3 Things I Learned at [re]Think Hawaii

10/21 UPDATE: Big mahalo to Ricky Li (@rickyli99) for sending me this pic of the conference speakers. He was the designated photographer, so be sure to watch his site for official photo coverage of the event.

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Thanks to Joan Pan (@trulyjoannies), I had the privilege of attending yesterday's [re]think Hawaii Speaker Series at the Regal Dole Theaters. It was a full day, but I thoroughly enjoyed the lineup of presenters. The event certainly had a "one from every village" feel to it, with a nice mix of talent sourced locally and from abroad. Here's a glimpse of what I took away from the event.

1) Less is More
Each presenter was given just 10 minutes to talk about what they do. When you think about it, this isn't a whole lot of time to discuss that which you are most passionate about, but they each did an excellent job of condensing their presentations to fit within the allotted time. This also helped move things along at a nice pace.
The less is more theme was echoed in some of the presentations as well. Cheyne Gallarde (@thecheyne) of Firebird Photography emphasized "nearsighted creativity" and the importance of "finding new uses for old things." His success is based on his ability to reinterpret his surroundings, finding perspectives others may have overlooked; it isn't because he's got the latest and greatest equipment in his camera bag. Chef Ed Kenney (@edstown) talked about the importance of reducing the distance between farm and table. One of the tragedies of living in Hawaii is that most of our food travels thousands of miles before being consumed. The more we can grow locally, the better off our island community will be.

2) Connectivity is Key
Being that the event was centered around entrepreneurship, this was a logical topic. I particularly enjoyed the insights shared by Shaherose Charania (@shaherose) and Neenz Faleafine (@NEENZ). Shaherose talk was about empowering women through the use of technology. She talked about how mobile telephony changed the lives of women living in Bangladesh. She also established Women 2.0, a networking incubator created to foster the ideas of women entrepreneurs. Neenz, on the other hand, focused more on the importance of using in-person relationships to reinforce the connections made online.

3) Technology is Just a Tool
A lot of organizations make the mistake of thinking technology, on its own, will move them forward. They forget that it is incapable of crafting vision, lacks tenacity, and cannot replicate the human element. Granted, when used properly, technology has the potential to do great things for a business. Speaker Bear Woznick said going digital for his business has given him a lot of freedom and opened up countless opportunities. Overall, however, I was surprised by the lack of technical jargon and geek speak, given the nature of [re]think and its target audience. I was reminded of a quote I heard at a data governance conference last year: "technology is an enabler." Sure it is necessary for some of us to do the work that we do, but it isn't meant to replace it.

This was a tremendous experience and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to attend. Special thanks to organizers Christine Lu (@christinelu), Chris Noble (@cfnoble), and Shuchi Rana (@autkast) for planning and coordinating the event. I enjoyed the organic, laid back feel. It gave me the impression that the presenters were there to learn just as much as we were.

If you missed out on [re]Think, check out Ed Morita's (@nctrnlbst) gallery on Nonstop Honolulu.

This is why I shop at the farmers' market

Several weeks ago, I wrote this post about personal responsibility. It goes along with an earlier commitment to buy locally grown and/or organic produce whenever possible. Because we had such a successful shopping trip at Saturday's KCC Farmers' Market, I was motivated to cook dinner on Sunday night.

Here's what we ate:
1) Oven-roasted Molokai Sweet Potato
2) Braised Kale with Soy-Ginger Dressing (garnished with fresh Waimea strawberry)
3) Homemade Vegan Patty


This image was not digitally altered - the colors really were that vibrant. Wifey said it was the best meal I have EVER made for her. Wow. I wish I could say it was all me, but it really comes down to using the freshest ingredients possible.

Next week, I plan to try something a little different by picking up a CSA box from Ma'o Organic Farm (@maoorganicfarms). Stay tuned for posts from that adventure!

Here's the veggie patty recipe I came up with for those who are interested:
• 1 can black bean (pureed in blender)
• 1C cooked Oatmeal
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1/2 package panko
• 1/4 cup soy-based mozzarella
• 2T egg replacement
• 2T shoyu
• 1T garlic
• 1T ginger
• 1t curry powder

Mix all the above in a bowl and form into patties. Brown in a frying pan with extra virgin olive oil.

