Hosts
Sustainable You Hawaii – D-Green’s BBQ
D Green’s BBQ, situated in Old Koloa Town, Koloa, Hawaii, presents itself as a venue for southern-style BBQ, integrated with the unique flavors imparted by local lychee wood. Chef Darren Green, with over three decades in the culinary industry, offers a menu that includes brisket, ribs, and pulled pork among other staple BBQ items, and emphasizes a distinctive, Hawaiian-influenced BBQ approach through a signature slow-and-low lychee wood smoking technique.
In a segment hosted by Amanda Smith on Kaua‘i TV, Chef Darren Green delineated the offerings and practices of D Green’s BBQ. The chef succinctly summed up his menu, stating, “We serve brisket, pulled pork, ribs, chicken, sausage, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, coleslaw, all the staples.” His culinary approach provides a canvas to explore the confluence of traditional BBQ with local ingredients. A particular emphasis is placed on the establishment’s BBQ sauce, which is available in three heat variants and, according to Green, is an amalgamation of “all the regions of barbecue in a bottle” with “the predominant flavor [being] pineapple juice.”
One highlight of the BBQ menu, the brisket, undergoes a 20-hour cooking process and employs a spice rub consisting of around “40 different spices.” Green details the care taken to achieve a specific outcome with the brisket, noting, “you get the best of both worlds, you get a little bit of lean and you get a little bit of fatty. This will turn into like almost bacon when it’s done cooking for another two and a half hours.”
Chef Green also shared his practice of utilizing lychee wood in his smoking technique, acknowledging that it imparts a “sweet smoke” to the meats. The meticulous preparation and cooking processes culminate in dishes that Smith described as having a bacon flavor, being “definitely smoky,” and meat that “melts in my mouth, literally.”
The sauces, which notably incorporate Trinidad Scorpion peppers grown by Green himself, are formulated to deliver recognizable but manageable heat. Describing the spiciest variant, Green said, “It’s insanely hot, so I only use a small amount, just enough so that you know there’s some heat there but not enough so that it’s like, ‘Oh my god, I gotta go get a glass of milk.’”
D Green’s BBQ finds its ethos rooted in a harmonization of traditional Louisiana and southern comfort food with Hawaiian culinary innovation, providing a gastronomic exploration of both familiarity and novelty. Smith noted the establishment’s atmosphere as a “barbecue oasis” and encapsulated the perceptible aroma, suggesting, “we should bottle that bacon, just sell it as perfume.” This suggestion, while ostensibly lighthearted, underscores the deeply ingrained nature of sensory experiences in memory and familiarity, an element inherently tied to the act of dining.
While the segment on Kaua‘i TV concludes with a palpable enthusiasm for the dishes sampled and a spirited endorsement from the host, it nonetheless provides an unscripted and firsthand account of the offerings at D Green’s BBQ, illuminating the culinary philosophies and practices therein. The establishment, through a careful marriage of traditional and innovative practices, seeks to carve out a distinctive space within the culinary tapestry of Hawaii.
Sustainable You Hawaii – The Musubi Truck
Nestled in Kapa’a town, the Musubi Truck has garnered attention for its unique spin on a longstanding Hawaiian staple: the musubi. SPAM, a protein that found its way into the diets of Hawaiians during the 1940s wartime, evolved into a culinary mainstay, and by the 1980s, it was being crafted into SPAM musubi by local innovators like Barbara of Jonihana, after whom the Musubi Truck is affectionately named. As Nicolette, one of the craftspeople behind the Musubi Truck, shared with Amanda Smith, host of Kauai TV, “Spam came to Hawaii in the 1940s during wartime, and it quickly became the main staple protein for locals.” Nicolette illustrated how the truck has shifted from the classical SPAM, rice, and nori composition towards something more gourmet, yet still anchored in tradition.
