IHOP’s free flapjack day is no joke, they have been raising millions on National Pancake Day for kids. This year the newly crowned Miss America 2012 Laura Kaeppeler has decided to don an IHOP apron and spatula with her crown and hopes to raise over $2.7 million for children’s hospitals on February 28th from 7 am to 10pm. Guests to IHOP on that day are given free pancakes and asked to donate to local children’s charity or the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals in return.

Also news, IHOP launched a new menu item with their Hash Brown Stacks. The stack is basically layered dish with their crispy fried hash brown on the bottom and various stacked toppings. Spinach and mushroom, ham and swiss, bacon and cheddar, you get the picture. The stacks vary from 570 to 730 calories and run $6.99 to $7.99 here on Maui. When I asked where they sourced their potatoes and veggies IHOP said those were trade secrets for them, but full nutritional info is available at at http://www.ihop.com/docs/nutritionalinformation.pdf

Photos of AK's courtesy of Shane Robinson http://www.flickr.com/photos/notm/

Chef Elaine Nakashima is going to be one of the new health inspectors for the state so you know her kitchen at AK’s Cafe on Lower Main is spiffy. She will now be closed for lunch but wants to let her fans and patrons know they are open for dinner Mondays through Fridays from 5pm to 8:30pm. She is even prepared to disclose some upcoming specials like her amazing prime rib will be available on February 3rd, 17th, and 20th, and March 2nd.

On February 14th Valentines day she will have a special menu and two seatings 5:15 and 7:15, reservations are a must! So call 244-8774.

photos of AK's courtesy of Shane Robinson http://www.flickr.com/photos/notm/

On February 5th she will be watching the Giants win from her recliner at home, so AK’s is closed.

1237 Lower Main St., Wailuku, HI 96793

808-244-8774

Summary from Elaine:

Feb  3rd   Prime Rib

Feb 5th  Superbowl,  (I will be watching my GIANTS  win in my recliner at home)  CLOSED

Feb  14th  Valentines Day   (two seating’s, 5:15 and 7:15 pm reservations are a must, you can call the shop at 244-8774  and leave a message and phone number so I can call you back to confirm or email elainenakashima@gmail.com)

2012 Valentine’s Day Dinner Menu

1st Course

Apricot and Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken on Bruschetta

2nd Course

Organic Butter Lettuce, Candied Walnuts, Roasted Beet, Champagne Vinaigrette,

Blue Cheese Crumbles

3rd Course

Roasted Salmon with Asian Sauce, Grilled Pineapple, Garlic Mash Potato,

Sauté Asparagus and Mushrooms

OR

Filet Mignon with Caramelized Onion, Spicy Shrimp,

Garlic Mash Potato, Sauté Asparagus and Mushrooms

4th Course

Chocolate Soufflé w/ Roselani Vanilla Ice Cream

Strawberries, Whip Cream

Champagne and a Rose for the Beautiful Lady

$35.00 + tax and gratuity

2 Seatings

5:15 pm and 7:15 pm

Reservations Only

244-8774 or email elainenakashima@gmail.com

Feb 17th  Prime Rib

Feb  20th  Presidents Day     WE WILL BE OPEN

March 2nd   Prime rib

GROUND HOG DAY: This week, you’ve got a pass to pig out

Chee hoo–Ground Hog Days are here again, bu! Gotta love one holiday wea–according to ancient supahstitions–if you eat plene kine ono pork grinds on Feb. 2, da winter surf going las’ six weeks longah. Plus, your team going win da Super Bowl. Guarans ball bearin’s, brah!

So in honor of dese events (but really, jus’ one excuse fo’ ham it up), dis little piggy’s penned-up some tasty info jus’ fo you. Enjoy!

