Culinary Classic 2024
Māla‘ai was delighted to continue our partnership with Mauna Lani by being a sponsor of their 2nd Annual Mauna Lani Culinary Classic. A three-day food festival featuring James Beard Award-winning talent at Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection, Waikoloa. In addition to having celebrity chefs visit our students in the garden, we hosted an exclusive silent auction during their Pāʻina Lu’au event, a night celebrating the beauty of our islands culture and foods.
Providing our students with the opportunities to meet professionals in the field of Culinary Arts and allowing them to have one-on-one experiences is a major mission of ours at Māla‘ai. Giving the students space and role models to look up to if they are interested in cooking is a huge step in helping achieve those dreams.
The chefs who came to visit the garden and cook with our students was a huge hit! Celebrity chef’s cooked alongside a class of 14-8th graders. All 14 students had the opportunity to cook with Lee Anne Wong “Executive Chef at Koko Head Cafe”, Vitaly Paley “Culinary Ambassador of Hawaiian Kanpachi from Kona-based Blue Ocean Mariculture, and Jonathan Waxman “Best Chef: New York City”. Students made Portuguese Bean Soup, Hawaiian Kanpachi Poke and a Garden Fresh Salad.
Photo Credit- Darren Miller, Zoe Kosmas, Gabriel GrosshueschOur silent auction was an eventful evening filled with lots of conversation, beautiful music and tons of `ono (delicious) food. We raised funds for our cooking programs, afterschool programming, summer internships and more! Expanding and sharing our vision for sustainable food systems in education with so many, has allowed us to create connections beyond oceans. We gained some new friends and supporters along the way and we hope to continue this ever important work in providing nutritious and delicious food grown by and for our keiki!
Photo Credit- Darren Miller, Zoe Kosmas, Gabriel Grosshuesch