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TASTING TIME . . . Maui is turning into quite the tidy little Napa Valley of tasting rooms lately. Up in Maui Research & Technology Park in Kihei, you can confuse the new Maui Brewing Co.’s state-of-the-art facility with a .com business in San Jose.
Only Mount Haleakala looms from behind and the blue Pacific is in the forefront, so there goes other similarities. The Tasting Room with its outdoor seating is delightful, and as a Euro friend pointed out, the rest rooms are modern, but old-world in design. Modern is a good thing, when you are sipping the selections.
Three’s Bar & Grill’s food truck and other vendors park outside the Tasting Room to feed you, and it’s a lively new Maui scene, to be sure.
Hali’imaile Distilling Co. in Haliimaile will host a grand opening of its new Tasting Room from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Master Distiller Mark Nigbur is the man behind the Pau Vodka, the Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum and the new Paniolo Whiskey.
Come and meet Nigbur, who is a doppelganger for rocker Sammy Hagar, savor some complimentary pupu at 11 a.m. and listen to music by Benny Uyetake – all after the distillery’s blessing.
Besides Saturday, tours are available on the hour from Monday to Friday.
Ocean Organic Vodka in Kula, another popular place to tour, is partnering with the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa to present the Ultimate Ocean Cocktail Contest. You may email your submissions now through Feb. 28 by visiting the website at www.oceanvodka.com.
“You can be a professional bartender, spirits aficionado, an amateur mixologist, backyard bartender or anything in between! Follow the rules and give it your best pour!” says Ocean Vodka CEO Shay Smith.
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AROUND THE TOWN . . . “If Maui were music, it would sound like these guys,” pens Santa Cruz Sentinel about recording artists HAPA.
On Sunday as well as Saturday, Feb. 7, the new Mill House at Maui Tropical Plantation in Waikapu will present dinner shows with the HAPA duo of Barry Flanagan and Ron Kuala’au, both on vocals, guitar and ukulele. Come early from 4 to 6 p.m. to check out the transformation of this popular tourist attraction and enjoy lavish pupu by Chef Marc McDowell.
Savor ahi poke cones, poisson cru with chips, artisan cheeses, artichoke-pepper dip, grilled vegetable bruschetta and more. Sit down to dinner at 6 p.m. with amuse bouche, salad, entree and dessert, followed by the HAPA show with back up and hula dancer at 7:30 p.m. Cash bar. Cost is $90 per person. Call 270-0333.
Hawaiian Islands Land Trust still has some tickets left for Malama Kipuka: Buy Back the Beach benefit luau that will be generously presented on the oceanfront grounds of Old Lahaina Lu’au on Saturday.
Famed Poet Laureate and Maui conservationist William Stanley Merwin will receive the organization’s 2015 Champion of the Land Conservation Award for donating a perpetual easement on his 20-acre palm forest in Haiku. For tickets, call 244-5263.
Want to travel back in time, so to speak, to get a big, beefy, old-fashioned burger for $2.35?
Family owned and operated Ruby’s Restaurant Group will celebrate its 32nd anniversary with these prices at all locations on Wednesday. That means Ruby’s Diner in Queen Ka’ahumanu Center and Ruby’s Dinette at Whalers Village in Kaanapali.
In addition, police officers, firefighters and active duty military will get a burger free that day.
Grand Wailea’s first Celebrity Chef Tour benefit for James Beard Foundation has just announced another big name, Tiffany Derry, star of “Hungry Investors” on the SPIKE cable channel. Events are Friday and Saturday. Call 875-1234 for tickets.