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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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Alan Wong cookin’, new Maui FM rockin’
Honolulu chef and restaurateur Alan Wong was not presiding over his acclaimed Hawaii eateries last night, but he was cooking -- in Napa Valley, Calif.
He and Chef de Cuisine Wade Ueoka were preparing pupu, sorry,
hors d'oeuvres, helping raise millions of dollars as part of a cadre of celebrity chefs cooking for Auction Napa Valley, an annual event for area charities. He is the first Hawaii chef to be involved, according to Alan Wong's Project Coordinator Nicole Tajima.
One of this year's auction organizers, a regular Hawaii visitor and Alan Wong's diner, invited the chef, according to Leigh Ito, project manager for Wong's businesses.
His plan was to take the most popular items from the restaurant here and replicate them for the event, she said.
His menu included soy-braised short ribs with ko chu jang vinaigrette; "soup and sandwich," a chilled, vine-ripened tomato soup with kalua pig and foie gras grilled cheese sandwich; chopped ahi sashimi with Asian guacamole on a won ton chip; vine-ripened tomato with li hing mui vinaigrette, and lobster and kona abalone with king oyster mushroom salad and green onion oil.
Mouth watering yet? It should be. That li hing mui vinaigrette easily could make one dispense with decorum and lick the serving vessel clean.
He does these events "to bring a little bit of Hawaii," to attendees, Ito said, but also to network and secure noteworthy culinarians to cook for Hawaii events. For instance, Josiah Citrin from Melisse Restaurant in California will be coming to participate with Wong in Easter Seals Hawaii's June 21 Chefs du Jour fundraiser.
Maui rocking a new FM
George Hochman is rockin' Maui with KRKH-FM 97.3, the island's only classic rock station.
Pacific Radio Group Inc.'s
KLHI-FM at 92.5 and 101.7 plays modern rock.
KRKH is licensed to Hochman Hawaii Publishing Inc., and "we're calling it 97-point-three-K-rock, Maui's Classic Rock," Hochman said. Core artists include AC/DC, the Rolling Stones, Journey and Led Zeppelin.
The station signed on Wednesday with 36 hours of the latter band's "Stairway to Heaven," a practice known in radio as stunting -- and went to its regular format at the crack of Friday.
K-Rock will be unstaffed, or "jockless" for the time being. "We're going to let the music do the talking."
The format complements his KONI-FM 104.7, which airs hits from the 1960s and '70s, he said.
Meanwhile on Oahu, the format of Hochman's KORL-FM 101.1 has been flipped to smooth jazz from Japanese-language programming and pop music. The previous program provider got out of the business, Hochman said.
He chose smooth jazz for Oahu for the same reason he chose classic rock for Maui; the formats were not being aired in either market.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com