Show 559, January 6, 2024: Kohala Food Hub and Mauna Kea Resort, Hawaii Island

Maya Parish of Kohala Food Lab

A new collaboration between the Mauna Kea Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii and the Kohala Food Hub (KFH) is stepping up the use of food grown by Kohala farmers.

“The Hāwī-based KFH aggregates and markets food for small and mid-scale farmers who use regenerative and organic management practices. The fresh food is sold to island resorts, restaurants and residents who purchase a weekly Multi-Farm CSA subscription or buy food through KFH’s Online Marketplace.”

“I think there’s a special bond between Mauna Kea Resort and the Kohala community due to our proximity and that a large number of Kohala residents work at the resort, says Maya Parish, director of KFH.”

“On the food hub’s end, our goals are to create consistent standing resort orders that our farmers can count on and plant out for,” details Parish. “This will stimulate more regional food production, increasing revenue for our farmers and providing consistent quality and volume that the resort can depend on.”

“In addition, another identified goal includes providing an example to other resorts in the Kona and Kohala Districts to also “join more deeply” in supporting locally based farmers with their significant collective purchasing power.”

Todd Oldham of Mauna Kea Resort

“We were always heavy into purchasing local but it seemed after COVID, we had to do everything in our power to strengthen food security and the way we can do that is though our dollars,” notes Todd Oldham, Mauna Kea Resort food and beverage director. “When we buy local products, the money stays here and helps someone keep their land and expand to grow more food.”

“Oldham, a former chef who grew up with an agricultural background in Pennsylvania, shares a resort mission is to increase the use of local food. “It’s not just a verbal think; we do strategy sessions on how to increase local food usage, what steps we need to take and the initiatives needed.”

“With the collaboration starting in August, Mauna Kea Resort is currently purchasing around 450 pounds of produce weekly from KFH, initially using what farmers already had growing—grapefruit, dragon fruit, navel oranges, starfruit, bananas, green leaf and romaine lettuces. Now KFH is asking its farmer network to plant out crops specifically to supply the resort’s stated needs—carrots, eggplant, broccoli, cabbage and green beans— while negotiating price points that work for all.”

KFH’s Maya Parish and Mauna Kea Resort’s Todd Oldham join us with all the specifics of the important effort.

Show 482, July 9, 2022: Chef Philip Pretty, Heritage Restaurant and Sandwich Shop, Long Beach Part One

Philip Pretty of Heritage Farm

Heritage Restaurant and Sandwich Shop in the Rose Park area of Long Beach serves creative, gourmet, artisan sandwiches on premium bread during the day and fine-dining cuisine in an unfussy environment at night. Think Smoked Heritage Pork Belly with tomato and pepper jam, gem lettuce and served on country loaf. The Dinner menu is four courses for $70 with choices for each course. Wine pairing is a supplement of $30.

Chef Philip Pretty is using French cooking techniques combined with live fire. Heritage Restaurant uses sustainable meat, fresh seafood, and Farmers Market produce. The restaurant is certified blue, green, and zero waste kitchen.”

“Heritage is family owned and operated by Chef Philip Pretty and sister Lauren Pretty. Most recently featured in Michelin Guide California. Indoor dining is set in a cozy atmosphere, originally a craftsman house. Located in the Rose Park area of Long Beach, on the corner of 7th and Saint Louis. Limited parking is available in the back. There is paid parking on 4th and Saint Louis.”

Service is Tuesday-Saturday. Lunch Service is from 11a.m.-3p.m. (No reservation required for lunch). Dinner service is from 5p.m.-9p.m. (Reservations recommended). Closed Sunday & Monday.

Heritage Farm in Long Beach is the Pretty’s newest venture. Chef Philip is our guest with all the details.

Show 482, July 9, 2022: Chef Philip Pretty, Heritage Restaurant and Sandwich Shop, Long Beach Part Two

Philip Pretty of Heritage Farm

Heritage Restaurant and Sandwich Shop in the Rose Park area of Long Beach serves creative, gourmet, artisan sandwiches on premium bread during the day and fine-dining cuisine in an unfussy environment at night. Think Smoked Heritage Pork Belly with tomato and pepper jam, gem lettuce and served on country loaf. The Dinner menu is four courses for $70 with choices for each course. Wine pairing is a supplement of $30.

Chef Philip Pretty is using French cooking techniques combined with live fire. Heritage Restaurant uses sustainable meat, fresh seafood, and Farmers Market produce. The restaurant is certified blue, green, and zero waste kitchen.”

