10-course meal blends cuisines

Chef Hiroshi Fukui offers a 10-course “;Contemporary Kaiseki”; Saturday at Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas in Restaurant Row.

The menu incorporates classic Japanese techniques with seasonal island ingredients, including such fanciful dishes as Soup & Pasta (ume-shiso pasta with mapo tofu and baby romaine), Pork & Beans Chazuke (pork sauteed in soy sauce and sugar with long beans and tobanjan) and POG Twinkie (orange cake with lilikoi cream and guava ice cream). Cost is $75.

Also at Hiroshi's, a “;Locally Grown Menu”; will be featured on Sundays and Mondays all month. The menu: Crispy Kauai Shrimp, Sous Vide of Kona Cold Lobster Tail, Crispy Skin Moi and Island Banana Foster “;Puff.”; Cost is $35.

By reservation only: 533-4476.

Rogues welcome at Willows event

The dead will rise again at the Willows' Rogue Ales Beer Dinner, 6 p.m. Friday, featuring brewery founder Jack Joyce.

Rogue beers such as Dead Guy Ale and Double Dead Guy Ale will be paired with a five-course dinner.

Chef Jay Matsukawa's menu: Crispy Beer-Battered Oysters (with Kells Irish Lager), Carpaccio of Beef Tenderloin (Dead Guy Ale), Basil Pesto Shrimp & Sauteed Swiss Chard (Juniper Pale Ale), Beer-Braised Osso Bucco (Double Dead Guy Ale) and Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake (Rogue Chocolate Stout).

Cost is $65, $55 for members of the Willows' Beer Club. Call 952-9200.

Italian wines star at Vino dinner

Vino hosts a “;Sangiovese Shoot Out,”; 6 p.m. Jan. 28, offering a sampling of five wines considered benchmarks of this red grape variety of Italy.

The wines: 2003 Casa Alle Vacche Chianti Colli Senesi Riserva “;Cinabro,”; 1999 Castello di Brolio Chianti Classico, 1996 Riecine “;La Gioia,”; 2003 Avignonesi Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva “;Grande Annate”; and 2001 La Fuga Brunello di Montalcino.

Cost is $25. Reservations required: 533-4476.

Inaugural events start around dawn

Mark the inauguration of President Barack Obama Tuesday at these special events:

» ”;Breakfast with the President”;: 6 a.m. at Don Ho's Grill at Aloha Tower Market Place, includes breakfast and viewing of inauguration ceremony. Cost is $30. Call 528-0807.

» Tapping a new brew: Kona Brewing Co. will tap up a special barrel-aged stout, called InaugurALE, at 5 p.m. at its pubs at Koko Marina and in Kailua-Kona. The beer is a Kona coffee-flavored stout that has been aged for several months in a drained oak bourbon barrel.

Call 394-5662 or visit www.KonaBrewingCo.com.

McDonald's gives out free food

What's cheaper than a 99-cent menu item? How about free? McDonald's restaurants are offering free tastings on Thursdays through March of selected breakfast, lunch, beverage and dessert items.

The tastes will be given out from 7 to 9 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m., with selections varying in the different locations.