V Lounge + Town | Honolulu, Hawaii

I have wanted to try the pizza at V Lounge for months, ever since reading this  Urban Mix Plate blot entry by Melissa Chang (@Meslissa808). Last night seemed like a good a night as any so we headed down there for some of their famous kiawe wood-fired pizza.

Afterwards, we had a craving for something yummy from Little Oven (@liloven), but as it turns out, they were only serving a limited selection of KC Drive-Inn waffle dogs and shakes, so we ended up at Town in Kaimuki for dessert. Overall, the food was excellent at both places, but the ambiance was very different. V Lounge had a relaxed, laid back feel; a stark contrast to the boisterous atmosphere at Town.

Believe it or not, I actually remembered to bring my trusty SD400, but the battery was dead! ARGH! You know what that means... yup, iPhone pics once again :\

V Lounge
1344 Kona Street
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 953-0007
Website
Follow on Twitter

Town
3435 Waialae Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 735-5900
Website

Walking down Kona street at night can be rather intimidating and finding V Lounge can be a tad tricky. There's a sign above a little doorway. If you blink, you'll miss it.


There were very few people around when we first walked in. It started to fill up by the time we were finished, but never felt overly crowded.


We decided split a pizza and came up with a custom concoction of buffalo mozzarella, Hamakua oyster mushrooms, sweet onion, arugula, basil, and truffle oil, which is basically everything on the menu that isn't meat. It turned out amazing! The dough was soft and chewy, while the toppings were fresh and flavorful.


I've been to Town twice this week. We had lunch there on Thursday and decided to go for dessert last night. In the past when I've eaten there, I found the service to be extremely poor. On these two occasions, however, I was really impressed. The staff was friendly, helpful, and cordial and we didn't have to wait forever to get our food. Since we were only there for dessert, we sat at the bar. Turns out, that was probably a mistake because a bunch of weirdos camped out next to us. One guy was practically leaning on me the whole time.


Wifey got the pana cotta, which came drizzled with honey and served with pomegranate. It must have been really good because I didn't get any :(


I ordered the almond financier. The tart marmalade offered a nice contrast to the sweet cake.

Imanas Tei + A Latta Gelata | Honolulu, Hawaii

Imanas Tei is a tiny restaurant located near the corner of South King and University. Since it's not on the main road, it's difficult to see as you're driving. We ended up parking in the paid lot next door because the tiny one in front of the restaurant was full of craziness. The food was a little on the salty side, which is usually the case with Japanese cuisine, so we grabbed some gelato at Whole Foods for dessert. This was another camera fail event, so iPhone pictures it is!

Imanas Tei Restaurant
2626 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 941-2626

A Latta Gelata (inside Whole Foods Market)
4211 Waialae Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816

We sat at a huge table that takes up most of the dining room floor space. It was as if we were having dinner with 5 other couples, none of whom we had ever met. Yes, it felt like we were dining with strangers, and yes, it was weird.


As strange as this sounds, the potato salad was one of the best I've had. In my opinion, Japanese restaurants in general make the best potato salads. Must be that special Japanese mayo...


We also ordered Kabocha, since it's one of wifey's favorite foods. It was good, but nothing really special.


Wifey also ordered their mushroom miso soup.


This is their version of the cucumber roll. Most places just place a single cucumber spear in the middle, but Imanas uses lots of thinly cut cucumber ribbons. An intesting take on what is usually a pedestrian piece of sushi.


In addition to the cucumber, we ordered takuan and yamaimo rolls.


I love shishamo, especially when grilled like this. When I was done with this plate, all that was left was a leaf.


This is their seaweed salad. Looks fancy, but we were a little disappointed with the taste. The dish could have used some ogo or other texture, in my opinion.


For dessert, we went to Whole Foods for some gelato. The company that makes the gelato (A Latta Gelata) used to have a store in Kings Village, but that closed some time ago.


I went with a scoop of Strawberry + a scoop of Guava. It was the perfect ending to the meal.

Hale: Modern Macrobiotic Cuisine | Honolulu, Hawaii

This special Valentine's edition of date night was comprised of dinner and a movie. With most restaurants offering a set menu for the night, I knew it would be tricky finding a veggie-friendly option. The solution? a little place called Hale, which serves up (mostly vegetarian) "modern macrobiotic cuisine." And the movie? What sappy, romantic, lovey-dovey chick flick did we see? AVATAR baby! in 3-D! Sorry, I digress...

