Owners Ron and Krissi Miller feel a responsibility to source local and sustainable ingredients. On their website, the Hukilau Lanai menu is interactive. If you hover over an ingredient, it will show you what farm it comes from. If you click on the ingredient, you can get even more details.

Ron is learning about serving sustainable fish by attending an online seminar presented by Blue Oceans and Chefs Collaborative. “I’m trying to learn more about making the right choices in what seafood to serve,” he told me. He and Krissi went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium last year for the same reason, and a few years ago Ron attended a seminar by the general manager of the Honolulu fish auction. One of the reasons we like eating there, is because they go through great lengths to serve food that is good for you, and good for the planet. If you are ever curious about what seafood to buy, check out Seafood Watch, there’s an app for that! I’ll be interviewing Ron next week, so look for a post about how sustainable sourced seafood shows up on the Hukilau Lanai menu.

In the meantime, Wednesday October 24 is Food Day, a national event that helps us recognize where our food comes from. “We will offer additional specials that night featuring our local farmers,” says Ron. “We will celebrate Oktoberfest the last weekend in October, as we do every year. Homemade sausages and German inspired specials will be on the menu. We received our first Berkshire pig from Kaneshiro Farms this week, and will feature it on Food Day with chops and charcuterie, and also for the Oktoberfest sausages. And definitely bacon!”

Hula Baby Biscotti

Hula Baby Biscotti is starting the holiday season this Saturday at the Kauai Community Market at the Kauai Community College. This Saturday, they are releasing their newest flavor, Lilikoi Cranberry. It is a limited edition for the holidays while supplies last.

Sweet Marie’s Hawaii Inc. Restaurant & Bakery

Sweet Marie’sis known for delicious gluten-free baked goods. Last November, owner Marie Cassel relocated to Lihue. Now, she’s open for breakfast and lunch, or you can simply drop in for wonderful baked goods. The restaurant is the only dedicated gluten-free restaurant on Kauai, so those who are gluten intolerant don’t have to worry about cross contamination. Selections from the menu include:

Breakfast Sandwich $7.99
Turkey bacon, egg, cheddar cheese on toast and a side of oven fried brown rice

Monte Cristo $8.99
Sliced turkey, swiss cheese on French toast, preserves & lightly sprinkled powdered sugar and a side of potato salad

Breakfast Cereal, $8.99
Sweet Marie’s homemade granola & rice milk

Lunch:

Lasagna $10.99
5 cheese, spinach, lasagna served with a small organic green salad

Shoyu or BBQ Chicken, $8.99
Served on a bed of oven fried brown rice with & seasonal veggies

Polenta with Sundried Tomato Basil Pesto, $9.99
Served on house-made marinara, with a small organic salad

Macadamia Nut Encrusted Chicken Breast
Served with a Lilikoi (passion fruit), honey mustard sauce on a bed of oven fried brown rice & seasonal veggies

Turkey Meatloaf, $8.99
Served on a bed of oven fried brown rice & seasonal veggies

Midnight Bear Breads

Our friend and artesian baker Ursa Swift, owner of Midnight Bear Breads has this to say, “We now have a slicer! We are offering sliced sourdough and wheat loaves as well as hummus at the markets and health food stores. We also joined Kauai Made, and are listed in the food section on there website.”

Kauai Community College Fine Dining

CANTONESE CUISINE:
October 23 (sold out)
October 24 (sold out)
October 25 (limited reservations are still available)

SZECHUAN CUISINE:
October 30 (sold out)
October 31 (sold out)
November 1 (sold out)

THAI CUISINE (subject to change):
November 7 (sold out)
November 8 (sold out)

JAPANESE CUISINE:
November 14 (sold out)
November 15 (sold out)

VIETNAMESE CUISINE (subject to change):
November 20 (sold out)
November 21 (sold out)

KOREAN CUISINE (subject to change):
November 27 (sold out)
November 28 (sold out)
November 29 (limited reservations are still available)

PACIFIC ISLANDER/HAWAIIAN CUISINE (Buffet):
December 4 (sold out)
December 5 (sold out)

Fine Dining Fall 2012 Asian Cuisine – Cantonese Menu
Choice of one menu per table, no substitutions

Cantonese Menu Choice #1, $17.50 per person
Crispy Gau Gee
Chinese Chicken Salad
Steamed Rice
Roast Duck
Char Siu Pork
Kung Pao Shrimp with Broccoli
Pepper Steak
Fortune Cookie
Custard Tarts

Cantonese Menu Choice #2, $17.50 per person
Crispy Gau Gee
Chinese Chicken Salad
Steamed Rice
Chinese Steamed Fish
Stir Fried Beef with Choi Sum
Sweet Sour Spareribs
Chinese Pot Roast Chicken
Fortune Cookie
Custard Tarts

EVENTS:

Friday, October 19

Malama Kauai, Local Food in Local Schools

10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wilcox Elementary, Lihue

October is National Farm to School Month and Malama Kauai has scheduled several events to support our schools here on Kauai. First, join Natalie Hiwahiwa Joyce-Maeda and the Elsie Wilcox Elementary School at a re-dedication of the Hawaiian Garden. Then:

• 10 to 11 a.m. – Group hands-on planting of significant cultural plants in large pots. Kukui Tree- Jay Furfaro (Kukui hele po)
• 11:10 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. – Setting up large pots on weedcloth for the border. Planting in pots. Assorted light raking, pruning, laying down shade cloth Coloring of Hawaiian Word Concepts
• 1 to 2 p.m. – Bring a brown bag lunch and enjoy hula in the garden with Kumu Hula Vanessa Punua and Haumana.

