B on Hawaii

Of all the Hawaiian Regional Cuisine chefs, it’s possible the Peter Merriman commands the least pomp and circumstance. From Waimea to Waikoloa (on the Big Island) to Kapalua and Wailea (on Maui) or Poipu, Kaua‘i, Merriman churns out his comfort food twists on local fare—and he does it well. So when we walked into Monkeypod Kitchen—his newest creation, on the tony hillside at Wailea  Gateway Center—a few weeks ago following the Maui Film Festival, it wasn’t long after passing through the door that the words “Why isn’t there something like this on O‘ahu?!” escaped my lips. Well, the wait is over. Almost.
Chef Merriman just announced the second outpost of Monkeypod will reside on the azure shores of West O‘ahu, at the Ko‘Olina Resort, mid-2012.

If you’ve been a regular reader of this online magazine, you know how much we love to promote events that have a “cause” behind them. This time around, we’re just suggesting you do all your summer shopping in one spot, on the same day, and a donation will be made in your honor to Ala Moana Center’s “Hope for Japan” fund. From July 15 – July 17, a $10 donation will be made to the Amercan Red Cross when shoppers at Hawai‘i’s biggest mall spend $150 (or more) on the same day, and bring their collection of receipts to the Customer Service Center.

With so many catch-all phrases buzzing around these days—like farm-to-table, support local agriculture and the like—it’s nice to spotlight those taking things to a whole ‘nother level. Chef and restaurateur Alan Wong has never made any overly self-congratulatory gestures regarding his steadfast use of locally-harvested produce (and proteins). His backing of the student-farming program at Ma‘o is just one example. Yet his latest game of connect-the-dots will undoubtedly land him yet again in the cross hairs of every blogger/editor who thinks they “discovered” his latest effort. And while we may be no exception, this time, Wong is elevating the mighty honey bee into the limelight.

We wanted to alert culinarians to a special time in Honolulu—thanks to the quick thinking (and palate tantalizing) of one Chef George Mavrothalassitis. Indeed, the man who refuses to let our taste buds squander but a few days without some form of classic cookery bedazzled down to its rawest form and reborn with an island tinge... has a new offering.
Prior to either your three, four or six-course tasting menu, diners can opt for a caviar tasting and presentation worthy of royalty.

How many times have you endured a holiday weekend and, somewhere between frosty “adult” beverage numbers three and four (or thereabouts) thought: “Wow, I don’t even know what this holiday is all about!” or something similar? Thankfully, this year you can experience less of what has become a kick-off-the-summer weekend, and more of what it actually signifies. We’re talking Memorial Day—and there’s no better place to be than in Ala Moana Beach Park watching or participating in the 13th Annual Lantern Floating ceremony

We wanted to alert culinarians to a special time in Honolulu—thanks to the quick thinking (and palate tantalizing) of one Chef George Mavrothalassitis. Indeed, the man who refuses to let our taste buds squander but a few days without some form of classic cookery bedazzled down to its rawest form and reborn with an island tinge... has a new offering.
Prior to either your three, four or six-course tasting menu, diners can opt for a caviar tasting and presentation worthy of royalty.

Five years.
This is precisely, to the week, how long we here at B on Hawai‘i have churned out interesting and relevant twice-per-month newsletters to our incredibly loyal (and ever-expanding) readership. Although we're not much for self-congratulatory sentiment, the passage of so much time is still pretty hard to believe.

Two-time Grammy Award winning singer (and actor) Tia Carrere and four-time Grammy winning producer-performer Daniel Ho will join professor of Hawaiian language Amy Ku‘uleialoha Stillman for an open forum session on the future of Hawaiian music. The admission is free for this event, to be held at the University of Hawaii on Thursday, April 21, 2011, at 6:00 p.m.

Here's a “shout out” to our aloha amigos in SoCal: The Hawaiian production “One Kine Day”—a film that captures the lesser seen side of youth life in the islands—is screening at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival on May 1, 2011. Filmed entirely on location in Hawai‘i, this picture follows both newcomer and veteran stars on a ride in the life of a skater-slacker who finds out his 15 year old girlfriend is pregnant. 

There’s still time to get yourself over to the Honolulu Academy of Arts to soak up some island-made woodwork from many of the best artists in Hawai‘i. Through April 17th, dozens of artists will be displaying their work and talking to enthusiasts about the process (and whatever else you care to ask) in an open-format show that is slowly becoming an international draw.