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North Shore: Teaching Food as Medicine

By on February 18, 2019 in Culinary Tour, From Seed, Kauai Lifestyles, Kauai Restaurant Guide, Launches, Travel Tips, Uncategorized

North Shore Kauai: Food As Medicine Tour

 

Traditional Diet

Traditional Hawaiian diets are considered to be some of the healthiest in the world. Living on a protein, vitamin and mineral rich diet that consisted mainly of poi (pounded taro root), fresh fish along with fruits and vegetables such as banana, coconut, breadfruit and sweet potato made for a clean and nourishing foundation. Even Hawaiian sea salt that was harvested in large amounts held minerals and rich health benefits. We aim to teach you about a variety of the beautiful canoe crops that the Polynesians brought to the Hawaiian islands over 1,000 years ago and how they are still being used today. 

Modern Food Practices

Fast forward to modern day Hawaii – you do not see this traditional health based diet by any means. Yes, you can still find fresh poi and poke with a variety of local fish, but much of the vegetable and fruit base has changed to fried food, rice and less healthy starches than taro or breadfruit. Of course, with modern influences come imports of all kinds of foods. We do have a beautiful and intricate cuisine here that has been influenced through the Plantation Era by Chinese, Japanese, Okinawan and Filipino food culture. Through all of these cultural influences, we want to share with you the foods with the best health benefits for your body, mind and spirit.

Balance the Ancient with the Modern

Here at Tasting Kauai we want to honor the healthy traditional foods and practices, while also sharing with you the modern health foods and techniques that locals are using to make new traditions here on our beautiful island. Come with us to a medicinal herb farm, visit a local juice company to try fresh fruits in a new way and to learn about and try for yourself some of the traditional Polynesian foods still being utilized in modern Hawaii. Let us share the education and fresh flavors of Kauai with you on our Food as Medicine Tour! And don’t worry, we still sneak in a few decadent tastings for all of your hard work learning.  We can promise that you will not leave hungry 🙂 Life is after all, about balance. 

Hualani’s at Timbers Kauai – A Multi Sensory Experience

By on November 4, 2018 in Culture, From Seed, Kauai Life, Kauai Lifestyles, Kauai Restaurant Guide, Launches, Menus, Travel Tips

The Spot

We here at Tasting Kauai are always delighted when a new spot opens up for us to explore and taste test. This is especially true when it is a breathtaking oceanfront dining location with fabulous food. I have been hearing from friends all over the island for weeks, that we must go and try out Kauai’s newest spot. Eventually, we made it and we were not disappointed!

The Cuisine

My husband and I recently had the chance to visit Hualani’s on a Sunday evening. We arrived in time to catch sunset and enjoy the beautiful view. Ha’upu Mountain Range & Kauai’s southeast coast with historic Ninini Lighthouse (built 1906!) bookend your splendid view. Even as island locals, we were feeling 100% on vacation here.

Executive Chef Jafet Tellez has a different take on how to use local ingredients.  Before coming to the island of Kauai to head up the team at Hualani’s, he was working in Dubai and calls Mexico City home. You see these touches pop up in their hyper local, farm driven menu. This makes for some exciting and exotic flavor profiles you won’t find at just any Kauai joint. Menu items are still focused on embodying Hawaii regional cuisine, just with a little added flair!

Sunday nights they are offering a fun special for visitors and locals alike – Pineapple Marinated Fried Chicken with Chili-koi (yes that’s spicy AND lilikoi) sauce and jalapeno, bacon and cheddar waffles for just $7. For a price that wouldn’t even buy you a beer in a lot of Hawaii locales you get a full plate of food to grind on. Go with a friend or spouse and you can have one chicken plate and one beautiful seafood or local meat entrée to share and have the perfect, affordable oceanfront meal! We had the delicate Hamachi sashimi and a local shrimp salad with watermelon, napa cabbage and house ‘fire and ice’ dressing to start. For entrees we tried the Sunday Special (of course!) as well as the Catch of the Day with avocado poblano puree and yucca frites. Yum!

Farm Fresh

Hokuala has a farm on site that is still a young project, but will most certainly continue to crank out more food in the coming months and years. Farmer Cody who runs the food growth magic going on over there is working alongside the protected bird species there, working with the land and the animals who call the natural habitat home. Permaculture style growing is utilized and every week brings new crops and exciting projects. As we focus on island food production and sustainability through Tasting Kauai we are very stoked this is all going on here. Be sure not to miss out on their Thursday Farm Dinner menu – $40 for multiple courses of fresh, local garden to table food either from their farm, or nearby farms on the island!

All of the staff here takes such great care of you, with the true spirit of effortless Aloha. Delicious farm fresh food, beautiful Pacific Ocean and historic lighthouse views and wildlife conservation area are just a few of the reasons you should not miss out on Kauai’s newest, relaxed fine dining locale. Next time you are passing through Lihue, make a pit stop to see the crew at Hualani’s, you will not regret it!

Check out their website for monthly specials and book your reservation here

Thank you to the Timbers team for a couple of high res photos above, as mine did not do your space full justice!

Hanapepe Walking Tour Launching In October!

