Da Kine Star-Bulletin staff and wire services

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RESTAURANT REPORT

Aiea grill features Southern barbecue

Dixie Grill in Aiea hosts a Bar-b-que Fest starting Thursday through Sept. 30, with such Southern specialties as Fried Dill Pickles and Inside-Out Banana Cream Pie.

Menu items of Cajun Creole Grilled Shrimp Roll, Bar-b-que Beef Short Ribs and Grilled Cajun Mahi Mahi explore the many facets of barbecue.

Daily specials served after 4 p.m. include Bar-b-que Based Meat Loaf on Mondays, Pulled Ham Po' Boy on Tuesdays, Grilled Chicken and Sausage Kabobs Wednesdays, Roasted Chicken Salad Po' Boy Thursdays, Savannah Smokey Wild American Shrimp and Steamed Crab Combo Fridays.

On the weekends a smoker grill on the lanai will turn out Slow Roasted Pork, with roasted potatoes and grilled corn, beginning at 3 p.m.

Dixie Grill is at 99-016 Kamehameha Highway. Call 485-CRAB.

Chef Mavro to give cooking class

Chef George Mavrothalassitis heads for Hamakua for his third Chef Mavro Cooking Class and Farmer's Market Tour, Sept. 21-23 at Waianuhea, a luxury inn on the Big Island.

The weekend will include a tour of the Waimea Farmers' Market, tastings and gourmet meals. The centerpiece will be a hands-on cooking class, followed by a three-course gourmet lunch with wine pairings. The menu: Maitake Mushroom & Asparagus Salad, Day Boat Catch and dessert of Chocolate Feuillantine.

Attendance is limited to 12.

Cost is $1,700 to $2,300, including accommodations.

Call (888) 775-2577 or e-mail info@waianuhea.com.

Wine-and-dine special offered

Alan Wong's King Street restaurant features chef Wade Ueoka in a "Next Generation" wine-pairing dinner Wednesday.

The centerpiece will be a Lamb, Duck and Pork Trio -- lamb seasoned with Kona coffee, a roulade of Chinese-style roast duck and crispy roast pork -- served with a Mollydooker Shiraz, "Blue Eyed Boy," 2006, from Australia.

The menu: Seafood Salad (with Graves Grenache Blanc, "Blackseth Vineyard," 2006), Persillade Crusted Kona Kampachi (Kunstler Riesling Spatlese, "Hochheimer Stielweg," 2005) and dessert of Waialua Chocolate and Waialua Coffee Tiramisu (Chambers Rosewood Muscat).

Cost is $75, $105 with wines. Call 949-2526.

Celebrate beer with special brew

Kona Brewing Co. at Koko Marina launches its limited-release brew Pipeline Porter at a tapping celebration at 5 p.m. Friday.

For each pint sold that night, $1 will be donated to Malama Maunalua, a group promoting cultural and ecological programs in southeastern Oahu.

The seasonal porter, made with pure Kona coffee from Cornwell Estate on the Big Island, is a chocolate-colored brew available through February in restaurants, bars and some retail outlets.

Call (808) 334-BREW or visit www.KonaBrewingCo.com.