I put on my first luau today :)

It was only for 50 people, but you have to start somewhere

Menu:

Soup: Carrot, Mango and Pumpkin
Kalua Pork
Huli Huli Chicken
Baked Mahi-Mahi
Coconut Rice
Brown Sugar-Glazed Sweet Potatoes

And, we did some tropical fruit skewers and haupia for the dessert table (along with coconut cake and key lime pie)

My supplier didn't send the banana leaves I ordered, so I made the pork with lettuce leaves instead - not the same flavor, but still moist (about 5 hours in a 225 oven). I also used pork loins, instead of butts, or a whole pig, because I had them on hand. Still pretty good, but the butts would be a bit moister.

I gotta do this again next week for 150 people. Any comments/suggestions on the menu?

We also ran a drink special - $8 Mai Tais (about 12oz with ice). No takers on them from the party - sold a few in the bar (the stupid restaurant manager made 2 pitchers of them, thinking they'd sell fast). My sous grabbed a couple of "to go" soup containers (16 oz size), and filled them with the leftovers, so I'm enjoying one before I have my dinner. I wasn't happy with the recipe we used - it was a pretty basic lousy bar version - no orgeat syrup - but I added some when I got home. Not too bad.

Chef Frank

"Only" 50 people?! Sounds like a nice sized party.

To get the uninitiated to try the Mai Tais and other tropical-type drinks may require "selling the experience". You might try setting up a small remote bar in the dining room which only offers a couple tropical drinks. Decorate it in the theme and have the bartender be a bit of a showman and have he/she attractively dressed in something tropical such as a Hawaiian shirt instead of the usual uniform. If a remote bar is not possible, the same thing can be created perhaps at one end of the regular bar.

The care and quality you bring to the food should be matched by the ingredients and skill of the bartender. Making drinks by the pitcher is a whole lot less fun for the guest than making them individually. There's more showmanship involved and frankly, the quality of the drink is improved when you make them one at a time. (Just squeezing the lime can be great showmanship!)

One other detail I might suggest is to have the bartender bone up on the history of these drinks. When he/she can speak casually about Donn Beach and Trader Vic and the history of the drink as it is being prepared, it adds a lot to the experience. You can get the info on line or purchase a book such a Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari.

Anywho, I didn't mean to get preachy. Just a few thoughts from a guy in the business.

Thanks for the suggestion!!!

50 people is a small event - I work for a large conference center, and 200 people + is the norm for most events. However, it's usually a filet on a plate with some potatoes and a couple of green beans. I've been trying to sell the concept of "theme nights" for a while, and I finally got the go-ahead to try. Last night was Luau, tonight's theme is "Nawlin's", tomorrow is "Tex-Mex Night." If I was doing this in a private room, I would have pulled out all the stops, dressed staff in aloha shirts, and thrown leis all over the place. Unfortunately, we had to do this in the main restaurant, with a lot of other guests not affiliated with the party, so I couldn't set up a tiki bar. I was lucky to decorate a little with coconuts and pineapples.

The main server for the party happens to be very knowledgeable about the history of Tiki, and is a great bartender. She, unfortunately, came in after the manager already mixed the drinks - she would have preferred to make them to order. Also, the group had another meeting after dinner, so they didn't want to drink.

Well, when I do this next week, we'll be doing it right - we have a thatch-roofed bar in storage someplace on property, so that's going to get dragged out and put to use. I'm also heading out between now and then and getting a couple of neon palm trees to set the mood.

Well you do have a high volume operation then. Your menu sure did a nice job of hitting all the bases. Good for you to get the theme events going. It adds fun for guests, but maybe even more, you're providing fun and energy for your employees.

[ Edited by: Bongo Bungalow 2008-02-27 05:18 ]

Sounds like you did a lot a prep to make it a good event. I hope it was well received. You can also think about music for completing the atmosphere.

Aloha ChefFrank

Congratulations on a successful luau. I got hungry just reading the menu. Just wanted to suggest that if you're having trouble finding banana leaves in the future you can always use Ti leaves, which is used for laulau-very traditional. In California they're usually easy to find at asian markets not so sure about the east coast, but it's worth a shot. The stems at the base of the leaf make perfect natural ties to bundle the fish inside. By the way I could eat coconut rice for breakfast and do :wink:

How did the pork go over? At my last luau, it was the least popular. The chicken skewers (Sabu's Spicy Coconut ones) flew out with everything else. So, although it is perhaps traditional, you might swap it out.

You can buy banana leaves frozen in Asian grocery stores if there are any in your area.

I would not suggest the Mai Tai myself. It is a well known name, but not the drink the average person will go for. Too sour. A very simple drink that everyone will rave over is the Painkiller. You'll sell a crapload of those.

Hey Chef Frank,

Your menu looks great. I have a tropical themed restaurant and banquet room in Northern Indiana. I love cooking for the theme nights. It's a nice change of pace for myself & my customers. What ingredients did you use for your Kalua Pork? By the way, my bartender Pam pours the best Mai Tais in the state...
For me 1 to celebrate a good night on the line, 2 to forget a bad one.

