Monday, September 10, 7:00 P.M.
Members $85, guests $110

Try as we might, New Yorkers have never been able to transform the Big Apple into a tropical paradise. Oh sure, you can cover your kitchen table with jars of macadamia nuts, pineapples fresh from the plane, and bags and bags of Kona coffee. You can even put paper umbrellas in your morning orange juice (and global warming has its benefits), but it’s never quite the same as sitting on a deck watching the waves lap the Kona coast. At the Beard House, we have one "antidote to civilization," our Na Kuke Loea series, which translated, means "The Master Chefs" in Hawaiian. The chefs participating in these series have the remarkable ability to transform the Beard House, which, despite the many pineapples on the walls, has never been called a flower-filled paradise, until now.

Some would consider the challenge of overseeing the three dining venues of AAA Four-Diamond resort The Orchid at Mauna Lani work enough, but James Babian is not one to rest on his laurels. Earlier this summer, Babian left the Orchid’s tropical gardens for Las Vegas, where he competed in the Las Vegas Culinary Challenge, with his herb- and fennel-wrapped chicken breast with cherry-plum chutney receiving both a gold medal and the title of "best in show." Before coming to The Orchid, Babian was chef de cuisine at the Kamuela Provision Company in the Hilton Waikoloa Village. This California Culinary Academy graduate moved to Hawaii from Connecticut, where he owned his own restaurant, The Wild Mushroom in Milford, and headed the kitchens of Giannetta’s Cucina Italiana.

In Food & Wine, Kate Sekules called Four Seasons Resort Hualalai "not just one of Hawaii’s best resorts—it’s one of the world’s best." Sekules loved the resort’s Pahui’a restaurant, calling it "probably the best on the island, with a restrained Asian take on Hawaiian dishes." In Angeleno Social Magazine, Craig Keller called Pahui’a’s menu, featuring local ingredients such as Keahole lobster, Parker Ranch beef, and Waimea corn, "a memorable mélange of East-meets-West fare." In Travel & Leisure, Michael Walker relished both the grilled swordfish with pineapple salsa at the lower-key Beach Tree Bar and Grill, and Pahui’a’s steamed snapper with shiitake mushrooms: "so good I had it twice." Before coming to the Hualalai, Cassidy, a CIA grad, ran the stoves of the Four Seasons Hotel Newport, where he earned the resort’s first AAA Five-Diamond award for dining excellence.