The food was great. We went with the Prix Fixe menu and weren't disappointed. Chef Moco Kubota does an exquisite job with flavors and presentation. The service was good, but our waiter seemed a bit apprehensive (to the point where I wondered if he had just started on the job).

There was one negative aspect to our dining experience that I must bring up. Halfway through our meal, a couple was seated next to us. The lady sat next to my wife in the booth that runs along the left wall. She had a dog in her lap the entire time. Yes, a DOG, in the restaurant, next to my wife trying to enjoy her Valentine's Day dinner. Granted, the dog was very well behaved, but we were just a slightly perturbed that the staff did nothing about it (and annoyed at the lady who obviously had no concept of appropriateness at the dinner table).

Hale Macro
1427 Makaloa Street
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 944-1555
Website
Follow on Twitter

If you didn't know it was there, you might miss this place. It's tucked into a little space on Makaloa and you won't find any signs on the road, just this one in the window.


The interior of the restaurant is shaped like a triangle, which limits the amount of seating. Ordinarily, this would be a non-issue, but being stuck so close to Fido can be rather unsettling.


The layout isn't all bad, though. One of the cool features is that the chef works behind the bar, so you can watch her prepare your meal.


As an appetizer, we ordered the fries (mainly because we saw someone else order them and they looked so good). In retrospect, we should not have ordered them. They were just average and made us full.


Now comes the good stuff...
Course #1: Maui onion and beet soup served in the same bowl with cauliflower and oatmeal soup. The beet soup was warm and contrasted well with the cooler cauliflower oatmeal soup.


Course #2: An appetizer sampler composed of stuffed baked tomatoes, ratatouille with homemade crouton, and organic tempeh escabeche.


Here's a closeup of the stuffed baked tomatoes. This was wifey's favorite.


Course #3: Wifey ordered the tofu, served on an Okinawan potato pancake with sweet and spicy papaya sauce and accompanied by Mesclun greens and steamed veggies.


My dish was identical to hers, except that I opted for Opah instead of tofu.


Course #4: Chocolate and strawberry cake with soy ice cream. It wasn't overly decadent as most chocolate cakes tend to be and offered just the right amount of sweetness to round out the meal.

Belladonna | Honolulu, Hawaii

Because we've been eating a lot of Asian food recently (Thai and Vietnamese tend to be the most veggie-friendly), we were in the mood for something a little different. Tucked in a little nook next to Coffee Talk on Waialae Avenue is a new restaurant called Belladonna. The decor is very modern and everything is pretty much brand new. Overall, the food was very good and the service was friendly. We sat at the bar, which gave us a chance to talk a little with the general manager.

I forgot my camera at home, so you're going to have to excuse the poorly image quality. I had to use my iPhone and these pictures really don't do the food any justice.

Belladonna
3605 Waialae Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 426-3552

As you can see, the place is so new that they don't have permanent menus yet. In speaking with the General Manager, he told us that they are still trying stuff out, trying to get an handle on what people like.


The bread was average. It was served at room temperature with some butter. If it had been warmed up prior to serving, it would have tasted a lot better.


We started with the salad of the day: Mesclun greens, goat cheese, candied walnuts, and mandarin orange. The dressing was a peppery vinaigrette, which went well with the pungent goat cheese and sweet orange and walnut.


There were no vegetarian entrées listed on the menu. So wifey was just going to order a couple of salads. Our waitress picked up on it and offered that they could do homemade gnocchi or pasta with veggies in either marinara or cream sauce. She went with the pasta and cream sauce. It was a little on the rich side, but we were extremely pleased with the way they had been so accommodating.


This may sound pedestrian to some, especially at a slightly upscale restaurant, but I went with the meatballs and spaghetti. I remember hearing somewhere that they true test of an Italian restaurant is their meatballs and spaghetti and this place did not disappoint. These were probably the BEST meatballs I had ever eaten. They were cooked perfectly and were so moist that they practically melt in your mouth.


Wifey ordered crème brûlée for dessert. I'm not sure why they brought out 3 spoons. I can't really comment on the flavor or texture because I didn't get any :(


I was a little more adventurous with my dessert. I went with their homemade gelato. How is that adventurous? Well it wasn't your run of the mill chocolate ice cream - it was chocolate bleu cheese gelato topped with a balsamic reduction. The manager said they're still working on plating this one so it isn't much to look at, but it was really good.

