I just returned from Honolulu Tuesday night, after a week away for the Les Dames d’Escoffier annual conference and a few days of vacation. Les Dames is an organization of women leaders in the food, beverage and hospitality industries and membership is by invitation. The Hawaii chapter staged a brilliant conference that included a luau at the Bishop Museum and a trip to Kualoa Ranch, where we toured the gardens, learned all about poi, and boated in the ancient native Hawaiian fish ponds. This is land familiar to fans of Jurassic Park, LOST and other productions.

During any downtime, I was busy getting my fix of local foods — saimin, shave ice, plate lunch, malasadas, laulau and a Hawaiian breakfast — Portuguese sausage, eggs and rice drizzled with soy sauce. I also needed to fit in breakfast on the veranda of the historic Moana Hotel, tropical drinks with paper umbrellas, dinner at Alan Wong and 3660 on the Rise, and time for family and Honolulu friends.

But this isn’t a story about my trip. It’s really about a thoughtful presentation by the conference’s keynote speaker, Rachel Laudan, a culinary historian and author of The Food of Paradise, a book that had been recommended to me 12 years ago by Zanne Stewart, who was then executive food editor of Gourmet magazine. Laudan’s speech aligned perfectly with my craving for the local foods of my Hawaiian culinary heritage. [more…]

My son David graduated with an MBA from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College this past weekend. Our family gathered in Wellesley outside of Boston, for the commencement. A celebratory dinner plays an important role in any momentous event, so food was front and center of our weekend planning.

Surprisingly, food also played the starring role at the graduation ceremony since the commencement speaker was Gary Hirschberg, chairman, president and CE-Yo (that’s for yo-gurt), Stonyfield Farm. In addition to Hirschberg, an honorary degree was bestowed on Irving W. Rabb, former vice chairman, Stop & Shop Supermarket Companies. I was pleased to see that Babson, ranked #1 for entrepreneurial excellence, recognizes successful food entrepreneurs with the same respect it gives to achievements in science, technology and any other fields of business. [more…]

I just returned from a business trip to Ireland with my client, the Irish Dairy Board, hosting some VIP guests on a culinary tour of the Emerald Isle. For people who plan their vacations around their passion for food, it’s the perfect place to visit.

Contemporary Irish chefs who have worked at high-profile restaurants abroad are returning home to apply their talents to fabulous food using local ingredients — lamb, salmon, duck, fresh garden vegetables, dairy products and grains. Traditional Irish breads are stellar, and there is nothing more satisfying at breakfast or any time, than hearty Irish brown bread slathered with Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter.

So hot is Irish food today that Saveur devoted most of its March issue to Ireland. “With its wealth of raw materials, its burgeoning artisanal food scene, and its innovative chefs, Ireland is fast growing into a food lovers’ paradise,” the magazine raved. [more…]

I’m on a Jet Blue flight, coming home after two days of meetings with magazine food editors, previewing a new line of barbecue tools, fuels and accessories designed by barbecue guru Steven Raichlen for The Companion Group. Steven, star of the PBS show Barbecue University and the author of a number of barbecue books, including the best-selling Barbecue Bible, explained the genesis of the new cool tools to editors and demonstrated how they work. The meetings had been a resounding success.

Now I’m on my favorite airline with its door-to-door TV (contrary to expectations, I watchHGTV and the History Channel instead of the Food Network), blue Tera Chips and flight attendants who actually help you hoist your bags into the overhead compartment (mine aren’t heavy — I just need to grow a few more inches to reach the bin).

Unlike other airlines that purported to serve meals, Jet Blue never had that aspiration. The best thing that has happened to domestic coach class airline food is seeing it disappear. Did we really need disgustingly flabby, rubber chicken with artificial grill marks, swimming in salty tomato sauce, accompanied with mixed frozen veggies? [more…]