Translation: Friends, rejoice! With this weekend sandwiched between Groundhog Day and the Super Bowl, I’d say The Man’s giving us license to party n’ pig out. (No worries, the six percent of Americans who call in sick on Super Bowl Monday have got our backs.) But let’s have a little foodie fun with the folklore (I’m sure Pennsylvania’s Germans won’t mind), seeing as the closest thing Hawaii’s got to marmots are mongoose–and if winter lasts longer, mo’ bettah. Hey, we’ll make any excuse to exalt good grinds…

TEN HEAVENLY PLACES TO PORK IN PARADISE

“NUMBER ONE”
ICHIBAN RESTAURANT AND SUSHI BAR (47 W. Kaahumanu Ave., Kahului; 871-6977). Tonkatsu with rice and miso soup ($Market)

“OUT OF THIS WORLD”
STAR NOODLE (286 Kupuohi St., Lahaina; 667-5400; starnoodle.com). Steamed pressed pork buns with hoisin, shiitake and cucumber ($10)

“OH-SO ONO”
SOUTH SHORE TIKI LOUNGE (1913 S. Kihei Rd.; 874-6444; southshoretikilounge.com). BBQ kalua sandwich with fries, side salad, coleslaw or rice ($10)

“NOW WOULDN’T YOU, BORICUA”
DA PUERTO RICAN FOOD TRUCK MAUI (“bright white truck with the silver back driving around the island”; dapuertoricanfoodtruck.com / @daPRFT on Twitter). Pulled “boricua” pork marinated in traditional herbs and spices with rice and beans or arroz con gandules ($8.95)

“HAWAIIAN STYLE HAM”
OLD LAHAINA LUAU (1251 Front. St., 1-800-248-5828; oldlahainaluau.com). Kalua pua’a is the centerpiece of their huge buffet menu, alongside all the essential local fixins like lomi lomi salmon, pahole (fern) salad, ahi poke, poi and haupia ($98 general / $68 kama’aina)

“TREAT YOURSELF”
MONKEYPOD KITCHEN (Wailea Gateway, 10 Gateway Pl.; 891-2322; monkeypodkitchen.com). Bulgogi pork tacos with pickled carrots, handcrafted kim chee, jalapeno and Asian pear aioli ($14.95)

“AIN’T NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING”
MAIN STREET BISTRO (2051 Main St., Wailuku; 244-6816; msbmaui.com). Lightly smoked roasted pork loin with pork gravy risotto ($15)

“BOAR SNACKS”
KAHULUI ALE HOUSE (355 E. Kamehameha Ave.; 877-9011; alehouse.net). Three kalua pork sliders on toasted buns with tropical slaw and BBQ sauce ($7.95)

“SO SMOKIN’ IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL”
FAT DADDY’S (1913 S. Kihei Rd.; 879-8711; fatdaddysmaui.com). Smoked pork spareribs ($25 full rack / $14 half rack)

“BROKE DA MOUTH”
DA KITCHEN (Triangle Square, 425 Koloa St., Kahului; 871-7782; da-kitchen.com). Kalua pork plate lunch with side salad and scoop rice ($12.49)

PIGSKIN PAGEANTRY

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT FOOTBALL THAT MAKES U.S. HUNGRY
Move over baby Jesus and the American Revolution–Thanksgiving’s the only food consumption event that tops Super Bowl Sunday. Last year the big game had more than 111 million viewers (an all-time record, reported by The Nielsen Company), which means about 43 percent of our countrymen tuned in–and chowed down.

AS FOR THE OTHER WHITE MEAT
We live on a planet where the National Chicken Council’s 2012 Wing Report is a real thing–and it projects that Americans will eat 1.25 billion wings (totaling 100 million pounds of wings) on Super Bowl Sunday, saying, “If the wings were laid end-to-end they would circle the circumference of the Earth more than twice–a distance that would reach approximately a quarter of the way to the moon.”

ANOTHER KIND OF CONSUMPTION
The National Retail Federation (NRF) recently released results from its 2012 Super Bowl Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey (conducted by BIGinsight, Jan. 4-11 with “a margin of error plus or minus 1.0 percent”), which projects that Americans will spend $11 billion on Super Bowl-related stuff. The NRF’s senior vice president, Mike Gatti (in an audio interview with MarketWatch.com) says this $11 billion figure includes TVs, home furnishings, team apparel and trinkets “like football shaped ashtrays.”

