HFWF's grand finale

Nadine Kam photos
John Besh of the Besh Restaurant Group in New Orleans and James Beard Best Chef of the Southeast 2006, cooked up Molokai shrimp and andouille and served it over baked jalapeño cheese grits. I'd heard it was very good, but I was too full to try it.

With 15 chefs, plus winemakers, mixologists and dessert purveyors stationed on the lawn at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort for "Mauka to Makai: Hawaii's Sustainable Future," on Oct. 1, the finale of the spectacular three-day Hawai'i Food & Wine Festival, there was more than enough food and drink for the evening's 1,100 guests to handle.

I say "handle" because for those who took in two or all three days, could barely manage to sample six or seven more plates, much less sample all the chefs' creations.

The inaugural festival—one of, if not the biggest food festival held on Oahu—was a major feat for James Beard Award-winning chefs and co-chairs Roy Yamaguchi and Alan Wong, and executive director Denise Hayashi, who drew on their international cred and connections to draw their illustrious roster of chefs. Usually, festivals with this caliber of talent have taken place on the Big Island.

Evening 1 at the Modern Honolulu drew 800 for its focus on "Streets of Asia: Morimoto and Friends, Evening 2 gave way to a Halekulani Master Chefs Gala Dinner Series aimed toward the 270 elite diners who could afford a $1,000 ticket or two. During the days there were chocolate and wine tastings, a food-oriented fast-pitch session with Dave McClure of 500 Startups which provides seed money for entrepreneurs, and discussions of the 21st century table in Hawaii and innovations in the food and farming industries.

When it got dark, Rick Moonen's fiance, art director turned photographer Roni Fields, guided me to the light for this photo.

Moonen served up striped marlin poke with tropical vinaigrette, hearts of palm, Waialua onion, inamona and lemon balm.

The Hilton's Great Lawn could barely contain the event, with reserved tables in the center forcing those without tables to crowd the perimeter. I finally got smart and crossed through the central area whenever I had to move quickly. In trying to get photos of all the visiting chefs, I think I sampled just five or six dishes that night, and even had to pass on some of my favorite foods, I was so full. I was amazed when skinny people told me early they had not only made a complete circuit, but tried everything!

I did make it a point to try town's pig's feet though, after being told by a couple of people, including L.P. "Neenz" Faleafine how good it was, "and I don't even like pig's feet!" she marveled.

To promote sustainability, all the chefs were provided with local ingredients to use in their creations. In addition to the host chefs, the night's roster featured:

John Besh, John Besh Restaurants, New Orleans
Michael Cimarusti, Providence, Los Angeles
Celestino Drago, Celestino Drago Restaurant Group, Los Angeles
Dean Fearing, Fearing’s, Dallas
Michael Ginor, Hudson Valley Foie Gras & Lola, New York
Ed Kenney, Town, Hawaii
George Mavrothalassitis, Chef Mavro, Hawaii
Peter Merriman, Merriman’s, Hawaii
Rick Moonen, Rick Moonen's rm seafood, Las Vegas
Michel Nischan, Dressing Room, Connecticut
Philippe Padovani, Padovani’s Grill, Hawaii
Jeffrey Vigilla, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Hawaii
Marcel Vigneron, "Top Chef Bravo," Marcel's Quantum Kitchen TV, Los Angeles

Marcel Vigneron, who gained national notoriety in season two of Bravo's "Top Chef," and now with his own reality series, "Marcel's Quantum Kitchen," presented Big Island moi and pork belly with pineapple poi, sea asparagus, hon shimeji and micro shiso, below.

Marcel accommodated several fans who wanted photographs.

Host property Hilton Hawaiian Village executive chef Jeffrey Vigilla with the wok-fried Kauai shrimp tempura that crowned the kiawe wood-smoked Kahua Ranch beef he was also serving with Hawaiian brown sugar-black rum BBQ sauce, Surfing Goat cheese and kabocha puree, micro arugula and radish. The assembled dish, below:

It was hard to track down Roy Yamaguchi, who was all over the premises as event co-chair, along with Alan Wong. Finally caught up with him as he greeted Deena Nichols, senior vice president of Macy's West, right, and Laura Townsend, also of Macy's.

