Restaurants and food artisans in Kauai
Any Kind Eggs ($18) with “Add the Works” and “Make it A Meal.” Daniel Lane photo
On Sept 24, word spread across social media that Trees Lounge was closing after nine years of business. Kauai’s residents and loyal visitors were distressed to learn the news. After all, they’d became accustomed to the only place in Kapaa that offered live music. But in a last minute move, music-lover Ulla Freeman, a Kauai resident since 2009, bought the place on Sept. 26. Continue Reading →
The Lanai, located at the Shops at Kukuiula, is now open and serves Napa inspired food in a contemporary Hawaiian setting. Daniel Lane photo
The Lanai opened just before Thanksgiving, on Nov. 20, 2016. Owners Howard Warner and Jeff Sacchini built the outdoor restaurant as an extension of Living Foods Gourmet Market & Cafe. The Lanai, which is located at the Shops at Kukuiula, serves Napa inspired food in a contemporary Hawaiian setting. Continue Reading →
Jennifer Bryant of The Club at Kukui‘ula is named Kauai’s Best Bartender. Photo courtesy of RumFire Poipu Beach
Last night, RumFire Poipu Beach declared Jennifer Bryant of The Club at Kukuiula champion of the Kauai’s Best Bartender competition. In the contest’s second year, 16 finalists from the island’s food and beverage industry were challenged to showcase original Koloa Rum-based cocktails over a 15-week competition for the chance to earn the title and the $4,000 grand prize. Eric Carroll of La Spezia was named runner up and received a $1,000 second prize, both courtesy of Koloa Rum Company. Continue Reading →
Joey Gottesman, an Oahu-based mixologist. Daniel Lane photo.
This Hawaii coconut rum cocktail recipe features Koloa Coconut Rum, an ingredient that eight chefs will use during the Tasting Kauai Coconut Cook Off. Since Koloa Rum is celebrating their 7th anniversary this month, I’ve also included four fun-rum events that save money and will tickle your palate. Speaking of tickle, here’s the recipe. Continue Reading →
Greg Askew and Candace Boxer of OnoPops. Daniel Lane image.
A pan of mochi bakes in the oven and the smell of butter fills the OnoPops kitchen. Candace Boxer, wearing a blue hairnet and white lab coat, mixes local beets with lavender and strawberries. She dips a refractometer into the blend and holds it to the light. The mixture measures a mere five degrees Brix.
“We find that people are more interested in the taste of the fruit than they are the sugar,” says Greg Askew, Candace’s life and business partner. “We use Brix, which is a scientific measurement of sugar content, to know how sweet the fruit is.”
“When you buy a low-sugar product at the store, it starts at about 40 Brix,” Candace adds, while pouring the mixture into molds. “We never go higher than 20.”
The delightful results are palatable popsicles that don’t make your teeth hurt. And depending on the bar, calorie counts range from 80 to 250.
As a child, Candace was looked after by her grandmother, who was “the best cook in a family of great cooks.” In high school, she made tuna fish sandwiches and green pea soup for friends during lunch break. In 1980, she moved to Manhattan to become a chef.
Farm-to-stick OnoPops. Daniel Lane image.
“I was female, 5’2, and laughed out of every restaurant,” she recalls. “I offered to work for free and they would say, ‘Go home little girl!’ or, ‘You’re too cute to work in the back, why don’t you work up front as a hostess?’”
Eventually, a friend who owned a limousine service suggested that she become a private chef. He would deliver Candace, along with his clients, to the grocery store.
“We’d go shopping and I’d go back to an amazing apartment and make things like meatloaf, stuffed pork chops and lasagna,” she says. “I learned that nobody wants to eat a fancy meal at home.”
Candace returned to Florida, her home state, to work as a chef on a yacht. But it was when she moved to Atlanta, GA, that she hit the highlight of her career.
Beet, strawberry and lavender OnoPops. Daniel Lane image.
“My friend and I cooked for Amy Carter’s baby shower,” she explains. “They wanted things like peanut butter fluff, sandwiches and pimento cheese. President Carter strolled up, looks over the spread and says ‘It’s so beautiful, thank you ladies so much.’ He was shaking our hands and the Secret Service were everywhere. I’ll never forget when he saw the pimento cheese sandwiches. His eyes light up, he grabs one in each hand, takes a bite and says, ‘I love me a pimento cheese sandwich!’”
In 2013, Greg and Candace expanded the OnoPops brand to Kauai, which started on Oahu in 2009 by brothers Josh and Joe Welsh. Today, the couple uses more than 75 seasonal recipes to make 400 popsicles a day, with ingredients from more than 25 Hawaii farms.
Candace hand-wraps every OnoPop. Daniel Lane image.
While Greg cultivates relationships with local growers, acquires seasonal fruit and does marketing, Candace creates popsicles with names such as Pickled Green Mango; Kona Latte; Mauna Kea Green Tea and Watermelon Gazpacho. Wailua Estate 70 percent dark chocolate is used in Mexican Chocolate popsicles. Local eggs, as well as BPH-free and hormone-free milk from Hawaii Island, are used in Apple Banana Banana Cream Pie. Cream cheese from Naked Cow Dairy on Oahu is folded into Lilikoi Cheesecake pops.
Macadamia Nut Brittle popsicles include brittle, made with Maui sugar; marzipan, made with Big Island macadamia nuts; and hand-spun vanilla ice cream made with Madagascar vanilla beans grown on Kauai’s North Shore. For Crack Seed Lemon Peel popsicles, Candace rolls lemons in a house-made li hing mui powder, which does not contain artificial color or sweeter. The lemons are dehydrated then rehydrated in li hing mui simple syrup, and added to her lemonade popsicle recipe.
Each hand-wrapped pop has a story and character. Pineapple Li Hing Mui features Paps Mui, who is “an aging plantation rapscallion.” My favorite pop, Butter Mochi, tells the story of Butters Mochiko, who hates P.E. and loves math. The pop is made with Naked Cow butter, Hawaiian sea salt, Island Milk and vanilla simple syrup.
“One of our regular customers comes to the Kauai Community Market,” says Greg. “She gets the Butter Mochi and dips it into her morning coffee!”
OnoPops cost between $3 and $6 and are available at 21 retail outlets across Kauai. You can meet Greg and Candace at the following events:
No one pays us to be featured on our blog, book, app or tours. It’s just our professional opinion! All images copyright Daniel Lane/Pono Photo. For more information, visit www.PonoPhoto.com.
