Lavish “Grow Some Good” Foodie Event Returns

By Vanessa Wolf

Cheese pizza from Outrigger. Photo by Vanessa Wolf.

This Saturday, March 8, is the second annual Grow Some Good: Taste of School Gardens event.

Once again, local chefs and school garden supporters come together to celebrate all the culinary, agricultural, and educational knowledge provided to more than 2,500 students in South and Central Maui by the Grow Some Good program.

Hosted on the Sunset Lawn of the Hotel Wailea, attendees can anticipate gourmet dishes sourced from locally (including school garden) grown ingredients and prepared by some of Maui’s top chefs.

The menu includes Maui Chopped 20 Vegetable Salad with macadamia-herb dressing and feta cheese from Spago Chef Cameron Lewark.

Chefs Brian Etheredge and Christopher Kulis of Capische?, Il Teatro and The Market by Capische are serving a number of things to go with their handful of restaurants.

Anticipate Pumpkin Gnocchi with garden vegetables, sage, lavender and brown butter; Kampachi Crudo, with school garden herb salad, fried capers and uni vinaigrette and Kale Salad with crispy bread fruit, Surfing Goat cheese and citrus vinaigrette.

Meanwhile, Ferraro’s Bar e Ristorante’s Chef Roger Stettler is serving Rotisserie Roasted Island Catch with smoked yellow tomato coulis, school garden herbs-vegetables salad, citrus and Maui olive oil; and Tortellini in Brodo.

The scene at March 2013’s Grow Some Good event. Photo by Vanessa Wolf.

Things get a little Middle Eastern with Falafel Lettuce Cups from Café Carmen’s Chef Brian Murphy and Tabbouleh Salad with Tomatoes, Cucumber, Farro and Toasted Ricotta Salata from Chef Corey Waite of Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman.

Chef Daniel Fiske of Private Maui Chef goes for extra credit with two dishes. The first is Opakapaka Fish Bone Soup, with tuna belly, school garden super greens, tomato, cilantro, soba noodles and crispy wonton.

Not your cup of soup? Vegetarians can enjoy his Local Tomato and Galangal Vegan Broth, with Hamakua ali’i mushrooms, school garden super greens, tomato, cilantro, soba noodles and crispy wonton.

The Outrigger Pizza Company’s Chef Eric Mitchell is also pulling out all the stops. He’s offering Mediterranean Pizza made with eggplant, red onion, kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, feta and pesto and served with or without chicken; Marinara Pizza made with tomato, olive oil, mozzarella and basil; and school garden herb “green pizza” made with a variety of school garden herbs and olive oil.

Last, but not least, Fabiani’s Pizza & Bakery Chef Nicholas Porreca rounds out the carnivorous options with Green Papaya Steak Salad made with grilled skirt steak, cherry tomatoes, mint and macadamia nuts.

Beer and wine included in your ticket price (Editor’s note: we’re told by previous participants that the drinks are unlimited) is Hahn Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Ema Merlot, Candor Merlot, Stone Barn Chardonnay Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay, Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc Enza Prossecco, Iconoclast Cabernet and Lahaina Town Brown Pau Hana Pilsner courtesy of Young’s Market, Southern Wine and Spirits and Maui Brewing Company.

Dean Wong, the executive director of Imua Family Services will be emceeing the event and the ever-popular BrownChicken BrownCow String Band is providing musical entertainment.

The event starts at 5 p.m. and tickets are $89 per person (plus $5.44 online fee), $850 (plus $33.45 online fee) for a table of 10 and $99 per person at the door, presuming there are still tickets available at the door.