While the Musubi Truck pays homage to the traditional SPAM musubi, known colloquially as the OG Spam musubi, its offerings veer into innovative territories. An example of this innovation is the Ahi Katsu Musubi. Nicolette detailed the process, stating, “We got fresh fish from local fishermen. We have a slew of them that keep in touch with us. It’s panko’d and fried and then tucked into the rice and wrapped with the nori with a little furikake again on top and a katsu sauce.” The meticulous crafting of each musubi, from careful rice pressing to adroit nori wrapping, yields a harmonious blend of crunchy and soft textures, warmly enfolding the palate.
Contrastingly, their Ahi poke bowl, which Nicolette described as having “cold, crisp Ahi on the warm rice with the furikake, Hawaiian salt, just a touch of it so that you taste it every other bite,” is a different kind of culinary experience yet still revered by both tourists and locals. The juxtaposition of the cool Ahi with the warmth of the rice provides a notable variation, establishing the Musubi Truck not just as a one-note wonder but a place where tradition and innovation harmoniously reside side by side.
The truck, while primarily a food service entity, extends its influence beyond the culinary realm through community involvement, particularly via their “Feed Our Keiki” program. Nicolette shared with Smith, “Since we’re close to the skatepark and the middle school, they all come flowing through here, and we’ve really become a place for them that’s safe.” Through the program, children in the vicinity, either from the skatepark or the school, are provided with a nourishing meal, comprising of the original Spam musubi, chips, and a drink. The initiative is not just about feeding the youth but also about providing a safe and welcoming space, weaving a tapestry where sustenance and community converge.
In a realm where food, tradition, and community interfuse, the Musubi Truck finds its niche, offering not merely a meal but an experience, a connection to the roots and evolution of Hawaiian culinary arts, and a warm embrace to the community it serves. This synthesis of culinary innovation, respect for tradition, and community integration delineates a unique path in which the Musubi Truck navigates, meandering through the tastes and spirits of Kaua’i, crafting not just food, but narratives enveloped in nori, sprinkled with furikake, and imbued with the essence of aloha.
Sustainable You Hawaii – Nani Moon Mead
Nani Moon Mead, positioned in Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii, underscores its expertise in crafting mead—an alcoholic beverage originating from fermented honey. The business integrates a diverse assortment of local ingredients, prominently Hawaiian honey and various indigenous tropical fruits, spices, and herbs. The resultant beverage is a reflection of the Hawaiian terroir, enriched by the locale’s characteristic biodiversity. An apparent commitment to sustainability and the reinforcement of local agriculture echoes through the meadery’s practices, given their exclusive use of Hawaiian honey and local produce in crafting their meads.
In a conversation with Amanda Smith, Stephanie from Nani Moon Meadery elucidates, “Basically, what mead is is an alcoholic beverage that’s made from honey. We make mead because we can get all of our ingredients locally. So we get honey from our own hives and fruit and spices from our local farmers, so you’re left with a product that’s 100% Hawaiian and tropical.” This underscores the meadery’s intent to embed itself in practices that favor local production and sustainability, whilst producing a beverage intrinsically tied to its geographical and cultural context.
When visiting Nani Moon Mead, customers find a tasting room, where a range of meads, distinct in their flavor profiles, are available for exploration and purchase. They have meads that range from the brightly tropical to those imbued with richer, spicier notes. Mention of several meads, such as Pineapple Guava Sunset and Winter Sun, indicates a palette inspired by and derived from the local environment. Furthermore, the tasting room is not only a space for sampling but also serves as an informative stage, where aspects of mead production and ingredient details are divulged to the visitors.
Navigating through the assortment of meads Nani Moon Mead offers, Stephanie outlines, “We do have seven varieties of our commercial meads, which you’ll find on our menu as well as sometimes seasonals… We highly recommend the royal flight, and that can be enjoyed for two people or for an ambitious one person, and that’s a two-ounce pour of all seven of our commercial varieties.” A snapshot into a few of the meads—like the Ginger Spice, which “is made with Kauai honey, star fruit, organic raw ginger, and organic spices,” or the Winter Sun, formulated with “local raw honey, star fruit, and passion fruit,”—provides insight into the thoughtful fusion of local ingredients.
