2018 Hawaii Food and Wine Festival – Oahu- Keiki in the Kitchen

The 2018 Hawaii Food and Wine Festival, themed “Keiki in the Kitchen”, was a wonderful event. It was a hot and humid day. The event was held on the top floor of the Hawaii Convention Center on Oahu where the festival was being held. The star event was to decorate cookies and cupcakes with Ace of Cakes star baker Duff Goldman. I did not participate in this event because the line was too long. Only the first 750 kids were allowed to participate. But there was plenty of other activities for the kids to do.  There were games to teach young kids about healthy choices set up by Hawaii Medical Assurance Association (HMAA), food and trinkets being sold by middle and high schools, a kids cooking competition, and of course, food stands! The food stands sold everything from maple-flavored sweet potato chips with sprinkles to mochi cupcakes  At one of the food stands, Ono Kettle Pop. I sampled the many pop corn flavor options.  I purchased a caramel corn flavored bag of popcorn. It wasn’t too sweet or salty and had a nice crunch.

I also met many different famous chefs, too. I met Henry Adaniya, founder of Hank’s Haute Dogs, Takeshi Kawasaki, founder of Maru Sushi, Jeffery Lunak, founder of Sumo Dog, Roy Yamaguchi, founder of the Roy’s restaurants and Eating house 1849, and many more! I was able to talk to the chefs about the importance of providing carbohydrate information in the food they serve on their menu.  Many chefs there invited me to try their restaurants.  I hope to try a couple before leaving Oahu.

WHAT THE PARENTS THINK

This is a wonderful food event for the kids to attend in Oahu.  The Hawaii Food and Wine Festival is a 21 and older event.  But they had a family day dedicated to kids called Keiki in the Kitchen.  Kids were able to participate in cupcake decorating and cooking competitions.  Famous chefs took the time to sign autographs and talk to people.  This was a great activity for my kid to get a chance to ask questions with the chefs.  I also enjoyed all the Hawaiian type food stalls and the POI making hands on demonstration.     The culinary schools at the local community colleges also had many stalls showcasing some of their specialties their students made.  There were also stalls that taught children about healthy eating and diet.  I definitely would recommend locals and tourist visiting Oahu to add this to your festivals to attend next year.