Must-see food TV: ‘Family Ingredients’ raises the local-production bar

Last night Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room hosted a preview screening of the new TV series pilot Family Ingredients, which airs on PBS Hawaii  this Thursday, May 23, at 9pm (repeats May 30 at 10pm).  You don’t want to miss it. The show is the concept of executive producer Heather Giugni, who tapped charismatic Ed Kenney, chef-owner of Town, to host the show. Behind the camera, she … Continue reading Must-see food TV: ‘Family Ingredients’ raises the local-production bar

Food, father, and son: ‘Entre les Bras’ at the Doris Duke Theatre Feb. 5-7

The documentary Entre les Bras (lamely called Step Up to the Plate in English) opens with France’s most influential, revered chef—Michel Bras—pulling push-pinned photos off a bulletin board. He is making way for his son Sébastien’s take over of his restaurant Bras in southern France. Slight, compact, and bespectacled, he looks a little Jacques Cousteau, a little Milhouse Van Houten of The Simpsons. And totally … Continue reading Food, father, and son: ‘Entre les Bras’ at the Doris Duke Theatre Feb. 5-7

Kahala: The new bluefin?

In the wayback machine, I was an editor for the World Wildlife Fund’s International Secretariat in Gland, Switzerland. I wrote about many conservation topics, and one of the most urgent at the time (well, weren’t they all) was the looming fisheries crisis. My cover story for the Spring 1995 issue of WWF News was Fishing for Disaster: “Overfishing affects the whole world: an estimated 20 million people who fish for a living, national economies (since 1983, the Canadian government has spent US$1 billion on fishermen’s welfare), anyone who eats seafood, not to mention the fish.” It was hard to get international press to cover the marine debacle. But 15 years later, it is headline news. (See, it pays to contribute to conservation organizations—they persevere.) Continue reading “Kahala: The new bluefin?”

When dinner IS a movie: 4 at HIFF Spring Showcase

The Hawaii International Film Festival‘s Spring Showcase includes four films with an epicurean bent. They screen April 19-22. These films will inevitably make you hungry and thirsty, so for each film I’ve suggested somewhere to go to feed your needs.

Playing tomorrow is Cafe Seoul, which will have the K-Pop nuts out in force—Korean singer-actor John-Hoon is in it, along with Japanese model-actor heartthrob Saitoh Takumi. Disconnected brothers are reconnected through the family restaurant. If you like K-dramas, you will love this. Have it for lunch. Monday April 19 at 1:30pm.
For post-film craving:
Choi’s Garden Continue reading “When dinner IS a movie: 4 at HIFF Spring Showcase”