Moreover, the meadery is described as ensuring a meticulous blending of traditional mead production practices while engaging in collaborations and close workings with local beekeepers and farmers, maintaining a singular emphasis on ingredient quality and genuineness. The resultant mead offerings are notably crafted to create not merely a beverage but an experience that encapsulates Hawaii’s vibrant and distinctive environmental attributes.
Stephanie’s comments in the video about various meads provided insights into the myriad of options available to patrons. Regarding the Cacao Moon, she remarked it is “made with local macadamia nut blossom honey and chocolate and vanilla, both grown on the north shore of Kauai, so it’s semi-sweet and just super beautiful and smooth.” Another variant, Deviant Behavior, presents an intriguing blend, being “made with Kauai honey, Hawaiian chili peppers, and pineapple.”
She wraps up the interaction with a note that for customers who traverse the tasting journey and wish to take a piece of it back home, “We do tastings and we do full bottle purchases here, so you can either come in and buy a few bottles or you can come in for a taste and leave with bottles. We do ship to the mainland, so if you come in and want to take anything home with you, we can provide that shipping option to select states.”
Nani Moon Mead is not merely a business entity but a confluence where local agriculture, sustainable practices, and the creation of a uniquely Hawaiian beverage intermingle, contributing to a sustained local agricultural practice and a distilled, bottled experience of Hawaii’s indigenous flora.
Sustainable You Hawaii – Cozy Bowl
In Kaua’i, Hawaii, Cozy Bowl Noodles garners attention with its distinctive approach to noodle-making, particularly through the unconventional use of ‘ulu (breadfruit) as a primary ingredient. Spearheaded by Dominique Chambers, a former pastry chef turned entrepreneur, Cozy Bowl Noodles not only provides a varied selection of distinct noodle types such as Rigatoni, Lumache, and Mafaldine but also ventures into home goods and special offerings like ‘Ulu Ramen and options for customers to donate an ‘Ulu Tree.
“Ulu is so versatile,” shared Chambers during a feature by Kauai TV, hosted by Amanda Smith. Elaborating on the choice of using ulu as a staple in her pasta creations, she explained that depending on whether the breadfruit is “really starchy or very ripe,” it can be utilized variably to “alter the recipe of [her] pasta dough to achieve a different consistency,” thereby providing opportunities to craft noodles that could range from “more stretchy” to “more chewy.”
A compelling transition from her pastry chef days, where Chambers confessed she fed people “copious amounts of sugar,” her venture into nutritious, sustainable food production through Cozy Bowl Noodles reflects a conscientious effort toward healthier culinary offerings. Chambers appreciates the nutrient-dense profile of ulu, stating it is “filled with all the vitamins and minerals that a person needs to survive.” She sees merit in producing a product that not only serves as a culinary delight but also as a potential sustenance in times of scarcity.
Her offerings during the TV feature included not only the classic rigatoni but also adventurous blends such as “moringa and Okinawa spinach trigatone” and “ulu rigatoni with a kabuka squash dressing,” accompanied by a colorful array of ingredients like eggfruits, napa cabbage, kale, Ali’i mushrooms from the Big Island, daikon, and a touch of pickled onion as well as fennel. The resultant product, as tasted by host Amanda Smith, is described as “very fresh” and “easy to eat,” with a note of appreciation for the “lots of flavor” and a subtle “hint of that squash” towards the end.
While the culinary efforts and innovative approaches toward sustainable and nutrient-conscious food production by Cozy Bowl Noodles is worth noting, particularly with its use of a local staple like ulu. This niche approach to noodle-making, marrying tradition with innovation, not only underscores a potential avenue for the utilization of local ingredients in varied culinary preparations but also implicitly champions a move toward conscious, sustainable culinary practices within the locale.
