Hale Aina Awards 2017 and 9 1/2 Years

October 2016
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Meal Plan Pickup
10/07: MP1
10/14: MP2
10/21: MP3
10/28: MP4
 
Please call 536-9680 
to order your meals.
_________________


Licious-ness at the Farmers' Markets

Link: Hawaii Farmer's Bureau
     
KAILUA MARKET  
5 - 7:30 pm
(Every Thursday)

10/6, 10/13, 10/20, 10/27 
(Long's Drug Store Parking Lot. We're the first booth.)

K AKAAKO 
FARMER'S MARKET
8 am - 12 noon
(Every Saturday)
10/8, 10/15, 10/22, 10/29 
At Ward Warehouse
Parking lot along Auahi Street

QUEEN'S MEDICAL CENTER
9 am - 1:30 pm
(First Wednesday)
10/5
  

Hale Aina Awards 2017~
Our Commencement


At the end of this month, it'll be 9 ½ years since we opened our certified kitchen at Dole Cannery on May 1st, 2007 with 2 employees.  The possibility of winning a Hale Aina Award was not even on my mind.  Instead it was learning the POS system, packaging, labeling, and of course making the food for customers.
 
I knew how to throw big parties and our Grand Opening must've included at least 250 from our RSVP list.  All told, add another 75 non RSVP-ers and their friends and family may have joined us.  Twelve table-clothed six-foot tables adjusted to Bistro table heights for standing only eating, drinking and food serving were opened and decorated.  Sampling out my food has always been a must-do to get people to realize, "Wow.  I can totally eat your food."  It's been a hard job but somebody's got to do it, that is, turning people on to the vivid flavors of raw vegan gourmet food. Music flowed from my Sony MP3 player.

Learning to be flexible in business is key for survival.  We were going gangbusters in the beginning, but I would soon find out that October was the beginning of the slow quarter.  People could smell our Flax Seed Crackers and Onion Bread from our dehydrators as they passed by and would swing the door open to see if there was something for them to eat, like, NOW.  So I called ABC Refrigerators and got a fridge with a glass door for Grab n Go with a footprint of 2'x2' delivered in 2 days.  Now we got sales going on and eventual Meal Plan customers.  I'm like that.  I need it NOW.   The Grab n Go spurred us on to Farmers Markets.
 
In 2010, Nadine Kam wrote an article about 3 new Vegan cafes that popped up.  Peace Café, Fresh Café, and Kale's Natural Foods.  I read it ruefully knowing I wouldn't be mentioned in it since I'm neither a café nor a restaurant.  But as I got to the end of the article, I blinked when I read the last paragraph that said, "But I wish someone would open a restaurant with the fare Sylvia Thompson makes..." OMG!  Tears of surprise and  worthiness made me feel oh so wanted.
 
Nadine then took it further, awarding us the Critic's Choice Award in the Star-Advertiser Ilima Awards in 2011.  It was during the Awards Banquet when people were coming up to congratulate and hug us that Pete finally relented, saying, "Okay, I guess your food is good enough to pair with wines.  You can open a restaurant." He always thought wines would keep the restaurant going, not food alone.  What?  Music to my ears.  The next day, the Realtor in me kicked in as I peered into the window of the location we are today.  How many times, had I passed it running to Ala Moana and Magic Island and back to the Honolulu Club thinking this would be perfect for a/my restaurant.  So I guess I manifested it. 
 
The Greens & Vines restaurant Grand Opening on October 28th included a buffet, live Jazz from the finest musicians, and non-alcoholic spritzers made of sparkling water and fresh fruit, juiced.  We sold $85 tickets to 85-90 people for the Opening as a Fundraiser for Ma'o Organic Farms, which was burglarized of their farming equipment, and a small percentage to the West Oahu Farm Bureau.

Fast forward to today.  Four Hale Aina Awards later, 1 bronze, 1 silver, and 2 golds for Best Vegetarian Restaurant, and an upcoming Ilima Award to be determined October 10th at the Diamond Head Theatre, where Gio and I will be serving our Zucchini Fettuccine, Cashew Alfredo, Marinated Mushrooms from the Greens & Vines booth.  We've come full circle.  Our Meal Plan subscriptions have rebounded with the spreading of our roots i.e., delivery of the meals to Yoga and Fitness Centers.
 
I have so much Aloha for our customers all these years and our staff, so loyal humble and dependable.  It's you all that deserve the awards.  Wherever the next six months takes us, I respect and accept these awards like a commencement achievement.  Thank you.


GOJI STRAWBERRY
KOMBUCHA CLASS
 
Oct. 9th : This coming Sunday 
12-2pm at Greens & Vines

LAST MINUTE NOTICE PRICE: 
$45 with RSVP 536-9680 with credit card info

Please bring a Gallon Jar with Lid to take home a big Mother with Kids, and some Kombucha.  Includes the Goji Strawberry Kombucha from class.

Kombucha is the MOTHER offspring of Fermentation.  Not quite vegetable, not quite animal, the unpasteurized products of fermentation from Kombucha build the Immune System. 




To celebrate our
4th Anniversary

Tasty Tuesdays 
Starting October 18th
5-7pm : $30.00

Taster Wines Poured by:
 *Keith Verrier of  Johnson Brothers
*Ian Serle of Chambers & Chambers
with our Pupus 


Buy one get one
free appetizer special

Any day of the week when we are open, 
for the month of October,  we have a buy one get one free appetizer special


FOOD DEMOS GALORE
 
I enjoy doing demos and answering questions.  There's a wave of people out there wanting to learn to eat "healthy."  I'm here for you.

At the VegFest


At the Blue Zone: A community based Lifestyle Support System


Coming up:  Demos for the Halekulani Staff

Please forward this newsletter to your friends and recommend them to get our newsletter and info on on our Weekly Meal Plans, by clicking on this and adding their email address. Check out our Restaurant Menus at our website -  greensandvines.com
 

Looking for a heart-healthy gift?
Licious Dishes Gift Certificates now available in any amount!
Call us to order via credit card and we can mail it to your recipient(s).

Aloha,
Sylvia Thompson
Greens & Vines, a subsidiary of Licious Dishes