PS (PORKSCRIPT)

PORK THIS IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT
Got the munchies? Bacon flavored rolling papers ($2) are available at Maui’s only record store, Requests (10 N. Market St., Wailuku; 244-9315; requestshawaii.com) ■

Food is art, but art well that is a whole other matter. Satisfy art education, art collectors, art culture and the wonderful things going on at the Hui Noeau Visual Arts Center, by attending their annual gala fundraiser themed Popeii: An Evening of Muses and Myth this February.

Don your best grecian gowns and garments and participate in the arts event that culminates over cocktails, silent auction, gourmet plated dinner by Soup to Nutz and Chef Giles, live entertainment, live auction facilitated by Kip Toner, Haiku Hillbilliys, dancing and vodka luge. The live auction action is always entertaining, and gorgeous works of art created at the Hui will be up for grabs including paintings, jewelry and sculpture.

Keep up to date on the Art Auction here: http://www.artaffairmaui.com/art-auction.html

The Hui will create more than a night to remember it will have a lasting legacy of making art available to our community like no other center on the island. Proceeds for this year’s event will benefit Hui youth arts education programming, which include foundation arts workshops, free portfolio development programs, collaborations with local schools to integrate arts into the curriculum, scholarship programs for families unable to afford tuition, and youth-at-risk and special needs programs that enable access to high-quality arts education for Maui youth.

Seating is limited for this extravagant event. Call the Hui today at 572-6560 to reserve you place or visit the event website at artaffairmaui.com; come enjoy the music and dance, exquisite cuisine, and the company of your arts community- and help support Maui’s next generation of artists!

Maalaea is a tiny port town that serves the South Shore, but it’s growing. Harbor improvements, and destinations like the Maui Ocean Center, the Maui Golf and Sports Park and the Maalaea Harbor Shops are part of the area’s life blood. One of the newest additions to the Maalaea dining scene is Porto (“port” in Italian). Porto takes up the old Juca spot, which has been vacant for around a year or so.

The restaurant is the beginning of a food and drink venture by Pacific Whale Foundation, which hopes to use Porto to support their other boating and retail operations. So far no restaurant had been successful there, but in order for PWF to get the lease there had to be a front of the house operation for the shopping center.

“We’ve been looking at establishing our own in-house catering for years, as a prudent business move and as a way to ‘vote with our dollars,’” says Greg Kaufman, president of Pacific Whale Foundation. “We want to support local agriculture, choose the most eco-friendly products and choose sustainable seafood. Our own in-house catering operation makes that more achievable. We didn’t set out to be in the restaurant business, but it became an outgrowth of our catering operation.”

They did some market research and found that Maalaea needed pizza. Oregonian Chef Meagan Kilgore was hired in May of 2011 to form the teams that head their Ola Catering operation and Porto, but she was already familiar with Maui, having done her formal training at the Maui Culinary Academy straight out of high school. After graduating, she headed back to the mainland and did some time as a chef at Nike World Headquarters, a country club and a beer and wine pub, but couldn’t resist the opportunity to return to Maui.

Their artisan flame fired pizzas are the shining glory of their menu. Kilgore says they use authentic semolina flour ground in an Oahu mill and make everything from the focaccia to the breadcrumbs in their meatballs from scratch. She told me she tweaked the pizza dough recipe 22 times to get it to the perfect crispy-on-the-bottom-but-still-chewy consistency she wanted. Their handmade pomodoro sauce is created with organic tomatoes, which provide the best flavor. Kilgore says she chooses local organic farmed goods as much as she can.

“The restaurant lets us showcase the taste and flavor advantages of buying locally produced and locally grown ingredients,” says Kaufman. “We also want to support local agriculture, because we believe that ‘grown here’ is a much smarter choice than ‘flown here’ from a carbon footprint perspective, and from the perspective of encouraging food security and sustainability on our island. We believe that local, well-managed farming results in less runoff, less watershed pollution and a healthier ocean. Our support of local agriculture garnered us the Hero of Agriculture, Food and Environment Award; “An Environmental Supporter Who Does Their Work with Excellence” at the 2010 Hawaii Agriculture Conference in Honolulu.”

