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TASTE OF THE ISLAND . . . Looking for a nice, shady spot in Wailuku to enjoy lunch outdoors? From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays, Maui Fresh Streatery food truck rolls under the Banyan Tree Park in Wailuku with an ever-rotating, international menu.
Recently, I savored Greek moussaka and a refreshing and cool mango-coconut panna cotta by chef-owner Kyle Kawakami and his team.
The new Pint & Cork in The Shops at Wailea will kick up its heels for its grand opening on Friday with an extended happy hour all day long.
“We want to let everyone know that we are open,” says partner Scott Pacer. “We’re now going full bore with our menu and every month we will be changing it out with new food by Chef Maka Kwan.”
The happy hour, which generally runs from 2 to 5 p.m. daily, offers $2 off bottled beers and $5 prices on selected local draft beers.
I checked out the menu the other day with returning Peace Corps volunteer Barbara Trecker and we savored the deviled eggs Rockefeller with smoked bacon, spinach and sauce Bernaise; the clams and linguesa in tomato sauce with grilled polenta; and the warm mushroom salad with lemon, garlic and baby greens – and all were out of this world, indeed.
It was quite a departure from her chicken-and-plantain menu in St. Lucia in the Caribbean. (FYI: Trecker is back at Maui Arts & Cultural Center in another capacity from her prior marketing career.)
“It’s pub food for foodies,” says Pacer, who is partners with Chris Lowney (former bartender of Mulligans on the Blue), Mike Thomas and Mark Baldwin.
“Pub food with a Hawaiian spin. It’s just four guys who got together to open a place we would like to hang out in, and we listened to those in the industry to try and get it right,” says Pacer.
Pint & Cork also pours ciders and sours and has nice wines from Robert Sinskey pinot noir to Billecart Salmon brut champagne.
The Huliau Food & Film Festival will be under the stars for those 21 and older from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Sugar Beach Events in Kihei At least 10 top Maui chefs will participate from Aaron Uyeda of Miso Phat to Gary Johnson of Hana Ranch Provisions. Students such as Sean Fleetham and Jaden Kreunter will show their food films to beef things up. Cost of $95 includes food and one drink. Call 757-2100.
Sugar Beach Events will also set the stage for Easter Seals Hawaii’s Traveling Plate Maui, a statewide culinary tour to raise awareness and funds that will land at the Kihei venue at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Host Chef Lee Anderson will be joined by Sheldon Simeon of Tin Roof, Isaac Bancaco of Andaz Maui, Jojo Vasquez of Plantation House and others.
The VIP admission of $100 gets you in an hour early and general admission of $75 gets you in the door at 5:30 p.m. For tickets or more details, you may visit www.eastersealshawaii.org.
Craving something exotic while your date wants tame? There will be a bite for every taste at MAPA Live! “Jekyll & Hyde The Musical” at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the MACC.
“A Saigon Cafe will be catering the food all three days,” says its famous owner Jennifer Nguyen. “We will do my award-winning salmon, spicy eggplant in coconut curry, chicken roasted moist then deep-fried for crispy skin, and chow fun with tofu and pork.”
A Saigon Cafe will also have a food booth this week at the First Friday Town Party in Wailuku near the Green Ti massage salon on Market Street.
“We will do the same foods at ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ and also a specialty steamed bun like a manapua filled with roast pork and green onions,” Nguyen says.
The theme for this month’s First Friday Town Party is Uptown Getdown 8 with a two-on-two “B-Boy Battle,” music by DJ Joralien on the Maui Thing Stage, and a beer garden to cool things down.
Montage Kapalua Bay resort will present another Aloha Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. this week as it does on every first Friday of the month in the Hana Hou Bar. Enjoy happy-hour drink specials along with a live musical performance by Pi’ilani Arias.