“Thank you, Uncle Jun.  We miss you greatly.”

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Gaijin just signed up to compete in the I Love Poke Festival.  Here’s a little sumthin sumthin about their twist on asian shave ice, created by hired cocktail guns Snake Oil Cocktail Co.  (No, they won’t be serving these at I Love Poke, but they will be servin up some delish poke…..and there will be some mean shave ice sampling going on by Kam Shave Ice and Wahine Kai Shave Ice!)

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If you’re a fan of ukulele picking, come check out Herb Ohta Jr. in Carlsbad.  Buy your tickets HERE.

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For those of you traveling from North County SD or Orange County to enjoy stuffing your face with poke, musubi, malasadas and shave ice should really consider staying at the Island Palms Hotel & Marina that night.  This resort is walking distance from the Bali Hai or a $5 cab ride  (Please don’t drink and drive!)  PLUS they are also host to the official after party of I Love Poke, so everyone will end up at this spot anyway!  They are giving us a great deal on room rates using the code word:  I Love Poke 3

Special Guest Room Rates For I LOVE POKE 3 May 30, 2012

$129.00 single or double occupancy

$149.00 Junior Suite

$229.00 Island Palms Suite

Special rate is offered up until the hotel reaches

80% in occupancy pre and post to above date

Check-in is at 4:00pm and checkout is at 12:00 noon.

Complimentary Hotel Parking & Daily Airport shuttle is available

When booking, make sure you mention I Love Poke 3 for the special rate!

www.islandpalms.com 619-222-0561  2051 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego, CA 92106

(Quick Note:  The Island Palms Resort is home to the Blue Wave Bar & Grill, run by Executive Chef Marc Brislin who will be competing at I Love Poke.)

Chris’ Ono Grinds off Mission Gorge is our newest participant for the I Love Poke Festival.  They will be serving up flavors of their ono chicken wings like huli huli, guava bbq and lava sauce (with a kick).

Also make note that SD’s own Ohana Plus plays every last Friday night at Ono Grinds.  They also have ukulele lessons on Monday nights.  So if you live in the Mission Valley or SDSU areas, stop by for your fix of Hawaii flavors and music.  Give’um a call if you need more information!

www.onogrinds.com 619.794.2060  4651 Mission Gorge Place San Diego, CA 92120

North Shore Poke Co. 214 5th St., northshorepoke.com. Open Sun.-Mon. & Wed.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Tues. & Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Dinner for two, $10-$25.

If you spend any time in Encinitas, chances are someone has told you about Fish 101. I know from experience that Fish 101 is the buzz around town because people keep telling me about it.  I just go about my day, minding my own business……and when someone starts talking about food or fish, they always say “Fish 101 is super good.  It doesn’t look fancy on the outside, but the food is really good.”  I’ve heard this multiple times.  So I went in to meet the partners and to ask them if they would participate in the I Love Poke Festival on May 30th.

My meeting time was at 4:30, right before the dinner rush, so I just made it brief. I ordered the Poke (of course) and a Pellegrino.  The poke was super good tasting, worthy of competition, and I also noticed something different about it.  Fish 101 uses Albacore Tuna in their poke, rather than Ahi because Albacore is a more sustainable fish.  Big Shakas to John for doing his part to conserve our resources while at the same time giving us a poke fix!

If you’re the “shucking” type of person, if you like clam chowder or if you’re pau surfing and you want some poke, try cruise to Fish 101.  Here are some photos of the “pre-dinner” rush time slot.  Please make note that once dinner hits, the restaurant fills quick!  (Regarding the I Love Poke Festival, it looks like there’s a good chance they are going to compete or participate in some way.  I’ll keep you posted!)

Fish 101 1468 n coast hwy 101 encinitas, ca 92024  phone (760) 943-6221

This is the third annual “I LOVE POKE” Food Festival and Competition and the name says it all.  If you love poke, than you don’t want to miss out as San Diego’s most popular chefs and cooks compete for the bragging rights of “BEST POKE” in two categories.  With your price of admission you get a taste of each chefs creation in both the “Traditional” category (use of tuna is required) and the “Any Kine” category (anything goes).

In addition to all the onolicious poke that you can sample, 15 other restaurants and food brands will be giving you a taste of their Asian/Hawaiian infused menu items and food products.  All together that’s 30 different restaurants bringing you the best in San Diego’s Island styled grinds including plenty shave ice, musubi, cupcakes, li hing mui w/ fresh fruit and the most popular sweet roll on the planet, King’s Hawaiian Bread!

This event benefits the Kona-California Scholarship.

BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE HERE:  TICKET SALES

IF HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CALL (760) 207-8212 OR EMAIL aloha@neensmarketing.com.

FOR SPECIAL HOTEL ROOM RATES AT THE ISLAND PALMS RESORT CLICK HERE.

Mahalo to our sponsors:  King’s Hawaiian, Hurley, Toyota of Escondido, Dining Out SD, CUPS Culinary

A LIST OF THIS YEAR’S PARTICIPANTS

POKE LAND (competing for “best poke”)
Hapa J’s, Kitchen 4140, Food Farm, Raw Mana Sushi, Saltbox, Peohe’s, Sea Rocket Bistro, Humphrey’s Restaurant, Blue Wave Bar and Grill, Gaijin Noodle + Sake House, Sushi Foods, Top of the Market

FOOD LAND (non-poke food to grind on)
Isabel’s Cantina, Da Kine’s Catering, Quality Time Catering, Bad Ass Coffee Company, King’s Hawaiian Bread, Pop Chips, Honest Tea, Gabardine, Casanova Fish Tacos , Chris’s Onolicious Grinds, L&L Hawaiian BBQ, CUPS Culinary, Island Style Cafe, Chamorro Grill

SWEET LAND (desserts & after dinner goodness)
Sweet Layers, Kam Shave Ice, Specialty Produce, Wahine Kai Shave Ice, Ho’onani Cakes, Kona Kakes, CUPS Organic, Chuao Chocolate

JUDGES (12 judges conduct a blind tasting monitored by Dining Out Magazine)
Michelle Lerach (owner CUPS Organic), Slash (Radio Show Producer of LaDona Live), Uncle Wayne (Hawaiian Fisherman), Chris Cote (Editor n Chief, Transworld Surf Magazine), Mana Thome (Founder, Polynesian Underground Entertainment), Brian Malarkey (Top Chef fame, Owner Burlap-Gabardine-Searsucker), Michael Antoronsi (Owner/Chef, Chuao Chocolate), Sunny Garcia (Hawaiian Pro Surfer, To Be Confirmed), Uncle Nelson Ishii (Da Kine’s Catering), Uncle Rome (Owner, Motu Hawaii), Susan Russo (food writer/blogger)

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The homegirl Anuhea has been working hard and it’s all paying off.

Buy her album here on iTunes:  http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/for-love/id499055198?ls=1

Watch her new video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=E2ukkNb0AJs

(We would have embedded the video, but something’s wrong with WordPress right now)

See how much we love Musubi below…….

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