The pies are hand-shaped and served on a big wood paddle. The Kalua Pig and Pineapple is a twist on the ham and pineapple staple, but it works better that its predecessor. Kilgore uses Duroc pork shoulder, rubs it with her special blend of spices and then roasts it overnight with herbed sachets, using the residual heat of their copper clad Woodstone open fire oven, which saves energy. The fresh Maui pineapples have a bright juicy acidity that balances nicely with the rich roasted pork doused with cheese. The sprinkling of fresh herbs on top brings the whole pizza together.

The Olivia pizza is glazed with garlic béchamel before it’s blanketed with mozzarella and parmesan and sprinkled with briny kalamata and green olives. This pie was reminiscent of my love for anchovy pizza: it had that salty/briny payoff, but delivered in a more elegant fashion.

The salads are a testament to the fresh organic bounty of produce, though their fire oven makes it hard to avoid choosing something roasted. The beet salad is the perfect compromise with roasted beets resting on Kula greens and then dribbled with an exquisite citrus oil and gourmet goat cheese.

Kilgore is a trained pastry chef and the dessert menu reflects her love for fine baked goods. Housemade Kula strawberry shortcake, Tiramisu cupcake and Italian meringue and fruits are a find on the back of the menu. Porto also offers bruschetta, antipasti, panini and soup. To round out Italian eating traditions, they serve Maui Oma roasted coffee, fine espresso and cappuccino.

“I wouldn’t be here without my great staff,” says Kilgore. “I put together a terrific team and I strive to inspire and motivate them everyday. We make our own sauce with organic tomatoes, make our own sausage and use hormone free meats. We are focused on what healthy for the planet and our customers.”

300 Maalaea Rd. ,
Wailuku, Hawaii 96793
Phone: (808) 856-8337

Chef Meagan Kilgore says it took over 20 tweaks on her pizza dough recipe before she felt she got it right. The pacific climate and air really make yeast dough finicky. But safe to say she has nailed down a winner with the Kalua Pig and Pineapple pizza at the Pacific Whale Foundation’s new new restaraunt – Porto.

The pizza comes flame fired, the oven is a bohemoth, taking up a 1/4 of their kitchen space. You can see it right behind their front counter and espresso machine.

Italian Hawaiian fusion of Kalua Pig, rich pomodoro, fresh Maui pineapple, and mozzarella give a new twist to the traditional ham pineapple combo. They make their own sauce, not to thick or thin, great tomato flavor.

All of Porto’s pizzas come 14 inches and range from $16 to $21. Find it at the Maalaea Shops next to the Maui Ocean Center.

Phoebe Tu and Dion Navarro

The Wharf Center in Lahaina Town was once the newest retail structure by the harbor. As kids we loved the triple decker maze it offered and the “basement” level fun factory. This little retail and theater center was built without a centralized food court, but food it definitely has.

My most recent food exploration was at Blue Lagoon in the Wharf’s ground floor (it’s actually one story below the Front Street sidewalk) where they have a waterfalls and a koi creek. There is a lot of foliage down there, and you can find a kind of peacefulness below the bustle of Front Street.

The Blue Lagoon and has been reviving its nightlife and food scene with menu changes, daily specials and entertainment since transforming back into the Blue Lagoon. See, a little over two years ago Phoebe Tu and Dion Navarro got the lease on the restaurant and ran it as the West side’s Da Kitchen – a popular food outlet on Maui known for its great local food, huge portions and Kahului and Kihei locations. But Tu says it wasn’t taking off like they thought it would, and kept hearing from her customers how great the location was back in the Blue Lagoon days.

“We listened to what they said about Blue Lagoon, the fun nightlife, the bar, but they weren’t saying anything great about the food,” Tu says. “So that is what we focused on. I wanted a solid menu with it. My Lahaina burger is soaked in sugar cane juice and topped with pineapple, and people rave about it. Also our fried oysters are amazing, our fish and chips are incredible and we have a lot of seafood.”

