On Wednesday evening Paradise Gourmet Catering and Grass Shack Parties and Rentals co-hosted the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce monthly ‘after hours’ reception with our neighbors - the Kona Brewing Company, and Big Island To Go.  

The event took place in the parking lot in front of our warehouse where close to 200 Chamber members mingled around the food stations enjoying the tasty fare presented by Chef Chris Fagan and his crew, and to see why Paradise Gourmet Catering was voted as the #1 Caterer in the 2008 West Hawaii Today readers poll. 

Guests also had a chance to walk though our warehouse for a glimpse of our huge inventory of rental equipment.

For the past weeks Kona has been a hub of activity as runners and cyclists continue to train for Saturday’s grueling event  - a 2.2 mile ocean swim, a 112 mile bike ride across sun beaten lava and ending with a 26 mile marathon. 

On Wednesday evening Paradise Gourmet Catering was once again happy to be a part of the festivities as “Ironman” welcomed VIP’s and Sponsors to an Aloha Reception at Historic Hulihee Palace.  Over 400 guests were met by Keiki lei greeters as sounds from a local Hawaiian quartet floated gently throughout the palace grounds.  Food stations, decorated with aloha print linens and Hawaiiana props and fresh flowers, featured some of our popular pupu items including such things as  Kona Coast Crab Cakes, Seared Ahi and Limu Salad and our famous Teriyaki Beef Skewers.

Chef Dawn and Courtney cooked up Thai Vegetarian Curry and our famous Coconut Macadamia Nut Bars and Nicole, Kathy and Jean from the office donated their time to assist them with this worthy cause.

Over 17 local restaurants and beverage purveyors participated including our sister company Huggos, whose menu of Kona “Farm Raised” Kampachi with Mango Relish and Ginger Aioli was a big hit.

As guests milled around enjoying the variety of tasty foods, and bidding on the many wonderful items at the Silent Auction, Pacific Fusion got the party rocking.

As Rocky was gunning the starter and making a lot of noise, I noticed the Bride standing by the front entrance with a look of concern on her face. I was thinking, “HOLY @#$! SHE LOOKS A LITTLE UPSET !” and I motioned to Rocky to stop what he was doing. As she walked towards the truck, I was thinking to myself “how am I going to talk my way out of this one, especially if we cannot move the truck out of the drive way before the guests arrive”. With a deep breath and a big smile, I said, “Aloha, I’m so sorry about all the noise.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked with the look of concern still on her face. “Our truck won’t start” I replied. To my surprise she responded “Pop the hood let me take a look.”
I did a double take, “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I’m a certified mechanic, pop the hood and I’ll take a look.”

The rest is history…. the truck is fixed and the wedding went without a hitch!

 Freddy Lau - Operations Manager

What’s at the Show:
More than 2,300 domestic exhibitors from around the country and the world.  Most exhibitors are entrepreneurs who developed the recipe and started the company, so you can learn about the products and do business with decision-makers.
International Pavilions presenting exotic new specialty foods from all over the world.
What’s New, What’s Hot! Showcases offer you a targeted area where you can find products that appeal to a certain segment of trade. Check out exciting products in these categories: What’s New?, Gift & Holiday, Natural & Organic Foods.
Seminars, Workshops, Tours, Tastings. The NASFT will present 30+ seminars, workshops, tours, tastings, cooking classes special events at this year’s Summer Fancy Food Show.

I hope this show can be an annual event like the others so our management team can continue to learn, have fun and challenge each other to be even better than they already are!

More about this after the show!

Scott

Meanwhile, Freddy and Rocky are going crazy in the warehouse counting and inventorying all our great equipment.  I am always happy to hear that we have more silver ware in stock than the last time we counted even though we did not order any! 

And Chef Chris spent part of the week creating so many new and fun food stations (check them out) for our clients to enjoy. He also knows how to paint doors in the warehouse.  We always thought he only knew how to paint beautiful plates (see what we mean).

As for me, I took an opportunity to volunteer with the Hawaii Island Humane Society a little bit.  Anyone who donates $500.00 or more to help the animals of the big island gets their name on a special plaque at the shelter.  I am the “plaque guy” so I am getting those organized now.  If you want to help the animals of the big island - click here - and thanks!