Issue 1

Q&A: Kent Torrey

Q&A: Kent Torrey

For the 2017 Hawaii Food & Wine Festival, Kent Torrey of the Cheese Shop in Carmel, Calif., will be bringing more than a thousand pounds of cheese to the Sept. 12 Corks & Forks event at Hawaii Convention Center. Once again, Torrey and his team will amaze attendees with his famed 1,000-pound display — about 70 full wheels, then a whole bunch of smaller soft ones, wedges and more, including some made in his home state of Hawaii.

Behind the Bottle: Grace Family Vineyards

Behind the Bottle: Grace Family Vineyards

If you think Grace Family Vineyards is all about the wine, you’d be only half right. Founders Dick and Ann Grace set up the Grace Family Foundation almost 20 years ago and spend at least three months a year working in underserved parts of the world, improving the lives of young people and assisting in meeting the educational and medical needs in countries such as Tibet, India, Nepal and Mexico.

Q&A: Michel Richard

Q&A: Michel Richard

Born in Brittany and raised in Champagne, Michel Richard knew he wanted to be a chef when he first saw a restaurant kitchen — at age eight. He started as a pastry chef, working in Gaston Lenorm’s esteemed pastry shop and running his own bakery in Los Angeles. Ten years later, he opened Michel Richard, then Citrus, to immediate acclaim. He’s won awards, written books and won’t buy unsustainable fish, period.

Mexico Meets Hawaii

Mexico Meets Hawaii

Chef Rick Bayless discovers the intersection of Hawaiian and Mexican cuisines at the Papahana Kuaola ahupuaa.

Bayless, who was named Hawaii Food & Wine Festival’s second Culinary Hero in April 2019, made history in Hawaii at Papahana Kuaola and created his traditional Mexican dish, using Hawaiian cooking traditions. He had planned to prepare locally-raised pork for his dish, but rather than cook his pig in an oven, he cooked it in a Hawaiian imu (or pit) which is similar, yet different, from the Mexican method of cooking a pig in the ground.