Hawaii coffee is gaining street cred, now that Honolulu Coffee Co. barista Pete Licata has won the Western Regional Barista Competition in Los Angeles using 100 percent Hawaii-grown coffee.

He is the first Hawaii barista to win a regional and it is the first time any barista has won using 100 percent Hawaii coffee. Espressos are usually blended from coffees of different regions.

“;Coffees from a generally discounted coffee origin won a regional barista competition. It seems I'm not the only one who thinks these coffees are worth drinking!”; wrote coffee blogger Shawn Steiman.

“;People like to put down Hawaii coffee, but we won, so they can't do it anymore,”; said Lee Paterson, who with his wife, Karen Jue, owns Hula Daddy Coffee. The 34-acre farm's 100 percent Kona-grown beans were a big part of Licata's winning brews.

“;We worked really hard with Pete and our master roaster (Miguel Meza)”; on the winning Hula Daddy coffees, Jue said. The other part was MauiGrown Coffee's Maui Mokka varietal, grown by James Kimo Falconer in Kaanapali.

Licata and fellow barista Row Aczon were accompanied by Honolulu Coffee Co. President Ed Schultz to the competition staged by the Specialty Coffee Association of America last weekend. It was the first time the company had participated.

Licata's signature drink was a sweet-and-salty combination with bacon, candied with maple syrup and partially coated with milk chocolate, which judges were to eat before sipping the signature drink made with vanilla ice cream, maple syrup and espresso.

He scored 705 points, above the 681.5 earned by second-place finisher Ryan Wilbur and the 655 points of Chris Baca, who took third place.

Licata got “;truly the highest score of any regional (winner) so he's ... probably the favorite to win the U.S. (competition),”; Schultz said.

The win is a prelude to the U.S. Barista Competition in April, followed by the World Barista Competition in London in June.

Licata is a barista competition veteran who has previously taken second place at the national level. He moved here from Kansas, his home base for earlier regional competitions and the national contest.

Since the weekend win, “;we've received calls from several high-end mainland, Canadian and Korean roasters”; as well as from high-end food retailers, expressing interest in the coffees, Schultz said.

BLT Steak not shaken

News that chef Laurent Tourondel had departed his namesake BLT Restaurant Group blazed through industry circles earlier this week.

While he is no longer involved in wholly owned BLT-branded restaurants in New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., he continues to oversee kitchen operations for 10 licensed restaurants around the world, including the one at Trump International Hotel & Tower Waikiki Beach Walk.

“;I am looking forward to staying involved in a handful of BLT Restaurants while pursuing other culinary projects and new opportunities,”; Tourondel said in a statement.

Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Reach her by e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).