Taste Hawaii Tour taking Hawaii cuisine, food culture to San Francisco Bay Area in October
Kalua pork! Ahi poke! Fried saimin! Hawaii chef Alan Wong’s twice-cooked kalbi short ribs with gingered shrimp and ko choo jang sauce!
If you’re hungry for the cuisine and food culture of Hawaii, and reside in San Francisco and San Jose, circle every day on your calendar between Oct. 27 and Nov. 2, 2011. And work up an appetite!
The 2011 Taste Hawaii Tour is coming your way, featuring James Beard Award-winning chef Alan Wong and Hawaii food historian Arnold Hiura. HAWAII Magazine is a co-sponsor of the tour and its full slate of food-related events, including book signings, cooking demos and lunch and dinner tasting events with Wong and Hiura. You could even win a trip to Hawaii at one of the events!
Just visiting the Bay Area between Oct. 27 and Nov. 2? You’re welcome to attend, too, as all events are open to the public. You’ll be in great food company.
Wong (top, left) is, of course, one of the founding chefs of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement, and a longtime champion of the farm-to-table movement both in the Islands and nationwide. The owner and executive chef of Alan Wong’s Restaurant and The Pineapple Room restaurant, both in Honolulu, Wong will be sharing stories and serving dishes from his newest cookbook The Blue Tomato: The Inspirations Behind the Cuisines of Alan Wong. 
Hiura (top, right) is the author of Kau Kau: Cuisine & Culture in the Hawaiian Islands, a compendium of the history, stories and heritage of the food we love here in the Islands. An aficionado of Hawaii’s multicultural mix of favorite foods as well, Hiura also included more than 70 recipes in Kau Kau, ranging from classic dishes born of Hawaii’s plantation past to comfort food favorites and Hawaii Regional Cuisine classics. Hiura will also be sharing stories and dishes from Kau Kau at Taste Hawaii Tour events.
Both Wong’s and Hiura’s books, by the way, received top Excellence in Cookbooks honors at the Hawaii Publishers Association’s Ka Palapala Pookela book awards for 2011 and 2010, respectively.
The 2011 Taste Hawaii Tour’s seven events with Alan Wong and Arnold Hiura include:
• Oct. 27, 6 p.m.: Blue Tomato and Kau Kau talk story and book signing, at Omnivore Books on Food, San Francisco, free.
• Oct. 29, 11:45 a.m.: Blue Tomato and Kau Kau cooking demonstration and talk story, at North Arcade Outdoor Teaching Kitchen at Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, San Francisco, free.
• Oct. 29, 12:30 p.m.: Blue Tomato and Kau Kau book signing, at North Arcade Outdoor Teaching Kitchen at Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, San Francisco, free.
• Oct. 30, 5 p.m.: Alan Wong Blue Tomato and Hukilau Restaurant Hawaii food tasting event and talk story, at the Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Northern California, San Francisco, $75 (includes tasting event and your-choice copy of either The Blue Tomato or Kau Kau). Click here for the menu!
• Oct. 31, 6 p.m., Blue Tomato and Kau Kau book signing and pau hana mixer, at La Mar Cebicheria Peruana, San Francisco, $10 donation.
• Nov. 2, 11 a.m., Alan Wong Blue Tomato and Hukilau Restaurant Hawaii food tasting event and talk story, at the Akiyama Wellness Center, San Jose, $60 (includes tasting event and your-choice copy of either The Blue Tomato or Kau Kau). Click here for the menu!
• Nov. 2, 6:30 p.m., Alan Wong Birthday Bash Blue Tomato and Hukilau Restaurant Hawaii food tasting event and talk story, Hukilau Restaurant San Jose, $75 (includes tasting event and your-choice copy of either The Blue Tomato or Kau Kau). A trip for two to Hawaii to dine at Alan Wong’s Restaurant Honolulu will be given away at this event! Click here for the menu!
Click here to read more about the 2011 Taste Hawaii Tour, find a schedule of tour events event locations and event menus, and to reserve your spot at Chef Alan Wong’s Bay Area lunch and dinners!
