BY JOLEEN OSHIRO / joshiro@staradvertiser.com
Deemed the “most delicious week of the year,” Restaurant Week Hawaii puts a spotlight on the local culinary landscape from Monday, Nov. 18, through Sunday, Nov. 24, with special promotions, menu items and discounts at dozens of venues as upscale as Alan Wong’s, as casual as L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, and everything in between.
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Chefs Roy Yamaguchi, left, and Alan Wong are honorary chairmen of this year’s Restaurant Week Hawaii. (Star-Advertiser File)
The sixth annual event is a benefit for construction of the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head, a state-of-the-art culinary campus that will offer a four-year program. The institute will feature a signature restaurant, demonstration and competition auditorium, culinary labs, imu and garden plots.
Individuals from every aspect of the food-and-beverage and visitor industries comprise the Restaurant Week Hawaii committee, said Conrad Nonaka, committee chairman and director of the Culinary Institute of the Pacific.
Chefs Alan Wong and Roy Yamaguchi are honorary chairmen; among the long list of those joining them are restaurateur D.K. Kodama, Brooks Takenaka of United Fishing Agency, farmers Alec Sou of Aloun Farms and Dean Okimoto of ‘Nalo Farms, Russell Hata of Y. Hata & Co., Mark Teruya of Armstrong Produce and Conchita Malaqui of Waikiki Beach Walk.
While Restaurant Week is pegged to the building of the culinary institute, it is also a program that brings attention to the restaurant industry during a traditionally slow period, Nonaka said.
“I tell the restaurants, this is the time to brag. Bring out your best dishes, and people will remember you for their birthdays and special events,” he said.
That approach has been such a success that more and more venues are signing on. This year Nonaka estimates that nearly 100 restaurants — including some with multiple locations — are participating.
As for the culinary institute, which has been in the planning stage for 20 years, contractor bids are slated to go out in a couple of weeks.
Nonaka said building is targeted to begin in 2014, with the first phase of construction to include three classrooms, four culinary and pastry labs, and parking. That phase will take 18 to 24 months to complete. Phase two, set to begin six months later, would concentrate on the competition and demonstration auditorium, signature restaurant and an administration building.