Those words had no sooner come from her lips when a couple who just had lunch walk across the dining room to tell Phoebe how perfect her pineapple burger was and how it was so juicy and delicious. It’s true: the hand-patted burger is very juicy, with a touch of sweetness and their pineapple crushed topping was also quite good. I liked how they avoided the teriyaki thing but still produced a Hawaiian-inspired sandwich, and served it with a generous amount of crinkle cut fries for just $10.

The menu offers a bountiful variety of food. Local plates, burgers, tacos, appetizers, soups, catch of the day, but it’s their seafood specialties that stand out in their selection and fried goodness. I don’t know the forces that urge us take succulent pieces of sea life, dredge them in wheat and then fry them in burning hot vats of oil, but the results are amazing. The delicious contrasts of juicy salt water-raised flesh against the crumbling exterior of fat infused crunch lubed up with spicy and sweet cannot be denied.

Their menu offers shrimp, fish, chicken, calmer, oysters, coconut prawns, opakapaka, garlic shrimp, rangoon, crab balls, onion rings, garlic fries, just to name a few in the fried department. Their coconut prawns are the jumbo sized, crisped to perfection, drenched with plenty of shredded coconut among the panko and served with a fusion of garlic aioli and sweet thai chili sauce to swill them down with.

“We use fresh medium size oysters from Fresh Island Fish,” says Tu. “We bread it with flour, egg, panko and best of all we toss it with Furikake [a mixture of dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt and more…] and we offer a sweet and spicy dipping sauce. Many of my customers who never liked oyster, tried our oysters and ended up liking it very much.”

The seafood specialties can be ordered as pupu or as a meal with fries and coleslaw. The fish and chips is good, Tu says, because they tempura batter it with Maui Brewing Company beers. Sometimes they use the Coconut Porter, which adds hints of coconut to the fish.

Blue Lagoon also serves delicious Kalbi, Korean short ribs which are thinly sliced slabs of beef that are marinated and grilled. The marinade is key to tenderizing and adding a colossal caramelization to the grilled meat – pretty much what Kalbi is known for. Blue Lagoon mixes their marinade with plenty of ginger zing, caramel, garlic, orange and soy, creating a pull-apart Kalbi that disappears fast.

They also serve Cajun-rubbed catch of the day teriyaki salmon. Blue Lagoon offers daily specials and a $5 late night menu.

As for beverages, Tu likes to design drinks, and the Blue Lagoon has a few of her special concoctions. The Pineapple bomb is a hollowed-out pineapple in which its flesh is blended with ice and rum. It’s a popular visitor drink, as is their stiff orange-colored Hurricane, an amalgam of juices, Bacardi rums and Captain Morgan.

But when Tu made me her pink “Cotton Candy,” I was a bit skeptical of the creamy, Barbie pink cocktail. Yet I was pleasantly surprised with a well-balanced chick drink. I couldn’t help finishing it, even at the risk of my full stomach. It tastes better than its namesake, and is made from butterscotch, Stoli vanilla and grenadine. It’s a perfect dessert or nightcap.

The Blue Lagoon is doing their thing in the waterfall grotto of the Wharf on Front Street from Mon-Sat., 11am-1:30am and Sun., 11am-10pm. I hear that on Friday nights, Whiskey Pimps is a blast, Wednesdays feature Na’au and Monday is Open Mic Night. Flash your IDs for 15 percent off for kama’aina and 50 percent off county staff. Check their Facebook for daily updates.

Blue Lagoon
658 Front St., Lahaina
661-4900

https://www.facebook.com/BlueLagoonLahaina

Chef Alan Wong

Alan Wong is a household name on Oahu. It’s synonymous with amazing translations of our local dishes into fine dining. He’s managed to manipulate the local plate flavors and presentations into beautiful creations using fresh island ingredients. His cookbook New Wave Luau captures that so well, and tells his story about growing up in Hawaii and becoming a chef, as well as being honored with the James Beard Award for Best Chef of the Year for the Pacific Northwest. His basics appendix in the back is an indispensable source in my kitchen.

