Vote HFWF in USA Today poll

Hawai'i Food & Wine Festival photo
Among local chefs involved in the. Hawai'i Food & Wine Festival are co-founders Alan Wong, left, and Roy Yamaguchi, right, and between them, Mark Noguchi, Lee Anne Wong and George Mavrothalassitis. Now they're asking you to vote for the festival as best in the nation in a USA Today poll.

Sunshine. Beaches. Food and wine selections from an international roster of top chefs and sommeliers. What's not to love about the Hawai'i Food & Wine Festival?

We've always known Hawaii is epicenter of world-class culinary events and word is getting out about the festival that, since 2011, has raised $1.3 million for local culinary and agricultural programs. HFWF is in the running for a USA Today poll looking for the Best Wine Festival in the USA Today 10 Best Poll.

HFWF has a good head start, currently in 2nd place out of 20 candidates and is hoping fans will push the festival into the top spot over the next two days.

Voting is open through 5:59 a.m. Aug. 15, Hawaii time. Here's the link to vote: 10best.com/awards/travel/best-wine-festival/hawaii-food-wine-festival-honolulu.

No need to enter email or personal information. Just click on "Vote."

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Nadine Kam is Style Editor and staff restaurant critic at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; her food coverage is in print in Wednesday's Crave section. Contact her via email at nkam@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Rebel Mouse.

AAA Award merits return of Chef Mavro classic onaga

Photo courtesy Chef Mavro
Chef Mavro’s George Mavrothalassitis is bringing back his salt-crusted onaga in celebration of the restaurant’s latest AAA Five Diamond Award.

BY NADINE KAM

In celebration of another Five Diamond Award from The American Automobile Association, Chef Mavro is bringing back his famous onaga baked in a rosemary-Hawaiian salt crust, through Feb. 12.

The AAA Five Diamond list is based on anonymous visits by restaurant inspectors. Only 0.2 percent of the 30,000 restaurants reviewed earn the top rating. Chef Mavro restaurant’s first Five Diamond Award was in 2008 and it continues to be the only independently owned restaurant in Hawaii, and one of only a handful in the U.S. to achieve the AAA’s highest rating, placing the restaurant in the company of such internationally renowned restaurants as Le Bernardin, Per Se, Daniel, Eleven Madison Park, and Jean Georges in New York; and in California. The French Laundry, Gary Danko, and Benu, among others.

Here is the link to the award winners.
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Nadine Kam is Style Editor and staff restaurant critic at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; her coverage is in print on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Contact her via email at nkam@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Rebel Mouse.