When The Hualalai Grille by Alan Wong, over in Kohala, was closed for renovations last week, Alan Wong brought his staff over for a tour of the farm.
Charlotte, Alan and Richard in the tomatoes
Richard said he always enjoys showing and explaining all that goes into making our produce so flavorful, safe and consistent. This visit also gave him a chance to tell the people working at the Hualalai Grille how much their support means to us here at the farm, and how it helps keep local farming a sustainable occupation.
“When they present our products in the best light possible, as they do,” he explained, “it raises the reputation of our product in the retail trade. And this helps us to price our products so we can be sustainable.
“I don’t think they had thought much about how much their support helps local farmers.”
Charlotte Romo, the farm’s hydroponic crop specialist, helped with the farm tour. “We showed them our little round yellow cucumber,” she said. “It was our first one; we’d just harvested it. They’re like tennis balls.”
“One of the first things Richard did when Alan came,” she said, “was to give him two seed catalogs so he could go through them and think about all the fun things we can grow.” She said the three of them are like kids in a candy shop with all the possibilities they find in seed catalogs.
Alan Wong in action
One thing the chefs and other staff members got to see was our new Variety Garden, where we grow a lot of vegetables in close collaboration with Chef Alan.
The Variety Garden has purple carrots, golden beets, colored radishes, different colors and shapes of sweet bell peppers, numerous varieties, colors and shapes of eggplants, at least 15 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, poha and tomatillos and even more.
Charlotte described the samples they set up in the packing house for the group to taste. “Tracy put out some of the new stuff we’re growing,” she said, “and a selection of the heirlooms and the Hamakua Sweets (tomatoes). Alan was eating a melon. We have started growing some really sweet, good melons, and we send him a few at a time.”
She said Alan is passionate about his produce. “He gets really excited,” she said, “which is nice for us because we don’t usually see that. I mostly work with plants, and pruners, so it’s fun to see somebody who appreciates it.”
Charlotte and Tracy, briefing the troops
She said he also asks a lot of really good questions. “He had me stumped at one point,” she said, “and I was embarrassed because I’m pretty knowledgeable about tomatoes. He asked if I knew the compound responsible for the smell of the vine. You know how with the T.O.V.’s, the Tomatoes-on-the-Vine, you can smell that very strong aroma of the vine, and that’s how you know it’s so fresh? I didn’t know the answer.
“So I called up one of my old professors,” she said. “She’s one of the top tomato physiologists, and she didn’t know either. It’s actually a bunch of compounds. I sent him some more information about it.”
She explained that most of the new products we grow for Chef Alan Wong are experimental at this point, while we perfect how to grow them. “We like to try new and different things,” she said. “It’s fun for us. Hopefully in the future these veggies will be in the stores at some point. That’s the whole idea—to provide more local, sustainable food instead of having to have everything shipped here.” – Leslie Lang