The news that Wong is coming to the former Kincha location in the Grand Wailea has long been titillating my taste buds. Amasia will open in spring 2012, and is already making my stomach grumble. Kincha is currently undergoing a $2 million renovation. Amasia will feature a sushi bar and a robata for grilled delicacies. The bar will pour private labels and creative cocktails inspired by its transcontinental menu.

Wong was gracious enough to answer a few questions:

MAUITIME: I love the Pineapple Room and Alan Wong’s on King Street. What makes these two restaurants so successful, yet each unique? Do you get more creative at one over the other?

ALAN WONG: Our successes are largely due to the successes of our people in each restaurant. They make it happen on a daily basis and deserve all the credit. The PR has an advantage of serving breakfast and lunch, so there are more ideas there that sometimes do not translate well in the King Street restaurant. At the Pineapple Room, 75 percent of the clientele are local and we take that into consideration when planning our menu. At our King Street restaurant, our clientele are 50 percent local and 50 percent visitors.

MT: What kind of relationships do you have with farmers on Oahu?

WONG: We consider most of our farmer relationships to be like partnerships. We get to know the farmers on a first-name basis. We like to  visit the farms to learn about the products, and we often feature the farmer and products in our quarterly Farmer Series Dinners.

MT: What kinds of fresh ingredients / produce are available to you on Oahu?

WONG: The availability of products is very broad on Oahu. To name some of the produce, there are salad and cooking greens, tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, citrus, bananas, beets, watercress, asparagus and sea asparagus.

 MT: Do you foresee that occurring on Maui as well?

WONG: We are very much looking forward to being in Maui, visiting the farms, meeting the farmers in person and getting to see the great variety of products we’ll get to use in Alan Wong’s Amasia. If there are products we need that do not yet exist on Maui or in the State of Hawaii, we will encourage someone to grow it for us.

 MT: Have you spent much time on Maui?

WONG: I am quite familiar with Maui but I look forward to spending more time there and experiencing all that the island has to offer.

MT: What restaurants have you enjoyed here?

WONG: I have eaten all over Maui and have enjoyed the fine dining spots as well as the hole in the walls. I think there is a good reason why they say “Maui no ka oi.”

MT: Why are you inspired and excited to open a restaurant on Maui?

WONG: I have worked on Kauai, Oahu and the Big Island, but never on Maui. I enjoy Maui very much and it has been a dream of mine to open a restaurant on every island.

 MT: What gets you exhilarated about being a Chef in Hawaii?

WONG: We may not have the four seasons in Hawaii in terms of the weather and what foods are/are not available. But we are luckier because we have two seasons – rain and sunshine – and we’re able to get a vine-ripened tomato year-round. Hawaii is really a paradise when it comes to being able to use a whole variety of ingredients all year-round.

 MT: Do you think you will write more books on cooking?

WONG: Yes.

 MT: How will this restaurant differ from the menus at Bistro Molokini and Humuhumunukunukuapua’a?

WONG: We have our own distinct style of Hawaii Regional Cuisine. We will feature a unique sushi menu as well as a unique robata menu. We will complement the other restaurants on the resort to give the Grand Wailea Resort guests a varied and exciting culinary stay.

MT: Was there a particular draw working with the Grand Wailea, as opposed to opening your own stand alone restaurant on the island?

WONG: The hotel is wonderful, the people are warm, the location is great and our partnership is a great opportunity to create something awesome together. I’m really excited about being in the Grand Wailea on Maui.

MT: What does the name Amasia mean?

WONG: Amasia by definition is the converging of continents. Food brings people together, at the kitchen table or in the plantation fields in many destinations. I want to create an elevated local interpretation of this cultural exchange. Guests will experience a sense of place, as they see, hear, smell and feel the melding of exotic flavors from around the world, featuring the best of Maui’s bounty from the land and sea.

Chef Jim Denevan was still at his Outstanding in the Field dinner on the Lake Meadow Naturals chicken farm, held on a lake under the full moon, when I got him on the phone. You would think that after 10 years of doing these dinners around the world, with around 400 now under his belt, it would be business as usual, but Denevan seemed just as exhilarated as though this was his first.

