KAPA‘A — The growing movement of pop-up restaurants using locally produced food continues with a Father’s Day steak house night at the Eastside restaurant in Kapa‘a. Pop-up dining is a growing food trend in which organizers open a restaurant for
KAPA‘A — The growing movement of pop-up restaurants using locally produced food continues with a Father’s Day steak house night at the Eastside restaurant in Kapa‘a.
Pop-up dining is a growing food trend in which organizers open a restaurant for a day, usually in an existing establishment.
The Kaua‘i event, called Grown, gives people another reason to go out, knowing they are eating healthy and supporting local growers, said Collin Darrell, creation director of Grow Culture, a project of sommelier Johnson Brothers Hawai‘i. Darrell said the restaurants have been very supportive and welcoming.
“We are taking down some of the walls that prohibit people from doing these things and then seeing where that leads,” he said. “So far it seems very inspirational for the people that are working with me just to have no set parameters other than it’s local.”
Eastside Restaurant owner Rick Scott said he likes the Grown concept and is helping to promote it. He said there should be more great restaurants on Kaua‘i and this is an opportunity to improve.
“I think its a great opportunity for us both,” Scott said. “We have this place in one of the best locations on Kaua‘i, and I believe in Collin’s story from the short time we have known each other.”
Darrell said The Eastside offers an urban feel with the ambiance that fits for a steak night theme. He said the setting and 1960s rock and roll from ‘ukulele master Aldrine Guerrero produces a blend of the local feel with a brash New York steak night standard you want as a great meal for your father.
Grown evolved with community feedback and support to produce events with local sourcing of ingredients and professionals in the culinary arts. The first event was for Mother’s Day at Caffe Coco, which featured Capische Restaurant chef Chris Kulis from Maui and his partner, Tarah Principato.
“We bring in a new chef and do a totally different menu,” Darrell said.
The Father’s Day menu features chef Quinten Frye of Salt Tasting Room on O‘ahu. He presents house-made appetizers including charcuterie, an ‘ahi tartar from local fishermen, and a play on a standard salad.
The main course will be fish, sauces and pork from a whole pig, lamb and ribeye aged for more than a month. The meat comes from Duane Shimogawa at A‘akukui Ranch and ‘Oma‘o Farms, run by Daryl and Valerie Kaneshiro.
The grassroots approach of shaking hands and seeing people are part and parcel of Kaua‘i business culture, and Darrell said it helps his outreach in this “big little town.” He said people care about where their food comes and welcome creative concepts that support growers.
“We have plenty here and there are a lot of things that aren’t being utilized, and there is this strong farm community that is holding on to the last thread of farming here,” he said. “Without a lot of support over the next decade, I think a lot of them are going to be gone.”
Randy Muller, a farmer of beans, sprouts, wheat grass and herbs, distributes to local stores and distributors. He is also a supplier to the Grown event.
“I think its great,” Muller said. “People are seeing fresh produce from here on the island.”
Dylan Strong runs a farm with his family in Moloa‘a, providing tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers to local restaurants, stores and farmers markets. He said local restaurants are catching on to community oriented sourcing because it is fresh, tastes better and less expensive.
“Collin’s idea is creative, and really featuring growers by going so far as to put on the menu where it is sourced,” Strong said. “It is just letting the produce speak for itself.”
Lisa Burma helps out her father’s North Shore farm at local markets. They supplied food for the Mother’s Day event and for this one.
“I am glad Collin does this in support of the farmers,” she said. “The vegetables don’t come from the mainland, so it’s good to have fresh food.”
Tim O’Conner runs the 3-acre Olana Farm in Kilauea, with vegetables, herbs and fruit orchards. He met Darrell at a farm-to-table dinner and agreed with the concept that benefits the local economy, the environment, and encourages young people to become interested in growing food.
“One thing led to another and we collaborated a few times,” he said. “What worked well for us is their mission to give farmers an introduction, as well as a future with chefs and consumers alike for the types of products that we produce.”
Darrell is a Philadelphia native who was not raised in a restaurant family, but he knew he wanted to work in the food industry from a young age. He was working at farmers markets by age nine and earned a bachelor’s degree in restaurant management and culinary education.
“Some people are lucky about finding their passion in life,” he said. “To me, my hobby is my job. This is what I really enjoy doing.”
As a classically trained and certified intermediate sommelier, Darrell has established wine menus for restaurants in Philadelphia and O‘ahu. He developed a wine program for Kapi‘olani Community College and taught wine and beer classes in the hospitality department.
After four years on O‘ahu, Darrell moved to Kaua‘i more than a year ago and considered opening a restaurant. He believes his concept is right, but that it is too soon to have a fixed location. In the meantime, he enjoys having time to be a husband to a physician’s assistant and a father to 3-year-old twins.
“I would love to evolve into a full-scale, free-standing brick-and-mortar restaurant at some point,” Darrell said.
Instead, he ran successful wine-pairing events and talked with local chefs who were excited to expand ideas. The concept of celebrating the way food was distributed a century ago, before rapid transportation, excited them, Darrell said.
The garden events were popular, but it was an Earth Day event that featured foods to reflect the occasion using local products. The concept grew from thre to the specialty events.
“How many places can say from start to finish that they are picking and choosing their customers, that they get to pick and choose their venue based upon the meal?” said Darrell. “Until customers start asking for it, restaurants aren’t going to change. I am getting a bigger customer base, and it is growing more quickly and faster than I thought it would be.”
The pop-up dinners are a table-to-farm idea versus farm-to-table, he said. He also has a website for growers and chefs to show realtime availability.
Darrell said his project allows him to do what he wants without making the exceptions that would be required as a restaurant owner. He keeps them intimate, and as demand grows he will add more events as opposed to increasing their size.
Darrell is currently in conversation with another chef about a possible art-walk dinner concept. He is also considering a mobile kitchen.
“It would be a moving bistro that is not about chicken wings,” he said. “Its fine dining and a higher quality product using locally produced meats and produce.”
The projects require transparency on every level, he said. Sharing information and inspiring questions from others is what it is all about.
“I want people to learn from this project,” he said.
The Father’s Day Steak House menu ranges between $9 and $29. The event runs from 5 to 9 p.m. To RSVP call 722-6316 or email collin@growculture.com. Visit growculture.com for more information.
