Honolulu Weekly Food and Drink Issue 2011
50 things we (I) love to eat in HNL (and occasionally beyond).
http://honoluluweekly.com/cover/2011/06/food-and-drink-2011/
Chefs and Farmers Facing the Future
Perhaps the greatest conceit of the recent Chefs and Farmers Facing the Future food forum was assuming that all the participating chefs would care about food security. The premise of the forum was that they would “join the cause for a sustainable local food system,” said co-organizer Dan Nakasone. One of the moderators, Chuck Furuya, spoke of the original Hawaii Regional Cuisine chefs–among them, Alan Wong and Roy Yamaguchi–who came together 20 years ago and fomented a food movement, planting the seed for Hawaii’s current system of diversified agriculture. He asked the chefs to re-create that synergy to boost our local food system. The difference between now and then, however, is that 20 years ago, the motivation was chiefly to elevate the level of Hawaii cuisine; food security wasn’t really the hot topic it is today.
http://honoluluweekly.com/feature/2011/05/chefs-and-farmers-facing-the-future/
Q&A with Sarah Vowell
Sarah Vowell is a New York Times bestseller and author of five non-fiction books on American history and culture, but her most recent book–Unfamiliar Fishes–dares to take on Hawaii’s property and politics, including voting rights, forced statehood and water rights. The Weekly’s Food & Drink editor, Martha Cheng, asks Vowell about her book, The Trail of Tears, plate lunches and the complicated illusion of paradise.
Read the rest: http://honoluluweekly.com/story-continued/2011/05/can-i-buy-a-vowell/
Local beef at Zippy’s
As the research and development chef for Zippy’s, Wayne Komamura’s approach to local is unsentimental. We were discussing how Zippy’s came to use local beef in their hamburger patties and Komamura’s answers to my questions are markedly different from other locavore chefs (not that he would identify himself as such).
The rest: http://honoluluweekly.com/restaurants/2011/04/hidden-valley-ranchers/
Sustainability as a food truck owner
Being sustainable is an uphill battle against hundreds of years of human innovation. No wonder it’s so freakin’ hard.
I didn’t always think this way. I write articles about food sustainability and eating local. I’m OK with spending most of (if not all of) my paycheck on local and organic food. I go out of my way to pick up a CSA box of vegetables or half a cow from Molokai. I meet my farmers and think it’s all a great, fun adventure.
Then I opened, with two business partners, a lunch wagon that serves gourmet grilled-cheese sandwiches. Even aside from the fact that local cheeses are few and no one grows wheat for bread, I assumed business purchasing would adhere to the same principles as personal purchasing.
But it hasn’t worked out that way.
The rest here: http://honoluluweekly.com/restaurants/2011/04/rethinking-everything/
From Black Truffle Explosion to Hot Dogs
Before he became famous for his gourmet hotdogs, Henry “Hank” Adaniya was renowned for his cutting-edge restaurant, Trio, in Evanston, Ill. Though it’s since closed, Trio was credited with launching the career of several chefs who went on to win James Beard Awards. Among them was Grant Achatz, the creator of the restaurant Alinea in Chicago. Achatz’s unlikely food creations and inspiring personal story–he has turned smoke into gel, paired bananas with mustard and beer, and lost his ability to taste after being diagnosed with stage 4 tongue cancer–has earned him worldwide attention. In his recently released memoir, Life, on the Line, Achatz discusses, among other things, the launch of his modernist cuisine at Adaniya’s Trio. The Weekly met with Adaniya to talk about his experience working with Achatz.
http://honoluluweekly.com/restaurants/2011/04/from-black-truffle-explosion-to-hot-dogs/
Q&A with Bruce Aidells
Bruce Aidells is no longer the man behind Aidells Sausage Company, even though his name, face and signature is on the front of every package. He recently came to Honolulu to teach culinary professionals and KCC students the basics of charcuterie. The class capitalized on Hawaii chefs’ growing interest in processed meats outside of Spam.
http://honoluluweekly.com/restaurants/2011/03/charcuterie-in-honolulu/