“This dinner was so beautiful,” he said. “This is maybe the second time we have been on a chicken farm. Raising awareness about ethical treatment of raising animals is part of what we do. It was spectacular under the full moon. People were so happy to be here.”

His message is simple, yet powerful. “I am on an evangelistic mission to popularize dining on the farm,” he said. “It is a different way to appreciate local foods, ethical practices for raising animals, and farmers, by paying them for the site and their food, and showcasing it right at the table.”

On the mainland, Denevan uses a vintage bus to travel the country. When he finds a host farm (usually in some picturesque place), he walks the land and chooses a site for the dinner. Then he, his staff and a local guest chef set up a four-course farm soiree that’s served on white clothed tables. Now, for the first time, he’s taking his Outstanding in the Field team to the islands where they will sup on tropical Hawaiian farmlands on Maui, Big Island, Kauai and Oahu, all with menus planned by our talented Hawaii chefs.

Denevan started the project in 1999 when people didn’t really give a damn about where their food was coming from. “It was a struggle to popularize the dinners,” Denevan said. “It didn’t really catch on until about 2007, when people were beginning to take an interest in local food and chefs were starting to put the name of the farms on their menus.”

The popularity of Michael Pollan’s books (most notably The Omnivore’s Dilemma) also helped. Denevan said that there were moments when he wanted to quit and the project was broke, but then his artwork – large scale drawings using the earth as a canvas – bailed him out and he was back at his table-to-farm message again.

art:

Brochure from Peter Hinson on Vimeo.

Denevan did his first farm dinner in his hometown of Santa Cruz, California in 1999. Ticket sales back then were a struggle, but now he has a strong following. In 2011, Denevan’s team staged 87 dinners across North America from Vancouver to Virginia and, for the first time, in Europe.

His outdoor dinner season starts in May, but the dates and places are released at the beginning of March via his website http://outstandinginthefield.com/ where some of his better known locations and dinners can sell out in a mere five minutes. With the popularity of dinners increasing, he’s branched out and added off-season dinners at warmer winter locations, like this month’s Florida and Hawaii engagements.

From Orlando, Florida, the Outstanding in the Field team heads to the Kilohana Plantation in Lihue on Kauai. Their next stop is Maui, where farmers Gerry Ross and Jane Simpson will host the dinner at the Kupa’a coffee plantation. Denevan said that this is the first time Outstanding in the Field will be on a coffee farm, and the first time coffee will be served at one of his dinners. Denevan seems a Maui boy at heart, deciding on working as a chef so he could surf and make art during the day, but this will mark his first visit to Maui. Naturally, he’s hoping for big winter swells.

Gerry Ross and Jane Simpson of Kupa'a Farms

Kupa’a farm has won Best Maui Coffee at state cupping competitions, which Ross and Simpson – who are second generation farmers – attribute in part to their diverse coffee. They grow several different varieties on their 14 acre farm, with four acres in cultivation. Ross and Simpson are eager to share the farm with dinner guests. In fact, they have a blooming shade tree that features a pink canopy of blossoms; guests will sit beneath it and next to a lilikoi trellis.

“We are spring cleaning here, but there are still going to be some rough spots,” Ross said. “After all, this is a farm.” Ross joked that Simpson likes to say “Kupa’a is a vegetable farm that just happens to grow coffee,” but there is some truth to it. Besides their award-winning coffee, they grow mango, citrus, papaya, avocado and lilikoi. They also plant row crops that rotate between taro, garlic, beets, onions, lettuce, cabbage and other veggies.

Some of the Kupa'a Farms bounty

Ross has a remarkable and succinct outlook to farming. His farm is sustainable, organic and biodiverse. Ross and Simpson fight disease by growing cover crops that are non-hosts to plant pestilence. Their farm design reduced the erosion rate by 95 percent from when they obtained the land, and they’re also no longer contributing to run-off problems at the shoreline.