“Heritage is family owned and operated by Chef Philip Pretty and sister Lauren Pretty. Most recently featured in Michelin Guide California. Indoor dining is set in a cozy atmosphere, originally a craftsman house. Located in the Rose Park area of Long Beach, on the corner of 7th and Saint Louis. Limited parking is available in the back. There is paid parking on 4th and Saint Louis.”

Service is Tuesday-Saturday. Lunch Service is from 11a.m.-3p.m. (No reservation required for lunch). Dinner service is from 5p.m.-9p.m. (Reservations recommended). Closed Sunday & Monday.

Heritage Farm in Long Beach is the Pretty’s newest venture. Chef Philip continues as our guest taking a brief break from his busy kitchen.

Show 442, September 11, 2021: Betty Porto, Vice President of Community Relations, Porto’s Bakery & Café

Betty Porto in front of the Porto's Bakery Bread Rack

All Porto’s Bakery and Café locations have reopened for dine-in at 50 per cent capacity. The locations are Burbank, Buena Park, Downey, Glendale and West Covina.

Be watching for the pending Northridge opening. In the meantime Porto’s has a bakery stand at the Northridge Farmers Market at Northridge Fashion Center every Wednesday night.

Porto’s Bake at Home ships their best-selling pastries nationwide. They are unbaked, frozen and come direct to you so you can bake them fresh in your own oven. “It’s like having a Porto’s Bakery in your home.” Popular items available include Cheese Rolls, Guava Cheese Strudel, Chicken Empanadas and Potato Balls.

2nd generation baker & Family member, Betty Porto (Porto’s Vice President of Community Relations,) is our guest with rolling pin in hand.

Show 411, February 6, 2021: Chef & Culinary Coach Aliye Aydin of Spice Club, Long Beach

Chef Aliye Aldin

Chef Aliye Aydin teaches cooking classes and is a culinary coach to a growing network of inspired home cooks. In 2019 she noticed from her students that there was a serious interest in learning more about spice blends and how to use them to creatively perk up meals. Aliye then launched the Spice Club where home cooks could source her proprietary spice blends either individually or as part of a yearly Spice Blend Membership which includes a quarterly delivery of a spice blend, recipes, a meal planning guide and a series of interactive cooking class.

“All spice products are organic and/or sourced from suppliers working to end inequality and exploitation in the spice trade, meaning more dollars going directly to a farmer in the country where the spice is grown.” “Spice Club spices are always freshly ground and filled to order.” “The spice blends are proprietary recipes inspired by Chef Aliye’s Turkish heritage and her 25 plus years working as a professional chef. The Spice Club blends are packed in a home kitchen in Long Beach, CA according to Cottage Food Bill of California, inspected annually by the Long Beach Health Department.

Chef Aliye will be at the Farmers Market Long Beach Marina on Sunday, February 14th from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Listeners can meet her, get more info about the Spice Club and available spice blends, receive recipe tips and talk about flavorful cooking.

We’re cooking in the kitchen with Chef Aliye.

Show 405, December 26, 2020: Chef & Author Deborah Madison with her Memoir, An Onion In My Pocket Part One

Cookbook Author Deborah MadisonChef Deborah Madison’s new memoir, An Onion in My Pocket – My Life With Vegetables is from the celebrated author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and 13 other cookbooks. (Described as “The Queen of Greens” by The Washington Post.) It’s a warm, bracingly honest memoir that also gives us an insider’s look at the vegetarian movement.”

“Thanks to her beloved cookbooks and groundbreaking work as the opening chef at Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, Deborah Madison, though not a vegetarian herself, has long been revered as this country’s leading authority on vegetables.”

“She profoundly changed the way generations of Americans think about cooking with vegetables, helping to transform “vegetarian” from a dirty word into a mainstream way of eating. But before she became a household name, Madison spent almost twenty years as an ordained Buddhist priest, coming of age in the midst of counterculture San Francisco. In this charmingly intimate and refreshingly frank memoir, she tells her story—and with it the story of the vegetarian movement—for the very first time.”

We’re walking the local Farmers Market with Chef Deborah Madison.

Show 386, August 15, 2020: Executive Chef Rich Mead, Proprietor, Farmhouse at Roger’s Gardens Part One

Rich Mead of Farmhouse at Rogers GardensRich Mead, Owner and Executive Chef of Farmhouse at Roger’s Gardens, offers guests patio seating on a lush, garden setting for lunch and early dinner with an all-day menu. With over 4,000 square feet of al fresco dining, guests can relax outdoors while responsibly enjoying an award-winning cocktail or a seasonal, sustainably sourced meal.”

