B on Hawaii

You know him as the smiley faced restaurateur-about-town, always at the happening spot at the right time. On Friday, November 20th at 6:00 p.m., Chai Chaowasaree will host a culinary party the likes of which we have yet to see in 2009, to celebrate the coinciding 20th anniversary of Singha Thai and the 10th of Chai's Island Bistro.

In the midst of next week's Kona Coffee Cultural Festival on the Island of Hawai`i, three special seminars will be given by the State of Hawai`i's leading coffee expert, Dr. Shawn Steiman. Open to all, his seminars at three premiere coffee houses in the Kailua-Kona area will demonstrate the ins and outs of brewing the best coffee. On Tuesday, November 10, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival kicks off this year on Friday, November 6, with events stretching through November 15th. Festival organizers seem to be taking advantage of the "cultural" aspect of the festival this go-around, to spotlight a number of unique offerings in and surrounding the Kona location, on Hawai`i's Big Island.

We recently sat down with Maui Chef de Cuisine Rich Hinojosa, the most recent culinary import to the Valley Isle. Posting up at Ka`anapali’s most expansive al fresco restaurant, Tropica, Hinojosa is pushing the envelope with creative platings that he honed at award-earning restaurants in Arizona.

Tucked deeply in the Manoa Valley sits Koep’s Fendu Boulangerie; a small retail space fronting a sizeable kitchen and brick oven setup, where Koep commands an array of private catering accounts. However, those privy to the knowledge of his whereabouts—and chops—flood the tiny bakery at the breakfast and lunch hours.

If there’s anything we love to report on here at B on Hawaii, it’s the imparting of lesser-known culinary gems throughout the islands. Here, two off-the-beaten-path locales in Honolulu have the same number of things in common: They lean towards the sweets, and at one point in time worked together on Hawai`i’s most private isle.

What? Yet another way for you to put many a "Benjamin" in your billfold, you ask? Yep, never forget who's looking out for ya, kid. Aside from us, Wes Zane is: He's the savvy restaurateur who has launched a world-wide contest in search of the person who can—in under 30 seconds—best explain what it is about fermented grapes that drives them to the drink. In a good way.

The Sheraton Waikiki has launched two new food and beverage initiatives, even as the whir of construction crews continue to wrap up the remodel of the hotel's expansive lobby.

Times are, well, what they are. Which is why we feel obligated to pass along any stories that might lead to the fattening of your wallet, instead lieu of lightening it. The kind and charitable folks

Jim Moffat has been quietly upping the ante on Kaua`i's food scene for nearly two years. Garden Isle residents, who have been forced to content with overpriced plate lunches, poor retail food outlets and semi-tolerable eateries, have been poised for a culinary boost—and Moffat is leading the charge.