Archive | Special Edition

The Living Salad at Blue Dragon Restaurant is as close to live food as you can get. Daniel Lane photo

The Living Salad at Blue Dragon Restaurant is served in a mini wood planter. Green and purple baby lettuces spill from the top along with a few wispy fennel fronds. Gilded gold scissors with ornate scrollwork are placed alongside. On a separate plate, wedges of roasted beets grown at Blue Dragon Farm are fanned in a circle and topped with cubes of perfectly ripe mango, crunchy pea shoots and intensely flavored strawberries. I am instructed to cut the lettuce along the edge of the planter box, so as not to get potting soil on my greens, roll the leaves around the vegetables and dip the lot into a jaboticaba honey vinaigrette, which is piped in circles around the plate. The salad is a blast to eat and the strawberries will forever haunt my memory. Continue Reading →

Award winning craft beer and locally sourced pupus at Big Island Brewhaus. Daniel Lane photo

Tom Kerns, owner of Big Island Brewhaus, sits across from me at a picnic table on the bar’s lanai. His wife, Jayne, and their cook, Dan Leishman, sit on either side of him. Inside, boisterous conversation punctuated by laughter pour from customers who drink Tom’s award-winning craft beer and nibble on a large variety of pupus, some made with Continue Reading →