Tanaka of Tokyo | Honolulu, Hawaii

Last night's date night was just awesome. The food was excellent and the service was absolutely AMAZING. Well, a little disclaimer here...we did receive VIP treatment because my mom knows one of the higher ups at this company. I didn't want to say anything, but somehow our reservation got flagged and we ended up with comped drinks and a little extra special care. It may have also helped that one of my former students happened to be the manager on duty. Small world.

Tanaka of Tokyo West
Ala Moana Center, Ho`okipa Terrace
1450 Ala Moana Boulevard
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 945-3443
Website

This place has always been a favorite of mine. We used to go to the one at the Wakiki Shopping Plaza all the time. Now there's one conveniently located in the Ho`okipa Terrace at Ala Moana, which is where we had dinner last night.


All of the meals come with miso soup and salad. I love the flavorful ginger-based dressing.


The chef is pouring the dipping sauce. The darker brown sauce is the ginger sauce, for seafood and vegetables. The lighter colored one is mustard sauce, which is supposed to be used for meat and chicken.


As you can tell from this shot, our chef was quite the clown. His name is Jonah. If you really want to be entertained, you should ask for him on your next visit.


Of course the show is a big part of the overall experience. The poor guy on the left looks like he almost lost his eyebrows - yikes!


So what does Wifey eat at Teppanyaki? Well, they have this vegetarian dinner. It's a block of tofu, seasoned and grilled, accompanied by grilled tomatoes. They don't have it listed in the menu, but it is on their website, which is how we found out about it. She said the tofu was even better than the one she had at Alan Wong's Restaurant.


She also got some carrots and mixed veggies.


This is what impressed us most about the dinner and I had to mention it. Because she ordered a vegetarian plate, the chef was conscientious enough to cook ALL the veggies first. That way, none of the meat touched any of her food! This is great news if you're vegan (Wifey is not, she's actually lacto-ovo).


A bowl of garlic fried rice rounded out the meal.


I ordered the Daimyo, which included a lobster tail, scallops and beef tenderloin. Personally, I felt like the seafood was a little over done, but...


The steak was a perfect medium-rare. I guess if you go to a Japanese steak house, you should stick with the steak.


Wifey went with green tea ice cream for dessert. Notice the two scoops.


I got A SCOOP (just one!) of pineapple sherbet. No, I'm not bitter or anything...

Roy's Restaurant | Honolulu, Hawaii

Last month, we went to Roy's to celebrate my wife's birthday. Tonight we were back, this time to support the American Red Cross' effort to bring relief to the people of Haiti. Chef Roy Yamaguchi (@RoysRoy) prepared a four-course meal, his "humble interpretation of traditional Haitian cuisine." The food was good, but what really made the night memorable are the people we shared our table with. We sat with L.P. Neenz Faleafine (@NEENZ), Noe Mendiola (@Noe808), Ed Morita (@NctrnlBst), Gypsy Raven (@GypsyRaven), Holly Hadsell Hajji (@HollyHadsell), and Holly's husband (who isn't on Twiiter).

Roy's
6600 Kalanianaole Highway
Honolulu, HI 96825
(808) 396-7697
Website

To start, the brought out this corn fritter appetizer. Apparently, it's just deep fried corn batter, but those little suckers were so addicting!


Course #1: Haitian Style Conch Ceviche (served with a piece of crostini). I found this dish to be very refreshing, despite the heat from the diced peppers. I suppose it's not unlike a Caribbean version of poke.


Course #2: Caribbean Style Chicken with Nalo Greens. The most interesting part of this dish was actually the garnish. What looks like purple ogo (seaweed) in the picture is actually strings of fried taro.


Course #3: Pork Loin Chop Griots. The generous portions of pork were tender, moist, and flavorful.


Course #4: Gâteau de Patate. This was a very dense dessert that reminded me somewhat of sweet potato pie. It paired nicely with the fresh fruit and unsweetened cream.


Sitting at a table with Neenz certainly has its perks as Chef Roy himself came over to chat and paused for a quick picture. What REALLY impressed me is what happened next: he proceeded to individually thank each and every person that was there. I was absolutely blown away.


All in all, it was a great evening. I thoroughly enjoyed the food and the company. Those of you who are going on Sunday are in for a real treat.