Nadine Kam photos
One of the entries in the "Anything Goes" category of Fresh Catch's "Hogs Gone Wild" Up in Smoke cook-off. Crab-stuffed red and yellow bell peppers were wrapped with smoked bacon.

One of the food events I look forward to each year is Fresh Catch's "Up in Smoke" cook-off, with this year's 5th annual themed "Hogs Gone Wild" and taking place at Cycle City & JN Automotive Group, at 600 Puuloa Road and Nimitz Highway.

It's because those who don't live with—as I don't anymore—or know any hunters, don't have much access to the result of the hunt, the smoked meat that is the reward for a day's labor and uncertainty over whether one will be able find and track a worthwhile target.

The annual event is a labor of love hosted by Fresh Catch's Reno Henriques, and made possible by the participating teams, who work year 'round to perfect their smoked dishes for the annual competition.

Event host Reno Henriques, of Fresh Catch, left, invited judges' victor Lisa Dejournett of VRM Pit Crew, and People's Choice winners Shawn, second from left, and Curtis Bautista, representing Always Smok'n Sum'n, to the event's throwdown competition, which resulted in a grand prize win for Always Smok'n Sum'n.

In keeping with the hog theme, many a spectator pulled up on a Harley, and a few classic cars also made their way through the parking lot in a mini parade.

Of course the highlight of the day is the opportunity to taste the myriad assortment of smoked meat, that ranged from the top-billed pork, various seafood, Molokai axis deer, and most unusual for me, Capt. Smokey's Alaska black bear, which, coated in a teriyaki-style marinade, simply tasted like beef jerky! It was the work of Henriques' brother Dominic.

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Fresh Catch Hawaii locations are at 3109 Waialae Ave. (808.735.POKE) and 45-1118 Kamehameha Highway in Kaneohe (808.235.POKE).

Alaska black bear jerky was one of the offerings, courtesy of the Capt. Smokey team, led by Dominic Enriques, brother of Fresh Catch's Reno Enriques.

Dishes were judged on smoked taste, tenderness and appearance. Judges selection count as 75 percent of a contestant’s overall score. People’s Choice selection will count for 25 percent.

The grand prize victor, winning over both judges and the people's choice voters, was Alwayz Smok'n Sum'n, which placed in all five of the competition categories: pork, fish, chicken, beef and anything goes.

VRM Pit Crew, which came in 4th place last year in the smoked pork category, and 2nd in the smoked beef category, moved to the top of the heap in both contests this year. In the pork category, the crew traded places with Guava Smoked, who came in first last year. But don't cry for the Guava Smoked crew, which moved from second place last year to first position this year in both the smoked chicken and anything goes categories.

Here's one guy lucky to have avoided being a main course. Cesar, rescued as a young boar in the Waiahole-Waikane valley, is now a beloved 3-year-old pet who likes eating smoked pork and McDonald's french fries but rejects Jack in the Box fries, according to his owner. Cesar was the only living boar at the event. Others were splayed out on the back of trucks.

GRAND PRIZE and PEOPLE'S CHOICE OVERALL
Alwayz Smok'n Sum'n, $1,000

SMOKED PORK
1st place: VRM Pit Crew, $1,000 cash award
2nd place: Alwayz Smok'n Sum'n, $ 500
3rd place: Smokin' Shiggy, $100
4th place: Guava Smoked, $50
5th place: Smo'KING, $100 gift certificate
6th place: Team Hoku, $50 gift certificate
7th place: (tie) Simply Smoked ABCDE, and Pilau M/C Oahu, $25

SMOKED FISH
1st place: Action Smokers, $250
2nd place: Guava Smoked, $100
3rd place: Smo'KING, $100 gift certificate
4th place: Diamond Head Market & Grill, $50
5th place: Alwayz Smok'n Sum'n, $ 50 gift certificate
6th place: Capt. Smokey, $25

SMOKED CHICKEN
1st place: Guava Smoked, $250
2nd place: VRM Pit Crew, $100
3rd place: (tie) Smokin' Shiggy, and Action Smokers, $100 gift certificate
5th place: Alwayz Smok'n Sum'n, $50
6th place: Team Hoku, $25

SMOKED BEEF
1st place: VRM Pit Crew, $250
2nd place: (tie) Capt. Smokey, and Prime Time Smoker, $100
4th place: Alwayz Smok'n Sum'n, $50
5th place: Smokin' Shiggy; $50 gift certificate

ANYTHING GOES
1st place: Guava smoked, $250
2nd place: Capt. Smokey, $100
3rd place: Alwayz Smok'n Sum'n, $100 gift certificate
4th place: Action Smokers, $50
5th place: VRM Pit Crew, $50 gift certificate
6th place: Prime Time Smoker, $25

Smoked pork offered to attendees.

