working together, the conference aims to ignite collaboration amongst local businesses within the community with encouragement from examples of successful partnerships.
This year’s conference will feature several nationally acclaimed speakers, including Larry Yee, co-founder and director of the Food Commons; Sarah Stokes Alexander of the Keystone Center in Colorado; and also Lauren Anderson of Collaborative Lab. All well known and respected, they will open minds to new ways of thinking as we Leverage Partnerships for Profit. Additionally there will be over two dozen Hawai`i based producers and agriculture professionals speaking throughout the two days.
A highlight of the event will be the all-Hawai`i products luncheon featuring the Monty Richards Leadership Award presented to Donna Ching in appreciation for her decades of service to the agriculture sector. Later that evening at the Pau Hana Reception, join the agriculture professionals to celebrate the bounty of our food and farming culture. Cooking and food growing demonstrations will feature farmers, urban gardeners, and chefs providing attendees with easy “how to’s” and recipe ideas to be used at home. The trade show is expected to gather over fifty vendors who will host demos and provide samples of their products.
Registration to exhibit at the Trade Show and network with nearly 500 farmers, managers, and agricultural industry professionals is open through September 1, 2012. Click here for more information on exhibiting at the conference.
Online registration to attend the conference is also open now. Two-Day Passes including all sessions, meals, the trade show, and the reception is $225 for the early bird special (before August 15, 2012; $275 after). A Foodie Pass is available for $100 for those who only want to attend the Awards Luncheon and Pau Hana Reception.
For more information, visit 
www.hawaiiagconference.org or contact Allyson Turner at conference@agleaderhi.org.
Helene Fernandez dances hula for the residents of Island Nursing Home.
The Hawai`i Convention Center’s Food & Beverage Department joined together to give back to the community this holiday season. Bill Lile, Ben Balberdi, Gail Nakayama, Helene Fernandez, Liane Marciel, Mia Youth, and Jose Enguito sang Christmas carols, played the ukulele, and danced hula for the residents of Island Nursing Home.
Jingle bell leis, ornaments, and crafts were provided to the residents so everyone could get into the holiday spirit. A great time was had by all! The F&B Team looks forward to another community service event in December 2012.
HCC’s Food & Beverage Team shares their many musical talents with the community this holiday season.
Jingle bell lei and ornaments got everyone into the holiday spirit.
The full flavor of the Hawai`i Convention Center has been on display this fall, with new food and beverage options heating up our taste buds.
We have launched “808 Coffees Cafe,” a stand-alone outlet featuring a selection of coffees from Hawai`i (home to the only major coffee-growing region in the U.S.) This will include a variety of popular Kona coffees, as well as the wonderful flavors of coffees grown on Kauai, Maui, and the North Shore of Oahu.
808 Coffees Cafe features coffee and snacks from around Hawai`i.
For years our chefs have featured a variety of delicious Hawai`i-grown products – especially fruits and vegetables – keeping our menus as local as possible. As part of this effort, we are introducing a special section to our banquet menus called “808 Island Selections.”
“808 Island Selections” will cover all meal periods and feature ingredients that are almost exclusively (about 90 percent) sourced from Hawai`i. This will expand our offerings of locally raised and farmed beef, pork, and dairy, as well as more specialty products, including nuts, olives, coffees, beers, and wines.
Meeting planners from across the country are taking notice. Read more about our new offerings in “Serving Up Aloha,” on page 17 of Hawai`i Hospitality’s July/August issue, as well as “Goodbye Rubber Chicken, Hello Finger Lickin” on page 53 of Smart Meetings Magazine’s June issue.
The line moves quickly at the 808 Coffees Cafe, located on the 3rd floor concourse at the Hawai`i Convention Center.
CHEST 2011 attendees enjoy a break and some coffee and snacks from the 808 Coffees Cafe.