Chef Mark pays a visit to Kauai Coffee Company, the largest coffee plantation in the United States. Marty Amaro shows us around the fields, explaining the growing process, and into the factory, where we see some of the roasted coffee being packaged.

A production of the Culinary Media Network.
www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Travel & Accommodation provided by the Hawaii HTA as part of the “So Much More Hawaii” tour.

Chef Mark Tafoya visits the Sumida Watercress Farm in Honolulu, Hawaii, where Celebrated Hawaii Chef Mavro shows us how to make one of his signature dishes: Watercress Salad with Maitake Mushrooms, Sunchokes, and Watercress Essence.

A production of the Culinary Media Network.
www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Travel & Accommodation provided by the Hawaii HTA as part of the “So Much More Hawaii” tour.

Pineapple Meets Big Apple

I had the pleasure of being the special guest this week on “From Hawaii With Love” a podcast hosted by Jenny Fujita and Joy Koerte which celebrates the beauty and culture of the Aloha State.

The topic was “Pineapple meets Big Apple”, and we spoke about my recent adventure discovering the foods of Hawaii, and how Hawaiian cuisine has influenced foods on the mainland. I also spoke about our Gilded Fork Cookbook and offered some entertaining tips.

You can find all their shows on www.fromhawaiiwithlove.com

ReMARKable Palate #220: Innovative Japanese Cuisine

This week, I go from Maui to New York City as we speak with 2 restaurateurs about their modern Asian style eateries. First, I chat with Chef DK Kodama of Sansei and other restaurants all over the state of Hawaii about his modern Pacific Rim style cuisine, and his support for local farmers in the state of Hawaii. I then speak with James Du, co-owner of Akai Lounge on New York’s Upper West Side, which is doing it’s part to offer innovative sushi and interpretations of Japanese classics.

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

I travelled to Hawaii as part of The “So Much More Hawaii” Press tour sponsored by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, and my travel expenses were paid for by the HTA. My meal at Akai lounge was a complimentary tasting menu. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

While in Hawaii for the “So Much More Hawaii” New Media tour, I spent the afternoon with Lani and Ali’i, co-owner of the Ali’i Kula Lavender Company in Maui’s Kula “Upcountry” area. They gave me a tour of their lavender farm, which looks more like a zen mediation garden! Listen to the audio interview I did with them on ReMARKable Palate Podcast #209.

A production of the Culinary Media Network.
www.culinarymedianetwork.com

ReMARKable Palate #209: Ali’i Kula Lavender

I’m in Fire Island for a few days, and I’m reminded of my time spent in Hawaii a few months ago for the “So Much More Hawaii” media tour. While there I had the chance to spend the afternoon in the upcountry area of Maui, visiting with Lani and Alii, co-owners of the Alii Kula Lavender farm, which grows lavender and produces countless numbers of lavender products. It was one of the most relaxing farm visits I’ve been on in a long time. Here’s my conversation with Lani and Alii.

www.aklmaui.com

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

ReMARKable Palate #208: The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory

I have the pleasure of meeting Bob & Pam Cooper, owners of the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory, the only operation in the US to grow, ferment, process and sell chocolate of their own. Bob & Pam took a break from winnowing to talk to me about the process, and about how they moved from North Carolina to the Big Island to become chocolate entrepreneurs.

www.ohcf.us

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Some more material form my recent trip to Hawaii for the “So Much More Hawaii” tour sponsored by the Hawaii HTA. The amazingly energetic and intrepid Melissa Chang took me all around her hometown of Honolulu as we discovered so many of the great local eateries. In this first post, We start our tour right after our visit to the Honolulu Fish Auction, which I reported on a few weeks ago. We had breakfast at Nico’s, an eatery just down the pier from the Fish Auction, which gets the freshest fish in town for their fish omelets and fish fried rice. Here I speak with Nico, a native of Lyon, France, about what brought him to Hawaii:

We then headed over to Chinatown with Melissa and Tommy Wong to check out all the great eats. We really got lucky to be able to go into the Luk Fun factory, where they make delicious rice noodles. Melissa thinks it’s because the “round eye” stayed in the back of the line while the Chinese people asked if we could shoot video! (Thanks to Tommy for explaining to the proprietor what a podcast is in Cantonese!)

Those Dan Tat were so sweet and “eggy” (in a good way), and I’m really craving some more right about now!

Special thanks to Melissa Chang for showing us around. We’ll have a few more Honolulu Eating Tour episodes coming, as we try malasadas, cocoa puffs, Helena’s Hawaiian Food, and Filipino food! You can find Melissa’s blog at The Urban Mix Plate.

More to come!

ReMARKable Palate #201: Sommelier Chuck Furuya

I sit down with Master Sommelier Chuck Furuya at Hiroshi, one of his many restaurants in Honolulu, to talk about his love of wine, and of Hawaii, and how to approach pairing wines with the Asian and Pacific-Rim influenced foods of the Aloha state. Chuck also shares some great stories and his no-nonsense approach to wine, which you know we share here at CMN! We just let the recorder run as we had a hell of a conversation!

DKRestaurants.com

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

You know the saying, “You have to get up PRETTY early in the morning to pull one over on me”?? Well, We DID get up at 4 AM to make it to the Honolulu Fish Auction before it started! And there was no way anyone was going to pull one over on Brooks Takenaka, the manager of the fish auction!

This is one of the most unique experiences I had in Hawaii, while on the “So Much More Hawaii” tour sponsored by the Hawaii HTA. Most people know that you can enjoy beaches, luaus and mai tais in Hawaii, but they may not know about this aspect of Honolulu which makes alot of the rest of the party possible.

This is where the boats come into port and unload their catch every day, and starting a 5:30 AM, the buyers for all the restaurants in the city as well as wholesalers and reps from restaurants on the mainland and Asian countries put in their bids. Some days there are as many as 100 boats coming to port. On this morning, we had fish from just one boat, so it was clear that the prices would be dear for what fish they brought in.

In this first Quick Bite, Fish Auction Manager Brooks Takenaka gives us an exclusive sneak peek behind the scenes before they let in the buyers. Brooks explains how the process has gone from a simple one to a highly technical and computerized one. That said, the basic process works the same as it always has. His staff unloads the boat and lays out all the fish according to species. For the Tuna, they cut a few core samples and lay them out so the buyers can see the color, fattiness, and general quality of each fish before bidding:

After we get an exclusive sneak peek, the bell rings and they let in the buyers to do their work. We’re lucky to be there, and get to watch the action.

Special thanks to Melissa Chang, our local Honolulu friend, who was the brave soul who got up even earlier than us to drive us out to the Pier for the auction! She’s an amazing person, and writes a great food blog about the many cuisines of Honolulu, The Urban Mix Plate, and she led us on an amazing eating tour all around the city, which I’ll be posting soon!