Food & Beverage Focus is a short profile on a person in the food & Beverage industry in Hawaii in a question and answer format. Jo McGarry has been writing about food and wine for more than a decade in Hawaii. Former editor of Gusto Magazine she began working as restaurant specialist for the Honolulu Star Bulletin in 2001 and writing a food column for MidWeek the same year. She is the host of a long running lifestyle radio program, Table Talk, that airs Saturday mornings on KHVH 830 AM from 10 – 11AM. She is the author of The Hawaii Tailgate Cookbook and the 'voice' of tailgating on radio. Visit her website: WineAndDineHawaii.com
Below are the last 10 Food & Beverage Focus columns
Jeff Blair
Friday - February 03, 2010
Title: Vice President of Operations, Desert Island Restaurants
What sparked your interest in the F&B world? My first job was delivering chicken wings at Eben’s Hearth. It was a small, family-run restaurant and I really enjoyed working there.
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Adam Gilbert
Friday - January 27, 2010
Age: 32
Job title: Chef/Kitchen Operations Manager, Star of Honolulu
What got you started in F&B industry? I have been working in the food industry since I was 12, and I spent many years before that in a restaurant my mother managed.
Read More >>William J. Nickerson
Friday - January 20, 2010
Job Title: General Manager Wolfgang Steakhouse
What made you choose a career in the food and beverage world? The love of celebration.
What do you recommend for first-time visitors to Wolfgang’s? Our Sizzling Canadian Bacon. It’s unique.
David Newman
Friday - January 06, 2010
Job Title: Bartender, Nobu, Waikiki.
Has bartending always been your favorite part of the industry? Always. I could never hold down a real job (laughs).
So your first job in the industry was behind a bar? Not really. I worked with a catering company, and one night someone didn’t turn up for work and they needed a bartender
Read More >>Geraldine Rojales
Friday - December 30, 2009
Job Title: Director of Guest Services, Kahala Hotel and Resort
What sparked your interest in the world of food, wine and hotels? I was studying public relations in college, and right before I graduated they opened a beautiful hotel, The ShangriLa Manila. As soon as I walked into the hotel, I knew it was where I wanted to work.
Read More >>Nicholas S. Claus
Friday - December 23, 2009
Every year we try to catch Santa Claus as he prepares to make his annual trip to the Islands. Here he shares some secrets of international dining and a few of his favorite Hawaii foods.
There seems to be a theme to your favorite restaurants. Ho ho ho! Oh, and a favorite Hawaii restaurant is, of course, Tokkuri Tei,
Read More >>Mel Tanioka
Friday - December 16, 2009
Title: Owner Tanioka’s Seafood and Catering in Waipahu
Where were you born and raised? Wahiawa. I went to Leilehua High School and then University of Hawaii.
What made you choose fish as your business? All of our lives we have enjoyed fishing.
Read More >>Kelvin Ro
Friday - December 09, 2009
Occupation: Owner Diamond Head Market and Grill, and Chef Instructor, Kapiolani Community College
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Polly Kauahi
Friday - December 02, 2009
Job Title: Director of Development, Hawaii Foodbank.
How much of a difference does even a small donation make? It makes a tremendous difference in someone’s life - $2.81 feeds a child breakfast for a week.
Read More >>Kevin Parkhurst
Friday - November 25, 2009
Job Title: Kitchen Manager, Dave and Buster’s, Ward Entertainment Center
How do you describe the food at Dave and Buster’s? We have different food to suit the different atmospheres. There’s bar food, there’s a different menu up on the Sunset level
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