By on September 21, 2018 in Culinary Tour, Culture, Kauai Life, Kauai Restaurant Guide, Launches, Pau Hana Friday, Travel Tips

The Tour

We here at Tasting Kauai are excited to share with you that our newest tour of Hanapepe town will be launching officially Friday, October 19th.  Come join us for an afternoon strolling the quiet streets of historic Hanapepe to learn about the town’s past, present and future through its food. We have curated tastings with the town’s best chefs who will help us paint the picture of Hanapepe’s plantation era roots, including traditional Hawaiian foods, Japanese cuisine, locally sourced organic baked goods, Portuguese style street food and culturally steeped Hawaiian sea salt focused demos.

The History

Hanapepe has a rich cultural past when it comes to food. Long before Captain Cook made landfall in Waimea, Hawaiians were farming this fertile valley. Kalo (taro), sweet potato, sugar cane, and bananas were all staples in this area. This was also one of the main areas for sea salt production, which later became Hawaiian’s first source of trade with seafaring voyagers. During the tour, you will learn about not only the traditional roots of the area but also the history of the Plantation Era beginning in the 1830s that brought contract laborers from Japan, Portugal, China, and the Philippines. The 20th century brought a U.S. Naval port up the road, changing the fervor and volume of business in the self-made town.

The Food

With all of these cultures (Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese) the flavors and landscape of food changed. We will get to try many of these styles of food, and learn about their roots. The tour will include generous tastings, as well as chef demos and recipes and treats to take home with you.

Hanapepe Town

Once the tour is over – don’t despair! Hanapepe Town has a weekly Friday Art Night starting at 5 p.m. so once all the delectable tastings have wrapped up you can walk the streets and experience more of the culture of Kauai’s Biggest Little Town. With over 16 art galleries open to the public, you will get the chance to meet Kauai artists and enjoy local music on the street. So come join us on the West Side for a full afternoon of all the cultural richness that Kauai has to offer.

We look forward to seeing you here in Hanapepe!

 

Tasting Kauai is Sold to Addison Bulosan

By on July 6, 2018 in Launches
Addison Bulosan is the new owner of Tasting Kauai.

Addison Bulosan is the new owner of Tasting Kauai.

Dear fans of Tasting Kauai. This is the last blog post I’ll make.  

Last September, when Dan and I went to visit my 88-year-old parents in Colorado, mom said she wanted to tour retirement communities. She said the house her and dad were living in for 47 years was was finally too much. She needed a smaller place. When their favorite complex had an opening in October, we moved back three weeks later. We got them settled into a two bedroom apartment in the independent living section. We visit them every Saturday and help them run errands, fix things in the apartment, make phone calls to credit card companies on their behalf, and go out to lunch. 

Being so far away from Kauai made it tricky to be responsive when the floods devastated the north shore, or when the lava started adding hundreds of acres to the landmass of the Big Island. Tourism dwindled and our guide quit to help his family on the Big Island. If we were on Kauai, we could have run the tours ourselves. Instead, we had to cancel tour dates. If we were on Kauai, I could write to you about the new restaurants opening. 

We love what we created and we wonted it to live on; continue to contribute to Kauai’s economy by supporting people who make good food. I was thrilled when Addison Bulosan bought the company. He is a chiropractor who owns The Specific Chiropractic Lihue. Addison has supported Tasting Kauai for many years. He’s a foodie and when I lived there, he and I would meet once a month for lunch at a new restaurant. He is kind and he laughs easily and he is from Kauai. He has promoted our guide Katherine, to manager. I know the two of them will make Tasting Kauai even better, and we are in daily contact with Addison, answering questions and helping him move into ownership. He has said many times that he plans to perpetuate the original spirit of Tasting Kauai and our legacy. I trust him and I am grateful he is nurturing our baby into adulthood. Tasting Kauai will remain a trusted source when you want to know about good food on Kauai. 

Thank you for your support over the years. Your emails and smiles light up my memory. It warms my heart to know we had a positive, and many times deeply memorable, impact on your stay. We know it’s a long ride to get to Kauai and we know that ride isn’t cheap. We wanted to give you the most authentic experience for your money. We also know it’s expensive to live on that beautiful island, and we wanted to create something that gave back to it. I’m happy to know that circle still flows.

If you’d like to keep in touch, friend us on Facebook, or email us at 2-headed-lane-monster@comcast.net. We chose that name in honor of our former editor at MidWeek Kauai, who gave us that nickname when he spoke about the combination of my words and Dan’s pictures. We are in Colorado now, but Dan is still a commercial photographer and I write about restaurants for The Denver Post. 

Mahalo for all the great times!

Marta and Daniel Lane

Kiawe Roots to Open in Former Tortilla Republic

By on June 6, 2018 in Launches
The Filipino trinity: tomato, onion, pork. Roots in Culture’s Lechon Kawali with crispy pork belly mixed with tomatoes, onion, shredded carrots, and roasted garlic, tossed in a chili vinaigrette.

The Filipino trinity: tomato, onion, pork. Roots in Culture’s Lechon Kawali with crispy pork belly mixed with tomatoes, onion, shredded carrots, and roasted garlic, tossed in a chili vinaigrette.

The summer just got hotter on the South Side! Chef Mark Ruiz and General Manager Tricia Ruiz, owners of Roots in Culture food truck, are trading in their wheels to open Kiawe Roots. The couple, along with their cousin Chef Rodney Baptiste will open this new restaurant concept to the public on June 12. Continue Reading →

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