Dress for light gardening, pack a brown bag lunch and contact colleen@malamakauai.org to RSVP or ask questions.

Saturday, October 20

Common Ground

Iris Downey Benefit Concert, 2 to 9 p.m., $30

This benefit concert will raise funds to help pay for Iris Downey’s medical expenses for a kidney transplant due to lupus. Kauai’s KONG DJ Ron Wiley will emcee, and musicians include Paula Fuga, The Quake, Underrated, Elijah and the Band of Light, Tiki Tonics, Soul Fire, Lefty and Friends, and Preeta.

There will be a beer garden sponsored by the Kona Brewing Company, as well as drawings, a silent auction, children’s activities, and food booths including one of our favorites, Grown.

“Stacey Amagrande-Weldon from Master Chef will be cooking from our farmer’s donations and preparing three dishes for $5,” says Collin Darrell of Grown. “Hope to see you there supporting a member of our community that truly needs our support while enjoying an amazing event.”

Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens

Goblins, Goodies and Games, 4 to 7 p.m., $10

Join Na Aina Kai for a halloween costume party. There will be fun games, prizes, face painting, and entertainment. Call 808-828-0525 for reservations and information.

The Feral Pig

Tap Takeover Dinner, 7 p.m., $60

Space is extremely limited for the first ever Tap Takeover Dinner by Maui Brewing Company. A tap takeover is when a particular brewery replaces all the beers a restaurant or bar normally carries with their own. The Feral Pig will be featuring seven beers, and four of them can only be found at the Maui Brewing Company Brew Pub in Lahaina, Maui.

For one night only, The Feral Pig will offer a one seating, seven course tasting menu paired with the beer. The meal will include Kaneshiro Farm pork as well as seasonal produce from the island’s farmers.

“The restaurant will also be open for business and the beers will be available while they last,” says owner and bartender Dave Power, “which I can’t imagine will be very long.”

Seven beers, Seven courses at 7 p.m., for $60. That might be the best deal ever! To RSVP call 808-246-1100.

Sunday, October 21

National Tropical Botanical Garden

10 a.m. to 2 p.m., free

Every third Sunday of the month, the NTBG’s Ohana Day features local artists, authors and garden experts. This month, Elvrine Chow of Heavenly Haku Lei will demonstrate how to make haku lei. Pronounced hah koo, the word refers to the method of braiding foliage such as flowers and ferns on a natural base material like ti or banana leaves. The color is often all white for brides, but haku lei can be made with any combination of multi-colored flowers.

Monday, October 12

Garden Party

Ele ele Elementary School, 12:30 to 3 p.m., free

Maile Mier and Spence Irimata invite you to a garden party where we will malama the garden space hand-in-hand with the kindergarten students. Bring gloves, hat, your digging tool of choice (a shovel or pitchfork), there will be water and cool beverages.

Malama Your Campus Work Days are part of a series of events that Malama Kauai is hosting through our Kauai School Garden Network (KSGN) project in celebration of National Farm to School Month. Malama Kauai respectfully requests the assistance of our parents, and community volunteers to join in supporting Ele ele Kindergarten Garden. This is an opportunity to support our public schools in a lasting and fun way, along with bringing the community together for our keiki.

• 12:30 Circle and Dedication
• 12:40 Introductions
• 12:50 Get started the five activities include:

1) Building boxes for raised beds
2) Keeping the Kindergarten students involved
3) Digging garden soil
4) Pulling weeds in herb garden
5) Hosting beverage table

• 2 to 3 p.m.

1) Complete and install garden beds
2) Place weed cloth and shovel compost into the beds
3) Fill and place planters over irrigation pipes

If you have any questions, or want to RSVP, please contact Ele ele School Garden Lead and Kindergarten Teacher Maile Mier at Maile_Mier/ELEELE/HIDOE@notes.k12.hi.us or Colleen Carroll 808-634-3021 or email colleen@malamakauai.org.

Na Kupu Mana Olana – Seeds of Hope

Tuesday, October 23, 7 p.m., Waimea Theater and Wednesday, October 24, 7 p.m., Hanalei Elementary School

The film Seeds of Hope offers an in-depth look at the history and future of Hawaii’s agriculture. It shows how the archipelago’s unique physical isolation coupled with the rising cost of shipping food across long distances have created powerful incentives for communities to return to the land-based ethic of malama aina (care of the land) and sustainable agriculture.