Of course, the agriculture industry comes with a lot of risk – what Mother Nature gives, she can also take away. Last year’s coffee production was down by half due to the horrible drought in Kula, while this year looks like a boon by comparison. Rampant mice populations in 2011 also took out a lot of product. “We could have used rodenticides, but I decided this was like any other cycle and we were going to just ride it out,” Ross said. He added that when he looks at his hard work and sees the beauty he has been able to create without damaging the environment, the benefits clearly outweigh the risks in farming. “My risk decreases when I create the farm’s ecosystem such that food is the byproduct,” he said.

In addition to the creation of a sustainable ecosystem, it’s their intimate relationship with the eater that keeps Kupa’a Farm going. “My job satisfaction is unbelievable,” Ross said. “At the Kula farmers’ market on Saturdays in front of Long’s, we sell out in a few hours. The feedback is not political or fickle. People come to us and say, ‘Where are those green beans you had last week? They were the best we ever had.’ We have successfully developed a market with variations. We don’t have the same thing every week, because of our rotations, or the weather, but people keep coming back to us.” Kupa’a Farms also supports a community supported agriculture subscription (CSA) service, and supplies Market Fresh Bistro and private chefs with their seasonal produce. (For more info on the farm, go to kupaafarms.org)

While the farm host will provide the evening’s terroir, ambiance and ingredients, it’s the guest chef who will be the ambassador of taste and presentation to the pop-up farm eating experience. For Maui diners, this will be Chef Justin Pardo of Market Fresh Bistro, a restaurant that has been ahead of the curve of the farm-to-table movement since they opened nearly three years ago. Pardo will have control over the courses but attendees will be in good hands – his seasonal menu at the Bistro is one of the best on the island, and he hosts twice-a-month farm dinners at his restaurant. Typically the menu is a surprise for guests, but if you have special dietary restrictions, they can be accommodating.

Attendees to Denevan’s dinners are asked to bring their own plate, since it gives guests the feeling that they have brought something to the table. Ross will give a tour of the farm at the dinner and talk about his coffee production. Pardo and Denevan will also talk about food culture and showcase the farmers’ bounty obtained in a sustainable organic fashion on the island, but the community table under the pink canopy of flowers will essentially be about tasting and eating what was grown just a few steps away.

The Hawaii dinners kick off Outstanding in the Field’s 13th season. The Hawaii events in January start at 3pm with a glass of wine and welcome hors d’oeuvres, followed by a tour of the host farm and a family-style, four-course meal paired with wines. Ticket price of $190 per person includes the farm tour, multi-course meal with wine and all gratuities. To learn more and reserve a seat at the Outstanding table, visit www.outstandinginthefield.com

For the complete Hawaii line-up of farm dinners:

January 14 ~ Kilohana Plantation, Lihue, Kauai ~ Guest chef: Aaron Leikam, 22 North, Lihue 

Host farmer Byrna Storch and guest chef Aaron Leikam share both a deep appreciation for fresh tropical ingredients. Leikam will work with some of the best in the farm-to-table movement, including Rick Bayless, Jan Birnbaum and Melissa Kelly.

January 17 ~ Kupa’a Coffee Farm, Kula, Maui ~ Guest chef: Justin Pardo, Market Fresh Bistro, Makawao

Farmers Gerry Ross & Jane Simpson will host Outstanding in the Field’s first dinner on a coffee plantation. Kupa’a coffee is outstanding, and was named best coffee on Maui two years in a row. Guest chef Justin Pardo does popular twice-a-month farm dinners in his restaurant.

January 21 ~ Ma’o Organic Farms, Wai’anae, Oahu ~ Guest chef: Ed Kenney, Town and Downtown, Honolulu

Farmer Gary & Kukui Maunakea-Forth are dedicated to organic farming and inspiring the next generation of young people to celebrate their connections to the land. Gary and guest chef Ed Kenney are great friends, and Ed’s son Duke does kids cooking demonstrations at Ma’o. 

January 25 ~ Kekala Farms, Waimea, Hawaii ~ Guest chef: Edwin Goto, Village Burger, Kamuela

Farmer Paul Johnston is a leader in the Hawaii local farms movement and grows more than 100 different kinds of vegetables at Kekala. Guest chef Edwin Goto recently opened his burger shack with all local meats and produce. Pairing up with a burger shack is a first for Outstanding in the Field.