We were in Maui for three days, timing our visit to coincide with the Maui Ag Fest, with the promise of tasting the bounty of Maui and Molokai. And indeed, it was more a feast than tasting...plates included a vegetable salad prepared by Justin Pardo of Market Fresh Bistro, using produce from Kupa'a Farm, a frisee salad with poached egg and locally-made "bacon" from Maui Cattle Co beef by the Maui Culinary Academy, a melting Maui Cattle Co brisket by Roy's Restaurants, and above, a butternut squash quinoa salad prepared by Mark Ellman, one of the original HRC chefs. Twenty some years later, he's working alongside new chefs committed to promoting local ag.
Unfortunately, we had spoiled our appetite somewhat by stopping by Sam Sato's for breakfast beforehand. Saimin before a tasting event? Maybe it was the wrong decision, but none of us believed otherwise when presented with the bowl of chewy, thick noodles. We hoped to hop on the bike cane juice extractor at the ag fair to help work up an appetite, but weren't allowed. Which simply meant we had to keep on grazing...on basil pesto from Molokai's Kumu Farms and fruit from Ululani Farm on Molokai, as well. Ululani Farm also had a sample aquaponics system set up. Their ambitious goal is to feed their 50 acre farm through aquaponics.
We capped off the eating extravaganza that day with the famous stick donuts from Komodo Bakery. We freaked out a little bit knowing that Saturday was going to be Komodo's last day before closing for a month-long vacation. Worried that they were going to run out, we pre-ordered a dozen, forgetting how large they are--one stick donut is like eating four regular donuts. Also, we needn't have worried; perhaps anticipating the rush, the bakery had churned out so many donuts they covered every counter and surface in the shop. We had donuts on hand for the faintest of hunger rumblings throughout the weekend--not that there were any. By the end of the trip, the inside of the car rental resembled a glazed donut, sticky with all our crumbs. Now, we think back fondly on those donut orgy days. At the time, we may have been a little bit sick.
