Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival Revives ʻCuisines of the Sun’

Courtesy photo.

The seventh annual Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival (HFWF) will feature a blast from the past with the return of Cuisines of the Sun at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa on Saturday, Oct. 28.

Master chefs who participated in the original culinary series that ran from 1991 to 2001 will prepare a six-course dinner for guests. The Cuisines of the Sun revival is a nod to the influence the series had on Hawai‘iʻs culinary growth, inspiring events like the HFWF.

“Cuisines of the Sun started with four chefs and four winemakers featuring cuisines and beverages of warm, sunny climates,” explains HFWF Co-Founder and featured chef Alan Wong. “It grew into inviting chefs and winemakers from all over the world. It brought media, attention and publicity to the Big Island, to the State of Hawai‘i, our food, culture, farmers, products and people. This is what the Hawai‘i Food and Wine Festival brings to the state in its seventh year.”

“It’s fitting in our seventh year to honor an event that elevated Hawai‘i’s reputation as a culinary destination with a food-forward 2017 reboot,” adds Denise Yamaguchi, Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival CEO. “Return of Cuisines of the Sun celebrates the past, present, and future of Hawai‘i cuisine with a dinner that will build upon the success of the legendary original.”

The six-course dinner will include slow-roasted Hawaiian berkshire pork with cocoa bean mole ginger lemongrass broth and bok choy prepared by award-winning chef Robert Del Grande; Cilantro lime buttered kampachi and corn tamale filled with prawn salad on warm tomato salsa by the father of Southwestern cuisine, Dean Fearing; Thai lobster rolls with spicy coleslaw and aioli by dining pioneer Mark Peel; and sea of pineapple with lemon thyme, marscapone coconut cream with tapioca and passion fruit sauce by New York pastry chef François Payard.

General admission tickets are $250. First Hawaiian Bank MasterCard customers are eligible for preferred access tickets for $250 that include a one hour early admission with VIP cocktail reception and VIP reserved seating. VIP tickets which include early admission are $500.

For more information visit www.HawaiiFoodandWineFestival.com.