NEWS:

Regenerations Seed Garden

Basil seedlings. Daniel Lane photo

Chad Summers, marketing manager of Seeds of Change, visited the Regenerations Seed Garden in Kalihiwai this week. The group planted seeds that Seeds of Change donated to the Kauai Community Seed Bank.

Regenerations Botanical Garden is a nonprofit organization working to conserve plant diversity through community stewardship. Fulfilling the vision of a decentralized botanical garden that exists in our backyards, in our neighbor’s, and in farms and gardens across the island. The Regenerations Seed Garden and Kauai Community Seed Bank collects, regenerates, and distributes plants that are native, rare, threatened, nutrient-dense, high-yielding, medicinal, beautiful, delicious and otherwise important to us, our island, and the planet.

The Breadfruit Institute

The Hawaiian name for breadfruit is ulu. Daniel Lane photo

Two shredders and a pedal-powered grinder were delivered to the Breadfruit Institute where they’ll be setting up solar/air-powered drying tents and testing the entire system with Dr. Camille George. Breadfruit has a short shelf-life when it’s ripe, and these manually-operated tools will enable them to preserve fresh breadfruit as gluten-free flour.

Breadfruit is an underutilized food-crop that grows in abundance in many tropical nations that struggle with malnutrition, including Haiti, the Philippines and India. It’s high in carbohydrates, very high-yielding and requires few agricultural inputs.

The breadfruit equipment will be thoroughly tested at the Breadfruit Institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden on Kauai. Data collected at the Breadfruit Institute will be used to help community enterprises form economically viable business models.

Salty Wahine Gourmet Hawaiian Sea Salts

2nd Annual Labor Day Salty Wahine Photo Contest, Sept 1 – 3.

Post a picture of your favorite dish made with any Salty Wahine Gourmet Hawaiian Sea salts on the Salty Wahine Facebook page, and the photo with the most “likes” will win a $100.00 gift certificate for their products.

The Feral Pig

Dave Power, owner and mixologist at The Feral Pig, is going to Portland, OR. On August 20, Dave and the team at Oahu’s PRIMA Restaurant, will bring a little sunshine to the city by preparing an eight-course meal at lorio, an award-winning Italian restaurant. Produce from Hawaii and Portland will be showcased. Congratulations Portland! Looks like some good grinds and ono drinks are in your near future!

Koloa Rum Company

The Koloa Rum Company is flying high and not from drink rum! The Pacific Business News 2012 list of the fastest-growing small businesses honors Hawaii’s Fastest 50. The Koloa Rum Company came it at number 5, with 368.52 percent growth from 2009 to 2011. That’s a whole lotta rum! We wish them godspeed when it comes to infiltrating the US and Canada with their award-winning rum. Cheers!

Rob’s Good Times Grill

Rob’s is gearing up for University of Hawaii football, but the NFL preseason has already begun. With over 20 HDTVs, you won’t miss a thing! When football season fully begins, Rob’s opens at 7 a.m. for breakfast on Sundays. I hear they are working on adding crepes, waffles and a few more surprises to the Sunday morning menu.

EVENTS:

Monday, August 13

Grown

Monday Night Dinner, $50 plus tax and gratuity with no fee BYOB

Collin Darrell’s pop-up restaurant Grown is continuing with their Monday night events at Caffé Coco. Doug Kocol from Salt and Sweetbreads on Oahu will be creating a menu showcasing Kauai grown ingredients. He is a specialist in aging and curing meats, especially pork. Collin is giving Doug the freedom to show his versatility by offering five courses of pig. Awesome! Tasting Kauai loves pig, especially pig from Kaneshiro Farms.

Collin has access to one of the few fig trees on Kauai, and he says it seems to be cooperating by fruiting just in time for this event. The rest will of the menu will be sourced from the markets, just a day or two before, and transformed into the tasting menu.

We like Collin’s style. It forces us to get comfortable with the unknown, and release expectations brought on by knowing what’s for dinner. It’s an adventure when we relax, and have faith in Collin and him team, knowing that what ever we eat will be super fresh, seasonal and delicious!

Thursday, August 16

Rob’s Good Times Grill

Bud Light Port Paradise invites competitors to go head to head. Qualifiers enter to win a one-week cruise to the Bahamas this October. Check out the Rob’s Good Times Grill Facebook Page for details.


