Trending
FRESH IN WAILUKU . . . Where do all of the sharp-dressed businessmen eat in Wailuku? On a recent lunchtime, I spotted a line of them at Zing’s Maui in the Main Street Promenade building.
They were talking legalese and county politics, and were ordering Kula strawberry spinach salads with feta cheese, and aromatic chicken salads with pine nuts and grapes on croissants.
Zing’s opened Sept. 25. Chef-owner Joe Birrer is from Oregon and his wife, Jamie Birrer, and mother-in law, Lily Barnett, hail from Colorado and Wyoming. But all have been on Maui awhile.
“Our menu features fresh soups, salads and sandwiches with a little Mexican added to it,” says Jamie. “We try to do a little something for everyone. We keep it healthy and also serve the fried stuff and the burgers.”
Chimichangas and turkey-bacon-avocado sandwiches are flying out the door. Zing’s is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays. Wake up to huevos ranchero, eggs Benedict with real hollandaise and more.
Santa will be in Wailuku for the First Friday town party this week, and Juan’s Kitchen, which just moved from Lower Main to Market Street, will be in the thick of things with a booth from 6 to 9 p.m.
“We will serve garlic fried noodles, and plates with fried chicken, pork chops and combos of the two,” says owner Zaida Juan, who is in her seventh year of business with her husband, Sibley Juan.
***
BITS AND PIECES . . . Did anyone see the Target Maui Pro Surf Contest at Honolua Bay? Winner Carissa Moore joined her family, including a proud grandfather, at Maui Fish & Pasta at Whalers Village in Kaanapali for dinner last Friday.
Sous chef Davin “Bam” Balagso sent out fresh scallop appetizer that will debut on the new happy hour menu this week. “We were thrilled that Carissa and her family joined us for dinner,” says Executive Chef Alex Stanislaw. “And it was especially nice to see how happy and proud she makes her grandpa.”
Do you love sake? Chris Pearce, the only certified sake assessor in the U.S., will teach a class from 6 to 8:30 this evening at The Class Act restaurant upstairs in the Paina Building at UH Maui College.
“The Joy of Sake” will let you sample and sip a total of eight different sakes with accompanying “sake no sakana” or appetizers. Cost is $99 for those 21 years and older. Call EdVenture at 984-3231.
Three’s Bar & Grill will be tooting its culinary horn from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. before the Herb Alpert concert at Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului. Choose from kale salad to mac-nut crusted chicken to panko-crusted ahi roll in Thai curry butter sauce – all sure to be off the charts in taste and texture.
Remember the signature Banyan Tree restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua? After a several-year hiatus, it just reopened Tuesday with a new design concept and a new menu, featuring farm-to-fork dining and garden-to-glass cocktails.
“We are thrilled to welcome back the Banyan Tree restaurant in an entirely new way this December,” says Alex Ahluwalia, Ritz general manager. “The reopening of this signature restaurant represents a redefinition of island dining and cocktail concepts with a focus on seasonal and local ingredients.”
Signature dishes include bouillabaisse, packed with fresh scallops, prawns, onaga and tako in fresh lemongrass and Kona lobster broth. Sous Chef Ken Sniffen also wows with pappardelle with house-smoked bacon, garden-fresh kale and macadamia-nut pesto.