Theme of the day, with a touch of the tropics.

One of the judge, 3660 on the Rise chef Russell Siu, shows some of the pork offerings awaiting judges' verdicts.

Smoked salmon was one of the entries in the fish category. Others offered salmon fillets and crisped salmon skin.

A combination of smoked lobster, scallops and fish were entered in the "Anything Goes" category. (more...)

Nadine Kam photos
Titus Chan leads a Chinatown Cultural Center tour prior to the start of his benefit dinner for Kapiolani Community College.

Titus Chan, among the TV chef pioneer of the 1960s and early ’70s, is sharing his expertise during "Dinner With Master Chef Titus Chan," a program blending cuisine and culture, at Won Kee restaurant.

The program involves a brief guided tour of the Chinatown Cultural Plaza, followed by a 10-course Chinese dinner hosted by the effervescent chef, who still has the personality and sense of humor that made him one of the original celebrity chefs, before Food TV and The Cooking Channel existed.

Chan rose to fame in 1972, when "Cooking the Chan-ese Way" debuted on KHET, followed by a national PBS release in 1973, introducing the art of Chinese cooking across the United States.

During the dinners, which can accommodate six people and up, each table will include a bottle of "Mui Kwai Lu" Chinese white wine, which, at 96 proof, acts more like vodka. Guests may also bring their own libations, with no corkage fee.

The cost is $194.40 per person, including tax and tip, and Chan is able to work accommodate large parties and groups. A portion of the fee will be donated to Kapiolani Community College’s Culinary Institute of the Pacific to help provide scholarships for culinary students.

Below, Chan hosted a preview dinner to show off his menu.

For information or reservations, call 983-1327.

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Won Kee Seafood Restaurant is at Chinatown Cultural Plaza, 100 N. Beretania St. Call 524-6877.

I've walked or driven by the Sun Yat-Sen monument many times, but never stopped to read it. The words highlight the ideas he stood for, including "loyalty," "filial piety," "peace," "pacify the world" and "study the nature of things."

The dinner started with an appetizers of sashimi, and below, deep-fried shrimp toast.

Tofu and scallop soup was the next course.

Crisp, thin Peking duck skin and buns were served next. When one of the guests asked about the whereabouts of the duck meat, I knew he wasn't Chinese. We all live in such close proximity here, but food traditions are so ingrained into our respective cultures that unless diners make an effort to go exploring, the most basic aspects of a culinary tradition will remain a mystery. Some of my Japanese friends can't fathom the attraction of a salted duck egg.

Two spotted sea basses are hidden beneath a pile of ginger, green onion and cilantro. Titus said he searched for these fish for four days and had to fight off two other men early in the morning to get these one-and-a-half pounders with their perfect tender meat. Larger fish tend to be tougher, he said.

Though served at a time when people were getting full, shrimp-stuffed tofu proved so popular that most enjoyed seconds.

The toasted garlic-and-sweet coconut topped Hong Kong Harbor-style lobster was one of the meal's highlights. Garlic prepared this way can be bitter when browned, but it was perfect here.
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Fatboy photo
Fatboy’s Ali’i Fried Rice is a take on the Loco Moco, featuring fried rice topped with homemade corned beef hash, hamburger patty and eggs. How much would you pay for this baby? Well, for two days, you can set your own price.

Fatboy’s restaurants islandwide are erasing all prices from their menus March 26 and 31, and are letting customers set their own prices on the two days. Stores are located in Kailua, Kalihi, Keeaumoku, Waipahu and at Pali Golf Course.

The “No Prices for Hawaii’s Keiki” promotion is a fundraiser for the Kapi‘olani Health Foundation in support of its Campaign for Hawai‘i’s Children, to rebuild Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children. All proceeds over cost will be matched by Fatboy’s and donated directly to the foundation.

The promotion is the brainchild of Fatboy’s owner Carroll Ung and his wife Rariyo, whose daughter Leah was born at Kapi‘olani. Shortly after her birth, a blood test showed that Leah’s platelet count was critically low at only 10,000 (normal is 150,000).

Leah is now a thriving 2 year old and her first few weeks are a distant memory, but the care the family received at Kapi‘olani inspired Ung to create the “No Prices” fundraiser.

Carroll and his father founded the first Fatboy’s—Caroll's childhood nickname—in Kalihi in 1999 with a goal to serve a higher-end plate lunch with fresh local ingredients and gourmet sauces. They have since expanded to five restaurants on Oahu.

Nadine Kam photos
Restaurateur Chai Chaowasaree at the bar of his new restaurant with some of his crew, from left, Cody Kalua, Kevin Malama and Anthony Murata.

