Show 130, July 11, 2015: Chef Mark “Gooch” Noguchi, Mission Social Hall & Cafe, Honolulu

Mark NoguchiHawaii Chef Mark Noguchi is based on Oahu. He has been a previous guest on the show talking about the Hawaii Wine & Food Festival. (which he, again, will be part of in 2015.)

“I cook from an ‘aina based perspective. It’s important for us to know where our food comes from. It defines who we are. The awareness of this intimate connection keeps me grounded.” – Chef Mark Noguchi

His latest project is providing the food at the historic Hawaii Mission Houses with the Mission Social Hall & Café. It’s in Downtown Honolulu. It’s a lunch café that features healthy grab-n-go choices such as sandwiches, salads and soups along with contemporary Hawaiian food inspired by dishes of the 19th-century missionary era.

In June Chef Mark was part of the highly exclusive chefs’ group participating in the James Beard Foundation’s 7th Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change at Glynwood in Cold Spring, New York. The site was a 225-acre agricultural nonprofit’s farm.

This series of workshops provided the chefs with the policy and advocacy skills they need to be effective champions for their chosen food-system causes.

Chef Mark Noguchi joins us to bring us up-to-date on his various efforts.