Honolulu Star-Bulletin Features

Stuffs

[ ENTERTAINMENT ]

50 great albums

The islands' top performers are counted down at 7 p.m. on KGMB/CBS.

Videos, rare photos and interviews with various artists including Aunty Genoa Keawe will be among the highlights. Brickwood Galuteria hosts the evening.

[ MORSELS ]

Iron chef pays a visit

Food & Wine magazine's Best New Chefs will appear at the Big Island Festival.

The original French iron chef, Yutaka Ishinabe, headlines the Big Island Festival, a series of culinary and cultural events scheduled for Nov. 3 to 7 in the resorts along the Kona and Kohala coasts.

Ishinabe battled in Japan's "Iron Chef" cooking competitions in 1993, the first year that the show aired on Fuji TV, earning the nickname of "The Artist." Upon leaving the show, Ishinabe launched a chain of restaurants, Queen Alice.

He will be the featured chef in dinners Nov. 3 and 5 at the Bay Terrace of the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows.

Ishinabe's co-stars in the five-day, 45-event festival are nine of the 10 young chefs named by Food & Wine magazine as the nation's best newcomers.

Best New Chef Signature Dinners on Nov. 4 and 5 will feature the chefs individually in various resort dining rooms. They will also present cooking demonstrations at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel on Nov. 5.

Festival dinners are in the $100 range, but the festival offers many activities -- including cooking demonstrations, tours and tastings -- at various prices.

For event information, prices, schedules or to purchase tickets, visit www.BigIslandFestival.com. For a brochure or to register by phone, call toll-free (866) 424-FEST.

Chinese favorites

The Second Annual Taste of China, this weekend at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, offers a selection of food booths and cultural displays from local vendors and Chinese society organizations based in Hawaii.

Entertainment will include folk dances, singing, lion and dragon dancing, and an appearance by the 55th Narcissus Queen and her court. Interactive booths will give children the chance to play with a lion head and Chinese musical instruments.

An opening ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday will feature lion dances performed together by five physical cultural clubs.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $2, to benefit the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Children and military will be admitted free.

Herbal information

Master herbalist John Westerdahl will discuss the safety and effectiveness of nutritional supplements at this month's meeting of the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii, 7 p.m. Saturday at McCoy Pavilion, Ala Moana Beach Park.

Westerdahl, a nutritionist and dietitian, is director of Wellness and Lifestyle Medicine for Castle Medical Center and the nutrition editor for Veggie Life magazine. He hosts "Dr. John's Health Moment on Oceanic Cable 16's "Tasty & Meatless" program and is the author of "Medicinal Herbs -- A Vital Reference Guide."

His free talk will include anti-aging supplements, choosing the right products and what supplements best serve a vegetarian diet.

Call 944-8344 or visit the Web site VSH.org.

Westerdahl also speaks at 7 tonight at the Cameron Center on Maui.

Farm-fresh cooking

Chef Sharon Kobayashi teaches how to prepare a variety of squashes in a cooking demonstration, 9 a.m. at the KCC Saturday Farmers' Market.

The market runs 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. in KCC's Diamond Head parking lot. This week, Sam Choy's Restaurant will be the featured breakfast restaurant, serving Chinatown Omelettes and Fried Rice.

A companion market, the Kailua Thursday Night Farmers' Market, runs 5 to 8 p.m. weekly in the Kailua Town Center parking lot.

Call the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, 848-2074.

Cooking at KCC

Kapiolani Community College offers these cooking classes in November. Registration runs three weeks in advance. Call 734-9211. Cost is $45 per class.

Asian 102: Focuses on Indian curry and chutney, Chinese dim sum and Japanese tempura; 8 a.m. to noon Nov. 6.

Appetizers II: Chef instructor Grant Sato teaches how to make canapŽs, roulades and brochettes; 8 a.m. to noon Nov. 13.

Soups and Stews: Taught by chef/instructor Nina Jarrett; 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 15.

Cooking with Fish: Learn to prepare local varieties of near-shore and open-ocean fish, from purchasing tips and butchery to storage; 8 a.m. to noon Nov. 20.

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