Sample Island’s Best Cuisine at “Maui Calls”

By Vanessa Wolf

Don’t be fooled. You’ll be eating a whole lot more than one wee meatball. Courtesy photo.

Tomorrow night at 6 p.m. in the A&B Amphitheater of the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, you can take part in one of Maui’s most anticipated events.

The 2013 Maui Calls, the annual gala fundraiser for the MACC, gives attendees the opportunity to sample some of Maui’s best restaurants, along with fine wines from around the world.

Brace yourself, because this is a feast to rival King Midas’ legendary funeral banquet.

This year Alan Wong’s Amāsia will be serving Maui Cattle Company beef skewers with spicy jalapeño miso and Hana pohole fern salad; and Asian pear salad, with Ka’u orange segments, enoki mushrooms, candied garlic, pecans, Gorgonzola dolce, and a chardonnay reduction vinaigrette.

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Executive Chef Brian Etheredge of Capische? will be offering a “BLT” with crispy pork belly, ruby streak mustard greens, tomato sorbet, candied bacon kampachi carpaccio, guava vinaigrette, and shaved horseradish root.

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Gannon’s will be serving venison agnolotti and Moroccan lamb meatballs.

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Next, you can sample Hula Grill’s flash-grilled Kona kampachi taco, jicama-poblano slaw, Bobby’s fuego hand-crafted kiawe smoked pepper bacon, Ho’o pono Farms mizuna, “toy box” tomato, and guava-pepper jelly.

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Humuhumunukunukuāpua’a is not only fun to say, but will be otherwise treating your tongue with Hawaiian ahi tartare, perilla leaf, soft herbs, green onion and toasted cumin alongside Kumu Farm corn chowder-corn, smoked tomato, ginger, madras curry and home -smoked bacon.

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Loosen your belt, because Chef Tylun Pang of Kō will be serving tangled tiger prawns with pineapple sweet chili garlic sauce and their signature oishi sushi spicy tuna roll.

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Undo a button or two.

Main Street Bistro is providing mac & cheese with smoked pork and Korean shrimp sandwiches with ko chu jang aioli.

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Makena Beach & Golf Resort will also be at the event and dishing up Makena spicy ahi hand rolls, green onion, tobiko, cucumber and bomb sauce, fresh taste of kampachi, fresh pomelo, tangelo, Honeycrisp apple, bacon avocado, red grapes, and Spanish ponzu.

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New plan.

Forget pants with buttons or any kind of belt. This event calls for an elastic waistband.

Mala Wailea will be offering a goat cheese bruschetta with 20-year-old age balsamic vinegar and a tomato and pea shoot salad with watermelon, feta cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette.

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Don’t forget a long shirt with lots of stomach-expanding breathing room so that you can comfortably enjoy Monkeypod Kitchen’s spicy seared whole Kauai shrimp with Kula tomato gumbo, upcountry cornbread; vine-ripened tomato salad from Zuhair farms with whole grain farro; and toasted ricotta salata cheese, cucumber, mint, parsley, and extra virgin olive oil.

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Consider fasting before you attend so that you can fit in some of Ritz Carlton Kapalua’s seared lamb and pork belly slider on a pretzel roll with house-made pickles and hamachi tartar with avocado and spicy ponzu.

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Scratch that.

Effective immediately, cease all eating until tomorrow night as Roy’s Kā’anapali will be serving keawe-smoked Maui Cattle Co. beef cheek, Kula corn lugaw and fried egg. Lobster kamaboko and micro chiso salad with caper and tarragon dressing.

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Is there going to be a vomitorium at this event?

Maybe just bag it all and wear a muumuu so you can chow down on Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar’s Takoyaki: “octopus fried” balls with garlic aioli, aonori, and bonito flakes; and Korean shrimp and kimchee pancake with greens and kochuchang sauce.

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Don’t kill the messenger.

Spago Four Seasons Maui will be serving up their famous spicy ahi tuna “poke” in sesame-miso cones and Hana “vine ripened” baby tomato salad with goat cheese foam.

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Three’s Bar & Grill is making it that much harder with chilled Pen Cove oysters with Maui onion pomagranate ponzu and bacon-wrapped honey-chipotle glazed lamb and foie gras meatloaf with Maytag bleu cheese-ginger polenta, Hamakua mushroom and hana pohole fern poke.

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Just reading about this may have caused you to gain weight, but that’s too bad because it doesn’t stop there.

That’s right. Tommy Bahama will be gilding the lily with their world famous coconut shrimp with papaya-mango chutney and asian slaw and Kalua duck lettuce cup with Waipoli butter leaf lettuce, jicama, tamarind mango compote, and crispy rice noodles.

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For the true gluttons, Four Seasons Resort Maui and Grand Wailea will be providing desserts.

These include – but aren’t limited to – Waialua Estate Chocolate Custard, Brown Butter Fizzy Streusel, Sweet Corn Ice Cream, Butter Mochi, Cornmeal Macaroon, and Chocolate Coconut Cream Brulee.

There will also be fresh roasted 100% Maui Grown Red Catuai coffee from Maui Oma Coffee Roasting Company.

Vintners and wineries represented include Andrew Will Winery, CADE Estate & Plumpjack Estate Wineries, Duckhorn Wine Company, Miner Family Winery, Orin Swift Cellars, Paradigm Winery, Priest Ranch/Somerston Estate, SLO Down Wines, and Zolo Winery, among others.

The event starts at 6 p.m. and tickets are $175 for each individual, and tables run from $1950 to $10,000 for a table of 10.

We welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you hear of any new restaurants opening or under new ownership, total menu overhauls, or simply know of a hidden treasure you want to share. Have a restaurant you want reviewed (or re-reviewed)? Drop us a line – Vanessa(@mauinow.com)