Sunday, August 19

Waipa Mango Festival

11 a.m. to 3 p.m., $1 adults, children free

Waipa Foundation is hosting a community festival celebrating the summer mango harvest. The Waipa Mango Festival welcomes residents as well as visitors. Featuring music, local artisans, and mangos! There will be Best Dessert, Best Pickled and Biggest Mango contests. Bring entries for display at 12:30 p.m., judging for contests will begin at 1:00 p.m. Entry forms will be available at festival.

Space is limited for grower workshops in tree management, pruning and feeding. A Mangolocious line up includes Mango Beer Batter Fish Tacos and Mango Salsa, Mango Glazed Smoked Pork, Mango Curry Chicken Wraps, Mango Bread, Mango Cheesecake and Mango Ice Cream. For more information call 631-4112.

Friday, August 24

Tasting Kauai Culinary Tour

Sampling fruit on the July 2012 tour. Daniel Lane photo

We are thrilled that our guests had as much fun on our last tour as we did, and that they have taken the time to write reviews on TripAdvisor and Yelp. So far, we’ve gotten four, 5-Star ratings. Mahalo guys! Click here to read about our last tour.

Our next day-long culinary romp through paradise begins with a tour of a 26-acre exotic fruit farm where we get to sample what’s in season. Yesterday, I got an email from a guest who attended last month. She said, “Do you remember the name of that berry that we chewed on, that enhanced the fruits we ate at the first farm? I have a friend who works with people with eating issues and would like to know the name of it.” They were miracle berries, which according to The Miracle Berry: A Food Orgy that Tantalizes the Tongue, cost $6 a berry!

Wild Wailua Fern Shoots, Kauai Fresh Farms Tomatoes and Pulehu Kauai Grown Shrimp. Daniel Lane photo

After the farm, we join executive chef Guy Higa at the Kauai Marriott Resort. for a cooking demonstration outside in their lush courtyard. This is one of the highlights of the day, as our guests enjoyed learning about tips, preparations, and products that professional chefs use.

We cap off the day with a cocktail making class at The Feral Pig. According to the examiner, owner and mixologist Dave Power is, “One of Hawaii’s most respected bartenders.” We knew he was our favorite, and are happy to have him close our tour.

For the delicious details, check out our Culinary Tour page or call 808-635-0257.

A Midsummer Night’s Dreamscape

6 p.m. to 2 a.m., Na Aina Kai, $100

Enjoy an evening of magic, theater and food outside, on the botanical grounds of Na Aina Kai. A four-course meal will be presented by Sushi Bushido, and delight in theatrical acts between courses. At 10 p.m. head over to the Lighthouse Bistro in Kilauea, for a private after-hours party.

Nana Moon Mead will be featured in the cocktails. The Sunset Dream is made with house-infused vanilla vodka, coconut rum, Winter Sun Mead, and lilikoi juice and is topped with a hibiscus-lime orange liquor float. Yum! For more information, check out A Midsummer Night’s Dreamscape on Facebook.

ONGOING:

Pono Photo

Reflections in Purple. Daniel Lane photo

Java Kai is showcasing images from Pono Photo throughout August. The exhibit debuted during the Kapaa Art Walk in which hundreds of people showed up, walked the music-filled streets, ate and checked out our local art.

If you don’t know, Pono Photo is Daniel Lane. He is the exclusive photographer for Tasting Kauai, and MidWeek Kauai’s “Eye on Kauai”, “Tastes of Kauai” and “Farmers Markets” columns. Dan loves to shoot flowers, so of course there are some of those, like this exquisite lily on the left. But there’s also panoramas of places on Kauai you’ve never seen before, as well as Kauai life. He printed his images on metal and the result is stunning! Check them out the next time you’re at Java Kai. Of course, if you can’t make it, you can check out the exhibit online.

Thursday, August 23 through Sunday, August 26

Kauai County Farm Bureau Fair

Vidinha Stadium, Lihue

“Aloha! In all my years of living on the Garden Isle, I have not missed any of the annual Kauai County Farm Bureau Fairs!” says Mayor Bernard Carvalho, Jr. “Four days filled with fun and excitement! This year’s theme, “We Are Family” highlights our connectedness, and when we honor and respect our friends in the agricultural sector, we become stronger and healthier as a community. I encourage everyone to come and enjoy this year’s fair, where there truly is something for the young and not so young!”

This year’s events include a Kauai Grown Honey Tasting, Kauai Coffee Celebrity Chef Cook-off for Charity, Petting Zoo, Maltese Family Circus, Fair Rides, Watermelon Eating Contest, Live Music, and much, much more. Visit the Kauai Farm Fair website for more information.