Take Care,

Scott

Hi Scott!!

Like I said, I used pork loin instead of a whole pig, or butts (this was sorta a last minute decision, so I went with what I had). I did a Anthony Perkins on it with a braising fork, and rubbed it down with liquid smoke. Some sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, sprinkled over the top, and I let them sit overnight.

The next morning, I figured I had to get them into the oven. My produce supplier carries frozen banana leaves, and I ordered them, but they never got shipped. No worries! I was more concerned with texture than taste at this point (the banana leaves do add flavor, but since I was doing it in an oven instead of a pit, I was afraid of them drying out), so I put down a piece of parchment, and covered it with lettuce leaves (green leaf, to be precise). I rolled them up, tied them, and put them on a rack in a roasting pan. Just to make sure they wouldnt dry out, I poured a little pineapple juice on the bottom of the rack. I sealed the pan with a couple of pieces of parchment and a lot of foil. I popped it into a 225F oven, and forgot about them for about 6 hours. About 20 minutes before service, I yanked them out of the oven, opened up the pan, and let them sit for 10 minutes. They were moist, and falling apart. I sliced/shredded the pork, and put them in a chaffing dish lined with lettuce (red leaf, this time) to keep it from drying out. I garnished with some quartered fresh pineapple (including, the leafy top), mandarin oranges and maraschino cherries for some color.

To answer Swanky's question, it didn't seem too popular at all. The soup and the chicken were the hits of the night, although, the fish seemed to disappear, as well (simple recipe: Brush mahi with lemon juice. Mix pureed onions with mayo, spread over top of fish. Sprinkle with fine breadcrumbs and bake at 350F for 10 minutes). The Mai Tais were not my idea - the F&B director decided on them because people would have at least heard of them. She wasn't too pleased when I pointed out that they were created in California, and not Hawaii.

Thanks for the tip about Ti leaves, Aloha. I seem to have enough problems with banana leaves - anything too west coast would be hit or miss, depending on if my produce guy can get them: No guarentees on delivery date, and I don't know if they freeze well.

Haole'akamai - the music was nixed because it was in the main restaurant, and not in a private room. The opinion (of which I didn't agree) was that Hawaiian music wouldn't be appreciated by people eating $35 steaks and drinking $90 bottles of wine. The next Luau is a private, so believe me, we're going to be playing hulas :)

Frank

"She wasn't too pleased when I pointed out that they were created in California, and not Hawaii."

Now, now, Frank. Whether the Mai Tai is the right drink to tempt your guests at your next event is a question to be answered, but don't base the decision on its origins. You are not recreating historic Hawaii here, you are creating a bit of tropical escapism. All tropical drinks are really faux-tropical, but that doesn't mean they aren't a big part of what guests expect from a Hawaiian experience.

Bongo - LOL!!! I know that, but every once in a while, I like to show off a little of the esoteric culinary knowledge I've acquired. It gets me in trouble from time to time. We had an event planner who wanted me to come up with an "authentic" 1940's supper club menu that featured "Surf and Turf". I pointed out that: a)"Surf and Turf", as such, wasn't created until the 1960's (at The Continental Restaurant in Lowell, MA) and b) the menu would be closer to diner food than what normally comes out of our kitchen. I suggested Prime Rib, a la "Lawry's Prime Rib", the original supper club, but she won out, mostly because she already sent the ads to the paper. It did earn me some brownie points with her, and she's come back for requests for authentic period menus for special clients (my favorite idea, and one we haven't done yet, is a recreation of the last meal on the Titanic - 10 courses!!).

So, I've gotten one suggestion for a drink for the next event. Any one have favorites to suggest? The prime requirements are that it uses our usual bar ingredients, or maybe one or two specialty ingredients. Orange, cranberry, grapefruit and pineapple are always available, and Rose's lime and grenadine are standard. No more than 2 oz of liquor, since we want to keep the price reasonable (we usually charge $4.75 for a drink with one oz of basic booze - like Bacardi white - we'll want to keep the price of the tropical drinks $8 or $9). I can get mango and passion fruit puree easily. Also, keep in mind that the event bartenders are rather unskilled - they can pour wine and open beer bottles without a problem, but even martinis are a stretch for them. I do have a frozen drink machine available and can get mixes for them (I even think I still have a case of pina colada mix in the freezer).

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Frank

The Painkiller is the way to go. Simple easy ingredients and after one person tries it, everyone will want it. You can put 1-3 oz of rum in it.

I know it's heresy to the purists (and I'm one of 'em!), but you can always make Mai Tais "Island style" by adding a splash of pineapple juice. That seems to do it for those like my wife who don't like the sourness.

You couldn't get rid of the mai tais? Man, the two pitchers I brought to a small 4th of July potluck were gone in no time flat. Of course, they were the classic Trader Vic's recipe and I was giving them away for free...