Seeds of Hope Trailer

The evening will start with a live panel discussion including filmmaker Danny Miller, followed by an exclusive showing of this newly released documentary.

Thursday, October 25

Roy’s

Food Day

The Roy’s in Poipu and Roy’s Tavern in Princeville will donate 100 percent of their profits to Malama Kauai’s Local Foods in Local Schools. In conjunction with campaign efforts during Farm-To-School Month, Malama Kauai and the Kauai School Garden Network celebrate Food Day with “Local Food in Local Schools” featuring healthy snacks and lunches.

Hukilau Lanai

Food Day

Hukilau Lanai will serve a special menu on Food Day, recognizing some of Kauai’s farmers and local artisans. The menu will include an appetizer, two entrees and a dessert selection, all using locally sourced items that they may not always have on their regular menu.

Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27

Kauai Christian Academy’s 12th Annual Fall Festival

4000 Kilauea Road (Lighthouse Road), 4 to 9 p.m.

Come for family fun in a carnival atmosphere. Activities include bounce house, pony rides, carnival games, airsoft wars, petting zoo, hay rides, corn maze,              costume contest. Food is from North Shore Grindz, Killah Steaks, Paco’s Tacos, and Kettle Corn. Live Entertainment includes Kumu Lei and Halau Ka Lei Kukui Hiilani hula, Bluegrass. Supreme Silent Auction with night stays at top hotels, dinners at great restaurants, tours, adventures, clothing, and gift certificates.

For more information call 808-828-0047, or email Jimmy@hiinfo.net.

Saturday, October 27

John Cruz Concert

7:30 p.m., $20

Common Ground in Kilauea is hosting a John Cruz Concert in partnership with the Puuwai Canoe Club. Dinner service will begin at 6 p.m., and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.  There will be a special tapas menu along with delectable desserts, beer and wine.  Tickets must be purchased online at www.johncruz.com, and dinner reservations can be made by calling 808-828-2192.  Tickets are only $20 (not including meal) and very limited.

Lambda Aloha’s 15th Annual Costume Dance Party

Kauai Marriott Courtyard, 7:30 p.m., $15

Lambda Aloha, Kauai’s oldest nonprofit organization for the LGBT community, will be throwing its 15th Annual Halloween Dance Party. The party features a haunted hale, complete with decaying mummies and spooky ghosts, DJ Deedle, and a Halloween Costume Contest with cash prizes.

Tickets for the event can be purchased online on the Lambda Aloha website: www.lambdaaloha.com or by calling Joe Moore at 822.9451 or Mark Stein at 808-206-0695.  This is a 100 percent not-for-profit event benefiting Kauai’s LGBT community.

Wednesday, October 31

Captain’s Monster Ball

RumFire, 10 p.m., free

Captain Morgan and RumFire have teamed up for Halloween night. DJ Bliss will be spinnin’ and make sure you dress to impress, because besides a costume contest, there’ll be a captain contest. Argh Matey! Call 808-742-1661 from more information.

ONGOING:

RumFire

For the month of October, RumFire will donate all food and beverage proceeds from RumFire’s sunset view Table #53 to the Kauai United Way.

“We warmly welcome this opportunity to serve our community and invite our RumFire guests to support this worthy Kauai charity,” says Sheraton Kauai General Manager Chip Bahouth. “Through the participation of our diners, our goal is to raise $3,000.”

Basic Orientation to Aquaponics and Worm Composting

October 6 through December 1, Saturdays, 8 a.m. to noon, Kauai Community College, $35

The Kauai Community College is offering a Basic Orientation to Aquaponics and Worm Composting workshops. Nine, 3-hour sessions will be held on Saturdays. The course introduces ecosystem methods in sustainable agriculture, the practice of farming using principals of ecology, and the relationships between organisms and their environment. Crops that require high levels of soil nutrients can be cultivated in a more sustainable manner with the use of environmentally friendly fertilizer and management practices.

Learn:

• How to build and operate a worm composting farm
• Seedling propagation
• Aquaponics infrastructure, system building and operational care
• Aquaponics water quality and management
• Direct and indirect benefits of aquaponics and worm composting from the economic, social and environmental perspectives

To enroll, call 808-245-8318

Check out this video interview with Bobby Burns, KCC instructor and Worm Warrior.

Kauai Culinary Market

The Wednesday Kauai Culinary Market in the outdoor courtyard of The Shops at Kukuiula is one of my favorite farmers markets. The property is gorgeous, there are restaurants and shops lining the walkway, and lush landscaping with colorful flowers and towering palm trees. The market not only features Kauai farmers, but food artisans as well. There’s also live music, a beer and wine garden, and cooking demonstrations. The demonstrations feature local chefs, and farm fresh ingredients from the market. There is seating, and not only do guests get to ask questions, but they get to eat what’s made!

This Wednesday, October 24, watch Laura Cristobal of the award-winning Salty Wahine make her famous Salty Wahine Seafood Chowder made with Kauai Shrimp and local corn on the cob.