Sustainable You Hawaii – Kōloa Mill Ice Cream & Coffee
For nearly 12 years, Koloa Mill Ice Cream & Coffee, located in the quaint setting of Old Koloa Town, Kauai, Hawaii, has quietly offered a myriad of sweet and savory offerings to its patrons, an approach that gives a nod to both local flavors and locally-produced ingredients. The establishment serves not merely as an ice cream and coffee shop but evolves into a space providing a wide assortment of culinary delights.
In a discussion with Amanda Smith of Kauai TV, Martin, a representative of Koloa Mill, said succinctly, “we serve ice cream, shave ice, coffee, and breakfast sandwiches.” He also noted the specific intent behind the selection of their ice cream brand, “The ice cream we serve is Roselani brand, made on Maui since 1932, and it was really important for us to have a Hawaii product here to serve.”
This emphasis on local produce also permeates through to their coffee offerings, steadfastly utilizing Kauai Coffee, known for its distinct and flavorful profile, embodying the essence of the locale from where it originates.
Regarding their ice cream, Martin noted the particular popularity of one flavor, stating, “Our number one flavor, four times more popular than the next, is Kona Mud Pie.” The inclusiveness in their dessert menu is also seen in the availability of Dole Whip, a non-dairy soft serve, that, while most recognized in its pineapple iteration, is available in several other flavors.
The shave ice at Koloa Mill, well-appreciated for its fine and fluffy texture, is crafted meticulously from a frozen block, shaved to create a light and enjoyable consistency. Martin provided an amusing observation regarding the younger clientele, sharing, “It’s funny because with the ice cream and with the shave ice, when the young kids come to order, they order by color, not by flavor. ‘Mom, can I have blue? Mom, I’d like to have red.'”
Koloa Mill’s endeavor to provide hearty breakfast options, such as breakfast sandwiches, contributes to offering a well-rounded start to the day for locals and visitors alike. Regarding their relatively new breakfast offering, which has only been a part of their menu for roughly a year, Martin emphasized its freshness and depth of flavor, stating that each sandwich is “made fresh to order” and available in variants such as ham, turkey, bacon, or Hawaiian pineapple sausage.
When asked about the breakfast sandwich, Amanda Smith commented on the flavors, identifying, “maple and sage in there,” further affirming the depth and complexity brought to seemingly simple menu items.
Undoubtedly, Koloa Mill Ice Cream & Coffee’s subtle commitment to providing high-quality, locally-sourced products, from the premium Roselani Ice Cream to the savory breakfast sandwiches, stands out. Their offerings extend from the classically sweet to the robustly savory, ensuring a comprehensive palate experience without ostentation, but with a quiet dedication to quality and the community they serve.
Sustainable You Hawaii – JJ’s Cold Brew
JJ’s Cold Brew, nestled in Princeville, Hawaii, carves a niche in the community with its unique, meticulously prepared cold brew coffee. While JJ’s Cold Brew has made strides in hosting tastings and pop-up events, such as those at Timbers Kauai, and aligns itself with nonprofits like Kauaifoodhub, its tangible customer experiences and explicit feedback remain slightly obscured, requiring an in-depth probe into their actual offerings and on-site customer interactions.
In a detailed exploration presented by Amanda Smith on Kaua‘i TV, Jenny and James of JJ’s Cold Brew unravel the careful artistry behind their recognized cold brew coffee. “Cold brew is basically a process where you steep the grounds and brew it like tea for 12 hours, and we do it at room temperature,” Jenny explains, emphasizing the deliberate, slow brewing process aimed at reducing acidity, a characteristic the company esteems. This detailed method results in a coffee described as “extremely smooth” and that is notably “better for your stomach.”
Their collaboration with Outpost Coffee not only brings forth a blend of Kona and Peru but also taps into a network of global farmers with an affinity for “mostly organic and fair trade” practices. Their commitment to ethical sourcing is palpable as they ally with suppliers who adhere to transparent and conscientious sourcing norms.
Moreover, the introduction of their signature blend, specifically Tamarind Cane Sugar Cacao Dipped with Coconut, into the market pivots around a refreshing blend that navigates between the rich, smooth taste of their cold brew and the exotic, flavorful notes of other ingredients. As Smith remarked during the tasting, “It’s nice because you have that tamarind flavor and coconut. It’s almost like a Mexican cocktail but with no alcohol, of course.”
