“Culinary Destination” segment on the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival

Drum roll please. Grapes, Grains and Grub has chosen the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival as a 2020 culinary destination.

Co-founded by two of Hawaii’s James Beard award-winning chefs, Roy Yamaguchi and Alan Wong, the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival promotes itself as the premier epicurean destination event in the Pacific. The 10th annual event is October 2nd through 25th.

Of course, Hawaii is a remarkable destination, no matter when or why you may travel there, but we love this festival because of their mission to reignite a love of the land by looking back to a time when Hawaii was 100% sustainable and their emphasis on the diverse cuisine of this world-class destination. The festival puts it best when they say “Taste our Love for the Land.” The proceeds support local beneficiaries committed to sustainability and cultural and educational programs in Hawaii.

Did you know that this festival has expanded from a three day event in Waikiki to more than 10,000 attendees across three weekends and multiple islands, and they’ve donated more than $2 million to community organizations that support sustainability, culinary programs and agriculture. Every ticket purchased goes towards supporting the farmers, ranchers, and fishermen of Hawaii, and invests in the up and coming talent at local culinary colleges and agricultural education for children.

The full event features more than 150 master chefs, wine makers, spirit producers, and a lot of activities like wine tastings, cooking demonstrations, one of a kind excursions and dishes that highlight the state’s bounty of local produce, seafood, beef and poultry. The Hawaii Food and Wine Festival is a program of the non-profit, Hawaii Ag and Culinary Alliance, whose mission is to shine a light on culinary talent and locally grown products to ensure Hawaii maintains its status as a world class destination.

And on that, we agree.