Saturday Event Menu Preview

Left to right- Chef Nick, Chef Dan, Chef Cameron and Chef Chris at the Kihei Elementary School garden.

Here’s a sneak peek at the menu from our fabulous chefs supporting the upcoming Grow Some Good event – A Sunset Taste of School Gardens. Saturday, March 2, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Hotel Wailea. Buy your tickets by 2 p.m. Saturday and get $10 off. Tickets going fast! Don’t delay!

Each course is inspired by a different area of our curriculum-based gardens.

Chef Christopher Kulis, Capische? & Il Teatro

Inspired by the Three Sisters Garden: According to Native American legends, corn, beans and squash are the three sisters who only thrive when planted together. This has become a legendary story in U.S. History as Native Americans taught immigrants to farm using this technique that was passed down through generations. The corn grows straight and tall, the squash shades the ground and helps keep pests away and the beans grow up the corn stalks while their ability to fix nitrogen keeps the soil fertile. This 5th grade garden project is used to teach history, interdependent relationships in nature, and soil health.

Menu Items:

Pumpkin gnocchi with garden veggies
Sweet corn soup with cilantro pesto and toasted pumpkin seeds
Green beans with garden basil and roasted cherry tomatoes

Chef Nicholas Porreca Four Seasons Ferraro’s Bar e Ristorante

Inspired by the Salsa Garden: The salsa garden provides many different fresh flavors for students to sample. Many students previously thought of salsa as a mushy mix of store bought and preserved tomatoes and peppers in a jar. Now they’ve learned that most delicious salsas can be made fresh from the garden in just minutes. Classic salsa has morphed into varieties made out of whatever is fresh and in season. Students don’t even need chips to enjoy salsa! Dip with carrot or zucchini chips or wrap in a kale leaf. This 3rd grade garden project introduces students to new cultures, teaches basics of food preparation, preservation and nutrition.

Menu Items:

Kiawe smoked brisket with kabocha ravioli
Roasted tomato and eggplant salsa
School garden Basil Pesto
Papaya and lemongrass agrodolce
Cilantro salsa verde

Chef Cameron Lewark, Spago

Inspired by Gardens of the World: Since Hawaii is such a melting pot of ethnic backgrounds, one area of the garden is dedicated to celebrating their cultural gifts. This 3rd grade garden introduces geography and explores the vast variety of fruits and vegetables that cultures with weather similar to Maui enjoy. It is such a delight to hear the kids’ stories about their families, their traditions and the food they’ve enjoyed for generations.

Menu Items:

Thai red curry with farm vegetables and Green papaya salad and Thai basil
Local Hawaiian mushrooms with Chinese garlic-pepper sauce fried garlic and brown rice

Chef Dan Fiske, PrivateMauiChef.com

Inspired by Super Greens Garden: This 1st and 2nd grade garden project introduces students to the power of chlorophyll for plants and people. Students learn how plants convert energy from the sun into life giving nutrition. The Super Greens Garden includes several heirloom varieties of kale, chard and other greens which are harvested with papaya, apple bananas and mint to make their favorite recipe: Super Green Smoothies! Kids delight in drinking these vibrant green drinks and have given the recipe nicknames like “The Healthy Hulk” and “Green Lantern Juice.” Check out the recipe and video of kids screaming for more greens on our blog post at GrowSomeGood.org.

Menu Items:

Local caught fish bone soup, served with super garden greens, tomato, cilantro and Meyer lemon.
Tuna belly slider with Maui onion gremolata, served on a Moloka’i sweet potato chip and garnished with micro shiso. Vegetarian option: Sautéed Ali’i mushroom slider.

Chef Eric Mitchell, The Outrigger Pizza Company

Inspired by the Pizza Garden: In this mini-labyrinth circular garden grows all the ingredients to make kids all time favorite food: pizza! We even grow some wheat to show the kids that the crunchy crust comes from the garden too! Students love meandering through the pizza-slice pathways, picking tomatoes, smelling the basil and oregano, sizing up the onions and eggplants and harvesting the bounty for pizza parties! This 1st grade project introduces the concept of growing ingredients for familiar foods, asking “where does my food come from?” It also serves as an example of pollination as bees hover and extract nectar from the flowering basil with balls of pollen stuck to their legs, then continuing onto the other flowering plants.

Mediterranean pizza made with eggplant, red onion, kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes, feta and pesto. Served with or without chicken
Marinara pizza made with tomato, olive oil, mozzarella and basil
Garden herb “Green Pizza” made with a variety of school garden herbs and olive oil

Chef Brian Etheredge, Capische? & Il Teatro

Inspired by Tropical Fruits of Hawaii: Our school gardens have a variety of apple bananas, citrus, lilikoi and, of course, papayas, which pop up all over the garden from seeds in our rich compost. Kids love catching papayas with the help of Mr. Handy – a 12 foot bamboo pole with a hand glove on the end. They amaze at the sight of a tall banana stalk and observe with great patience as fruit trees mature from saplings to fruit bearing beauties. By growing fruit, all grade levels learn about the importance of pollinators, the surprising differences between fruits and vegetables, seed saving techniques, nutrition and more!

Fresh tropical dessert prepared from school garden limes and a medley of tropical fruits

Fine wines provided courtesy of Young’s Market Company, Southern Wine & Spirits, and Trinchero Family Estates. Microbrews provided courtesy of Maui Brewing Company.