Their delivery in large growlers not only supports prolonged enjoyment throughout the day but also offers a versatile option for entertaining guests, as James revealed: “People come back all the time like, ‘Wow, that was really good.’ So we’re super excited about this direction moving forward. We might have more surprises to come.”
While JJ’s Cold Brew looks toward future expansion and refinements in their offerings, their present positioning offers a singular coffee experience that melds smoothness with sustainability, robust flavor with refreshing, exotic infusions, and deliberate craft with a connection to global, ethical sourcing practices. Furthermore, their trajectory indicates a potential unfolding of further innovative and pleasurable coffee experiences, which have been received with positive responses, albeit rooted in conscientious and sustainable practices.
JJ’s Cold Brew Facebook
Down to Earth – Chocolat Hanalei
In Wainiha, Hawaii, situated on a lush plot of nearly six acres, lies Chocolat Hanalei, a chocolate business with its roots deeply embedded in family and meticulous craftsmanship. Guided by the hands and expertise of Irmgard Mitchell, the entity, notable for its handcrafted gourmet chocolate, intertwines the complexity of chocolate-making with the simplicity and authenticity of familial ties and traditional flavors.
As a child in Germany, Irmgard fostered an appreciation for quality chocolate. She recounted, “As kids, when we got sweets or candies, it was mostly chocolate because it’s healthier for you than all sugar candies. So, I grew up with good chocolate.” This early exposure has, undeniably, cast a lasting influence on her professional journey, with the tangible fruits of such influences being seen and tasted in the wide array of products available at Chocolat Hanalei.
One might assume that such an intricate and labor-intensive process of transforming cacao from tree to treat would require an arsenal of specialized machinery. However, Irmgard and her family’s approach leans into manual methods. Through a lens provided by Lyndsey Haraguchi-Nakayama on an episode of “Down to Earth Kauai TV”, it was revealed that the creation of these chocolates is, impressively, “all by hand.”
Notably, the chocolate’s richness and intensity are not only resultant from the cacao but are also profoundly impacted by the inclusion of local Hawaiian flavors, providing a unique sensory experience. Irmgard stated, “We try to have a lot of tropicals in it because we’re in Hawaii. So we have the lilikoi, the coconut, or the coffee. It all grows here.” This reflects a conscious and intentional effort to infuse the products not just with generic flavors, but with a taste that authentically represents the region and its abundant resources.
Moreover, the chocolate-making process and the resultant products at Chocolat Hanalei are perhaps equally as intricate as wine production, where the percentage of cacao plays a pivotal role in flavor, sweetness, and consumer preference. Irmgard explained the dynamic, saying, “If it is an eighty percent chocolate, there is eighty percent cacao ingredients and twenty percent sugar. If it’s a sixty, there is sixty percent cacao and forty percent sugar.” In essence, this variation allows for a wide spectrum of flavors and intensities, providing options that can cater to varying customer preferences, much akin to acquiring a palate for varied intensities and flavors in wine.
It’s also worth noting that this family operation not only crafts chocolates but cultivates and transforms the cacao beans into the final product. From nurturing the cacao trees to methodically crafting the chocolate by hand, each step is diligently overseen and executed by Irmgard and her family members, embodying a full-circle process that is as laborious as it is passion-filled.
This close-knit collaboration among family members—each person wielding distinct, invaluable roles—has allowed for a seamless intertwining of traditional and artisan chocolate-making methods. For visitors and consumers, this ensures that each product not only stands as a testament to meticulous craftsmanship but also as a personal creation from the Mitchells, fostering a deeper connection between the creator, the product, and the consumer.
In summary, Chocolat Hanalei emerges as a testament to meticulous craftsmanship, tradition, and the intertwining of professional and personal worlds, curated through the lens of family and authentic Hawaiian flavors.