Fine Dining On Kauai At The Grand Buffet

2011 Fine Dining class with instructors Mark Oyama (far left, second from end) and Duane Miyasato (far right). Daniel Lane photo

Last night, students in the Culinary Program at the Kauai Community College cooked for 200 people. It’s getting close to graduation, and the Grand Buffet is one way for the instructors to test them, while students get practical experience. For $30, the all-you-can-eat gourmet buffet could be considered the best deal on island, except it’s more like the best kept secret.

“We could have easily sold 50 more tickets,” instructor Duane Miyasato told me last night, “but you can see, we don’t have the room.” He reaches his arm out in a sweeping arc toward the room. It’s filled with happy diners, some brought wine, most were going back for thirds.

Tasty offerings at the Grand Buffet. Daniel Lane iPhoto

Students stand crisp and erect in white chef’s jackets and tall toque hats. Positioned behind long tables draped with white linen tablecloths, they hand stretch mozzarella before our eyes, and place bite-sized balls on a plate of bright green olive oil. Ice cravings made earlier in the week, adorn serving tables that spill with pate, terrines, fresh-made bread, crunchy cheese crackers, funk oozing cheese, rillettes, and my favorite, a puff pastry filled with salmon mousse, that resembles a mouse.

Hot Beef Wellington coated with mushroom duxelles and wrapped in puff pastry is served with a rich brown gravy. Scratch-made sausages bubble and squeak in a pan. We choose one seafood, one veal, one lamb, and one breakfast; garlic mashed potatoes on the side. And don’t forget a bacon wrapped scallop with a dollop of garlic aioli tucked between, or a crab stuffed mushroom with a nap of hollandaise sauce.

Festooned with a three-foot high ice marlin on one side, a swordfish on the other, and a glistening block with an orange flower in the center, the seafood table spills with the ocean’s bounty. A baked whole salmon is poised so it looks like it’s swimming, and garnished with lemon. Students carve paper-thin lox from a house-cured fillet, and a block of ice carved into the shape of an elaborate buffet holds copious amounts of shell-on-shrimp.

The dessert table looks like an upscale bakery. Sophisticated cakes iced with lilikoi buttercream and topped with a lemon gel, or raspberry cakes with raspberry buttercream and raspberry gel, sit next to flakey kiwi tarts, chocolate filled eclairs, cream filled cannoli, coconut rice pudding, a towering tiramisu, and chocolate tarts with chocolate buttercream and garnished with chocolate truffles.

Some folks brought wine to the Grand Buffet. Daniel Lane iPhoto

Indulging was a hedonistic act that no self-respecting food lover could avoid. As Dan said on the way home, “I’m full above my stomach!” Personally, I barely had room for air.

A couple of weeks ago, I covered the 26th Annual American Culinary Federation (AFC) Breakfast Fundraiser for MidWeek Kauai. The instructors asked me not to mention the Grand Buffet because it’s already so popular, they have to turn people down.

Your can attend the 10th Anniversary of the Spring Gourmet Gala on April 13. For $125, volunteer students help 17 chefs prepare meals that are paired with wine. Vikram Garg of Waikiki’s Halekulani, and local icon Alan Wong will be headlining the event. Ticket sales have yet to be announced.

Lokelani Galvez made the Chicken Chasseur for Continental Cuisine. Daniel Lane photo

Proceeds from these events are awarded to students who qualify for scholarships, or in some cases, financial aid is awarded to under privileged students so they can buy books and knives.

The Fine Dining program is an economical way to indulge in a multi-course meal, and support the future chefs of Hawaii. The prices range between $15 to $20, and everyday, the menu reflects a different theme. We have been to the European and Szechuan cuisine days and each time, we chose from two fixed menus. These filling meals are for lunch only, so plan for a light dinner. The next Fine Dining dates are:

March 13-15, Pacific Rim Cuisine (Sold Out)
March 20-22, Pacific Rim Cuisine (March 21 available)
March 26-30, Spring Recess, Fine Dining closed
April 3-5, project menu by students (sold out)
April 10-11, project menu by students (sold out)
April 12, Fine Dining closed
April 17-19, project menu by students (April 17 and 19 available)
April 24-26, project menu by students (April 24 and 25 available)

Call Duane at 808-245-8365, and reserve your spot. If you like, he’ll put you on their email list so you can receive notification regarding future events.

Have you been to a KCC event? If so, which one?