“Also available is a robust menu of takeout offerings including a Curbside Market with local ingredients and pantry staples, nourishing Family Meals and weekly Farmers Market Produce Boxes. Classic and signature cocktails are available for dine-in or curbside pickup courtesy of Chef de Swigs, Anthony Laborin and his team.”

Please note hours for Dine-in are currently 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily and for Takeout 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Dinner Dine-in service to resume in the near future. Phone is 949.640.1415 for Reservations and Takeout.

Chef/Proprietor Rich Mead is our guest.

 

Show 386, August 15, 2020: Executive Chef Rich Mead, Proprietor, Farmhouse at Roger’s Gardens Part Two

Rich Mead of Farmhouse at Rogers GardensRich Mead, Owner and Executive Chef of Farmhouse at Roger’s Gardens, offers guests patio seating on a lush, garden setting for lunch and early dinner with an all-day menu. With over 4,000 square feet of al fresco dining, guests can relax outdoors while responsibly enjoying an award-winning cocktail or a seasonal, sustainably sourced meal.”

“Also available is a robust menu of takeout offerings including a Curbside Market with local ingredients and pantry staples, nourishing Family Meals and weekly Farmers Market Produce Boxes. Classic and signature cocktails are available for dine-in or curbside pickup courtesy of Chef de Swigs, Anthony Laborin and his team.”

Please note hours for Dine-in are currently 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily and for Takeout 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Dinner Dine-in service set to resume shortly. Phone is 949.640.1415 for Reservations and Takeout.

“During his 35 plus years of culinary expertise, Chef Rich Mead has cultivated relationships with the highest regarded, local sustainable farms, allowing him to create the freshest menus using locally sourced, seasonal ingredients and specially grown vegetables. In 2016, after years of planning, Chef Mead unveiled a unique and sustainable field-to-fork dining experience at Farmhouse, located within Roger’s Gardens. Nestled on over 6 acres in the garden-like setting, Farmhouse features exclusive wines, craft beers, signature cocktails, artisan refreshments and a healthy inspired seasonal cuisine.”

Chef & Proprietor Rich Mead continues with us.

 

Show 362, February 29, 2020: Chef Restaurateur Dean James Max, James Republic, Long Beach Part One

Dean James Max of James RepublicChef Restaurateur Dean James Max likes to characterize James Republic in downtown Long Beach as “a body of persons engaged in a savory pursuit to celebrate locality and sustainability, and cultivate community through the dining experience.”

“James Republic combines modern sensibilities with old-world principles to afford a genuine gathering place for the neighborhood and a distinctive dining destination in the heart of Long Beach.”

“Our style is what we like to call “modern California coastal” dining, highlighting the season’s vibrant, locally sourced bounty from both land and sea. Our kitchen is a chef-driven, farm-to-table workshop where we create ever-changing menus dictated by the season’s finest products of time and place.”

We reel in Chef Dean James Max for a preview of his upcoming quarterly Dinner Bell Series evening on March 15th. It’s a very special Sunday evening family style supper with ingredients hand-selected by Chef Dean & his team from the Long Beach Farmers Market that morning.

Show 362, February 29, 2020: Chef Restaurateur Dean James Max, James Republic, Long Beach Part Two

Dean James Max of James RepublicChef Restaurateur Dean James Max likes to characterize James Republic in downtown Long Beach as “a body of persons engaged in a savory pursuit to celebrate locality and sustainability, and cultivate community through the dining experience.”

“Our menus are a labor of love – a love of the finest foods. We proudly serve a large array of local artisan products. Organic is important to us, but more importantly we believe in all- natural products without the use of steroids, growth hormones, and animals raised responsibly. As well as our preference for products and practices that are sustainable, we try to embrace the idea of localism to strengthen our community. Most of our items are priced under $20 which is incredible considering the high quality of products we serve. Our passion for the seasons and what it brings to us in food keeps us always searching for great new combinations. Come join us for a journey in cuisine.”

We continue with Chef Dean James Max previewing his upcoming quarterly Dinner Bell Series evening on Sunday, March 15th. It’s a very special Sunday evening family style supper with the freshest ingredients hand-selected by Chef Dean & his culinary team from the Long Beach Farmers Market that same morning.