Alan Wong served up Keawa Nui Farms sweet and meaty Molokai shrimp with Sumida Farms watercress, below. He is one busy guy, who will be giving a culinary demonstration and signing copies of his cookbook, "The Blue Tomato: The Inspirations Behind the Cuisine of Alan Wong," from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Williams-Sonoma store at Ala Moana Center. He'll also be hitting the road with food historian Arnold Hiura on a "Taste Hawai'i" tour of the San Francisco Bay area from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2, with culinary demos, tastings and book signings. Details are at thebluetomato.net/tastehawaiitour

Sustainability delicious at Halekulani

Nadine Kam photos
Patricia Tam, vice president of brand development for Halekulani with the hotel's executive chef Vikram Garg, welcomed guests to "An Evening of Sustainable Cuisine."

Thinking about food sustainability is a luxury when many struggle to simply put a nutritious meal on the table, but it is a topic that should have been discussed long ago, when it might have been possible for a farm industry to thrive and grow with the population.

Living on islands, we're always just one disaster away from being cut off from the rest of the world. If planes couldn't land, if ships couldn't dock, it wouldn't take long for food supplies to disappear.

There are environmental benefits to sustainable cuisine—using products that are grown, harvested and processed with the least amount of impact on the environment—as well, and Halekulani is doing its part to raise awareness through events like "An Evening of Sustainable Cuisne," which took place March 11.

The event, a benefit for the Culinary Insitute of the Pacific at Diamond Head, featured cuisine by Halekulani executive chef Vikram Garg, Roy Yamaguchi of Roy's Restaurants, and Ed Kenney of Town.

The menus were made possible with the support of Big Island Abalone Corp, Kahuku Farms, United Fishing Agency, Nalo Farms, Hamakua Mushrooms, Shinsato Hog Farm and Ma'o Organic Farms.

There was also wine from Hall Winery, California's first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold-Certified Winery, as well as cocktails by Julie Reiner, beverage artist in residence, and herbal and kaffir and acai cocktails from Southern Wine & Spirits. Guests interested in the superfruit could also walk away with a bracelet made with acai seeds distributed to promote VeeV Acai Spirit.

Dishes put on the table proved that working for environmental and social good can be delicious.

Of course one part of sustainability is learning to use and appreciate all the food that comes from one animal, and not just savoring the "good parts." Ed Kenney put diners to the test with his coppa di testa or head cheese. Most people opted for sausage, instead. I passed as well, having come from a nine-course Chinese feast earlier that day.

Sorry, Ed! Maybe next time!

"Hawaii Five-0's" Alex O'Loughlin was there and I asked for a picture, which was OK until someone told him I was from the newspaper. He declined because he said he wasn't dressed for press, baseball cap and all. He looked good anyway and was the nicest guy nevertheless.

Chef Roy Yamaguchi with his team, from left, Jason Peel, Clayton Lau and Jacqueline Lau.

Red veal tartare, Vietnamese style, with cold phó noodles, basil lime aioli and quail egg, from Roy's.

Hawaiian ono sashimi with Hawaiian vanilla vinaigrette, Big Island heart of palm and Kahuku sea asparagus, from Roy's.

Among the dishes served by Halekulani was chilled Kona lobster with a sauce of Sumida Farm watercress and fenugreek butter. It was delicious and the first to run out, so I'm glad I got a taste while I could.

Town's Ed Kenney put his family to work, including daughter Celia and mom Beverly Noa.

Ed served a trio of dishes from one pig, from Shinsato Hog Farm. Shinsato chipolatas was an amazing light sausage, served with Ma'o Organic Farms radicchio and saba lima beans.

Master mixologist and Halekulani beverage artist in residence Julie Reiner created two drinks for the occasion, La Rosa of tequila, amaro, lemon juice, organic strawberry syrup finished with rose champagne, and here, she gives New Orleans Buck a shake. It's a refreshing blend of rum, ginger beer, lime juice, simple syrup and fresh pineapple juice.

Bob and Janice Stanga of Hamakua Mushrooms show a beautiful mix of frilly pepeiao, giant Ali'i and white shimeji mushrooms, plus their newest offering, the Italian pioppini, the smaller brown ones in the midst of the Ali'is and shimejis.

Dean Okimoto's Nalo Farms provided most of the greens served by Roy's and Halekulani for the event. He's with Mandy Nguyen, left, and Vikram Garg's wife Abhilasha Kumar.