October 25, 2018
As with previous years, this event was held at the Modern Hotel in Waikiki. Out of all the events, I thought this event had one of the best lineups of Chefs. Earlier in the year, I had been working in the Chicago area and got to eat at Top Chef winner Stepahe Izard’s restaurants and loved them. I was excited to see what she prepared. She was right next to Chris Consentino. I have not been to his restaurants but they are on my list! I was not disappointed with either of their dishes.
I thought the best dish of the night were the empanadas from Jose Garces. There was also a very good dessert that Lincoln Carson. I noticed Lincoln had a sign saying his restaurant “Bon Temps” from Los Angeles but I had never heard of it, so I asked him about it and he said it would be opening next year. I am definitely going to have to check that out.
Early on in the evening, I heard Cindy giving a compliment to one of the chefs. I was joking with Cindy and how that some people can get away with doing something that other people cannot. If I were to say the same thing to that same person, I might get a weird look. Some people can carry things off differently from other people. Later in the evening, Cindy told me that she had approached Alan Wong, one of the co-founders of the festival, and told him how much we enjoyed his restaurant last night. She said that Alan just looked at her like she was a weird stalker. Later we told Roy Yamaguchi, the other co-founder, the story and we all got a laugh out of it. Cindy asked him to tell Alan that she was not weird. Roy brought Alan over to the table, introduced us as his friend and then said “and you have already met weird Cindy”. That became a running joke for the rest of the week!
Stephanie Izard
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