Every year, Hawaii hosts a food & wine festival. With over 20 chefs and 20 wineries from around the world (mostly US based), it is a place for taste buds to be satisfied and bombarded with unique flavors. Hawaiian Airlines brings international and top domestic chefs throughout the States in a culinary experience you most likely have not encountered. It is a journey in the most tasteful way.

Being a festival, it was a packed venue in a free roam environment. If you have ever been to a musical festival, it is very similar in the aspects of different “stages” (chefs tables), free merchandise (food&drinks) and, with the drawback, lines. The serving portioned was about the size you would see in the Costco or Sams Club food samples.

These chefs loved their work and their dishes reflected it in the beautiful design and taste, respectfully.

There were best main meal pieces and of course, you can’t have a main dish without a best desserts selection!

Mary loves cheese so it was only logical that this was her favorite section! It was a perfect match of wine and cheese. Cheeses from all over the world are brought in; Mary had the chance to taste many flavors she never knew cheese could work. They even had “non-dairy” cheese.

Wines from the famous Napa Valley really lived up to their legendary lineage.

Last bust not least, we hit up the Mixology booths. I’d say the hardest thing about this festival is choosing what to eat and drink because our eyes would have loved to try every single item, however, it would have been difficult to hold everything down. Although conservative on the food (sharing one sample of each dish), we might have gone a bit overboard with the wine tasting. A few drinks in, we were limited to one mixed drink and I’d say, we chose the most popular, colorful and tasteful. We saw this drink specifically, throughout the event on tables and in individuals tight grasps.

It was an experience like no other, to say the least. Trying dishes from all over by top chefs was remarkable. Topping the night off with famous wines and cheeses we have never tasted or even heard of before was the figurative cherry on top. We spoke with few individuals and they were from all over the US and were there solely for Hawaii Food & Wine Festival which really opened my eyes to how great this type of event really is. My only con is that it is priced steeply but the venues in which this is held along with the high-quality dishes (from world renown chefs) make it understandable on price but also, it is not for everyone.

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