Chai Chaowasaree marked the grand opening of his new restaurant, Chef Chai, with a celebration that took place March 9 at Pacifica Honolulu, 1009 Kapiolani Boulevard.

The restaurant has elegant, sophisticated appeal, and though it looks just as spacious as his former Chai's Island Bistro digs at Aloha Tower, he said it's an illusion. The new restaurant seats 100, but appears larger because of its horizontal layout.

There's also a private dining room that seats about 16 to 18, though if you have a couple more guests, where there's a will there's a way I always say.

The menu makes a more healthful departure from his previous menu, as the chef acknowledges Honolulu's graying population. I grew up with the original "name" chefs who got their start in the late '80s, so we're all in the same boat and looking for food that tastes great, with less salt, sugar and fat than the typical restaurant menu.

That doesn't mean there's any lack of flavor, and anyone walking in cold would not miss a thing, as the dishes he served that night proved.

This particular stretch of Kapiolani is rapidly becoming Health Row, with the raw vegan Greens & Vines leading the charge at 909 Kapiolani, and organic-oriented Blue Tree Cafe also in the Pacifica building. They make it easier to start eating healthier.

Space heaters outside keep diners toasty when the mercury dips.

Gorgeous interior.

The private dining room.

Gravlax salmon roulade with cream cheese and crab meat on cucumber.

Ahi tartare in mini waffle cones.

Escargot in pastry cups.

Chicken satay.

Oysters with lemongrass-garlic mignonette.

Garlic gochujang shrimp and apple kimchee summer rolls.

Hamachi!

Chai's signature kataifi-wrapped shrimp with pineapple.

Miso Chilean sea bass over steamed coconut milk-ginger brown rice.

Sun-dried tomato and Puna goat cheese wontons with spicy relish.

Alaskan king crab leg crabcakes were presented with roasted garlic aioli. The full dish also features tomato-mango salsa.

Grilled Mongolian lamb chops.

Have bottle will travel! A passerby just stopped in to check out the new restaurant en route to a party at one of the Pacifica condos.

Thai-style oxtail soup with lemongrass broth.

Nadine Kam photos
Doraku Kaka'ako by day.

By Nadine Kam

If not for one small detail, I would not have recognized the kinship between Doraku Kaka'ako and next door neighbor Blue Tree Cafe, in the new Pacifica condominium building at 1009 Kapiolani Boulevard.

The former caters to the happy hour, pau hana and party crowd. The latter offers the fix for the aftermath, with healthful libations and many a vegetarian and vegan food offering.

But I put two and two together when I saw the small photograph of Benihana of Tokyo founder Rocky Aoki and his first wife Chizuru, on a table at Blue Tree while reviewing the two eateries last month. (Aoki also translates as "Blue Tree.") The two are the parents of the restaurants' founder, Kevin Aoki, who hosted a casual media tasting Feb. 25 to introduce the two concepts.

For Aoki, raised with the Benihana tradition, Japan-style specialities with a twist seems to come naturally, so I was more intrigued by his organic and vegetarian direction, which he chalked up to a matter of getting older and recognizing the need to guard his health in light of raising a young family while undergoing the daily stress of overseeing a growing empire that will soon see another teppanyaki concept, Aoki, opening in Miami soon.

Introducing a delicious fruit "life-changing" elixirs, very verde smoothie and kombucha, the probiotic fermented tea, is in line with what he does at home to stay healthy.

I applaud the effort believe that all restaurateurs should consider ways to keep their clientele alive. I would have opened a french fry and aioli shop in downtown Honolulu two decades ago if I didn't care that to do so essentially amounts to killing people.

Lilikoi kombucha and a very verde smoothie sit in front of a  portrait of Rocky and Chizuru Aoki at Blue Tree Cafe.

Coral Reef roll with salmon, avocado, crab and won ton chips.

Doraku's Kaka'ako's "New Style" tuna tataki with julienne radish and onions, kaiware sprouts, crisp garlic chips, garlic aioli and ponzu sauce.

Doraku's Kaka'ako's Double Happiness roll of crab rolled in nori, thin-sliced cucumber and finished with tobiko, garlic aioli and ponzu sauce. This was so refreshing and a perfect option for the gluten-free crowd.

Chef Hide Yoshimoto’s panko-crusted hamachi with mango salsa, king oyster mushrooms, asparagus, mango puree, and lemon-butter ponzu sauce.

The Red Dragon Roll is an unagi-topped variation of the Dragon Roll, or California roll.

Love the upscale-casual vibe at Blue Tree.

At Blue Tree Cafe, we sampled delicate zucchini "pasta" topped with pesto and sun-dried tomato ...

... And mac 'n cheese comprising quinoa shells and mashed pea "cheese." I like the quinoa macaroni just fine, but not being vegan, I still prefer milk cheeses.