Hilton Hawaiian Village gluten-free/ Cf Experience

[Lisa16]

I just got back from a week in Honolulu and I had a great experience at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

If you call ahead, they can get you what you need for every meal. They took good care of me and made arrangements for every meal. You can eat at the Tapa cafe, the Hau Tree grill, Bali by the Sea and the Village Steak and Seafood Grill. They are even able to accomodate you through room service. The chefs spoke with me and checked on every meal and they were very knowledgeable about celiac disease.

I give them top marks!

[kenlove]

Also great to hear. The last time I was there about 3 years ago it was questionable so we went across to Nicks Fish Market which was great. I still think you should have come to this island <G>

Ken

I just got back from a week in Honolulu and I had a great experience at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

If you call ahead, they can get you what you need for every meal. They took good care of me and made arrangements for every meal. You can eat at the Tapa cafe, the Hau Tree grill, Bali by the Sea and the Village Steak and Seafood Grill. They are even able to accomodate you through room service. The chefs spoke with me and checked on every meal and they were very knowledgeable about celiac disease.

I give them top marks!

[elonwy]

Yay that is so awesome, anything that spreads more good info in HI is fantastic.

I agree with Ken, the Big Island is the best (I'm soooo homesick).

[Lisa16]

Also great to hear. The last time I was there about 3 years ago it was questionable so we went across to Nicks Fish Market which was great. I still think you should have come to this island <G>

Ken

The funny thing is that I did go to the Big island. I flew into Hilo and drove to Akaka Falls and then down to the Volcano National Park. I did not know how rural it was, nor did I know that there were no restaurants in that area. Luckily I stopped at a natural foods store and bought fruit andgf ginger snaps, which I lived off of the whole time I was on the big island!

I stayed at the Volcano House and they only had a buffet. I took one look at it and went back to my room to eat ginger snaps. By the time I was finished with the park, I was so tired that I didn't have it in me to drive the 30 miles back to Hilo to look for a restaurant.

My memories of the Big Island will always revolve around HUNGER.

[elonwy]

Heh. I eat at home when I'm there (my mom lives in Volcano) because Hilo side is kinda limited that way. My mom has done a good job at getting the health food stores in Hilo to start carrying more gluten-free foods, but you get out side of town and you're pretty much on your own. I wouldn't eat at Volcano House if you paid me even before gluten-free.

[Lisa16]

Heh. I eat at home when I'm there (my mom lives in Volcano) because Hilo side is kinda limited that way. My mom has done a good job at getting the health food stores in Hilo to start carrying more gluten-free foods, but you get out side of town and you're pretty much on your own. I wouldn't eat at Volcano House if you paid me even before gluten-free.

Dang Elonwy-- thank your mom for me (Mahalo!) I got the snaps at the Natural Foods store that is in the Walmart mall, turning left out of the airport. If it weren't for that little store I would have been in REAL trouble. The supermarkets were not so good-- I stopped in several and found very little that I could take without having a way to cook.

What is strange is that in that NF store they had prepared foods like scrambled eggs hat I would have gotten. But I asked how they were cooked and the girl held up the most disgusting wok I had ever seen in my life. I abandoned the agg idea then and there.

The volcano house was not what I thought it was-- but I did have a view of the crater. Oh well.

The Hilo side is beautiful, but pack a lunch. And dinner. And breakfast too.

[kenlove]

Well maybe its good you didnt call me otherwise you would have been stuffed and unable to get back on a plane!

Did a lot of experimenting last week since we had guests from Chicago here. YOu could have eaten your fill. I'd tell you some of the recipes but dont want to make your mouth water too much <G>

ken

The funny thing is that I did go to the Big island. I flew into Hilo and drove to Akaka Falls and then down to the Volcano National Park. I did not know how rural it was, nor did I know that there were no restaurants in that area. Luckily I stopped at a natural foods store and bought fruit andgf ginger snaps, which I lived off of the whole time I was on the big island!

I stayed at the Volcano House and they only had a buffet. I took one look at it and went back to my room to eat ginger snaps. By the time I was finished with the park, I was so tired that I didn't have it in me to drive the 30 miles back to Hilo to look for a restaurant.

My memories of the Big Island will always revolve around HUNGER.

[Lisa16]

Hi Ken!

I actually did send you an email with the flight info and everything but you must not have gotten it. So I just kind of thought either you were super busy or you didn;t want to meet in person because of the whole internet aspect. I was kind of bummed.

But then it turns out that Kona is about 95 miles away and that it takes kind of a long time to even go 30 miles. I wasn't expecting the whole "only one road" situation either. Plus it was raining and they kept stopping traffic for "mowing" (which looked like it meant hacking out whole giant sections of vegetation.

They told me the Kona side is really built up.

But you do live in paradise!

Lisa

[kenlove]

Hi,

Yeah I thought you were going to call to and then figured maybe the same as you.. internet etc. Never did get the email.. to bad

but now you have an excuse to come back. The volcano is 98 miles from my house but I do have to go over there at times. The roads here are terrible so I usually leave at 4am and get to see the sun come up over Hilo which can be nice. Did it Dec 31 as I had a meeting. Six hours of driving for a 30 min. meeting. Would have been worth it to see you. Next time for sure! Parts of Kona are built up but this is farm country. Some places dont even have indoor plumbing. -- I do <G>

take care

Hi Ken!

I actually did send you an email with the flight info and everything but you must not have gotten it. So I just kind of thought either you were super busy or you didn;t want to meet in person because of the whole internet aspect. I was kind of bummed.

But then it turns out that Kona is about 95 miles away and that it takes kind of a long time to even go 30 miles. I wasn't expecting the whole "only one road" situation either. Plus it was raining and they kept stopping traffic for "mowing" (which looked like it meant hacking out whole giant sections of vegetation.

They told me the Kona side is really built up.

But you do live in paradise!

Lisa

[Lisa16]

Hi Ken!

You know, at the Volcano House they had one of your tropical fruit posters up by the door that goes out to the observation deck. That was pretty cool.

Yes, I kept puzzling over why it was taking so long to drive places-- it was like a time warp. Maybe there is such a thing as Hawaiian miles! 3 hours to go 98 miles is really something. A HI mile must be longer that the mainland kind by a factor of 1.5 (at least).

But I got to see the lava flowing into the sea! When I was little I saw a documentary about it and ever since then I had wanted to go. I think the coolest part was where it had flowed over the road, but I like the lava tube too. That is really a very nice park.

Next time I will fly into Kona and visit your flea market :-)

Lisa

[kenlove]

Ok, As long as you come to Kona next time!

it only takes 2 hours to go 15 miles when school is out every afternoon<G> Glad you saw the poster! Working on 2 others now too, more than 100 types of citrus and over 100 types of avocados.

Before you come here you can get a sneak peak at my test field on the upcoming PBS show Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie.

They filmed us for 12 hours straight for a 15 minute segment but i'm pretty sure they will show me dragging my chef buddy around the field and then in the kitchen using some of the wierd fruit. I also talked about celiac during the interview part but not sure how much if any of it they will leave in the show.

Take care

Hi Ken!

You know, at the Volcano House they had one of your tropical fruit posters up by the door that goes out to the observation deck. That was pretty cool.

Yes, I kept puzzling over why it was taking so long to drive places-- it was like a time warp. Maybe there is such a thing as Hawaiian miles! 3 hours to go 98 miles is really something. A HI mile must be longer that the mainland kind by a factor of 1.5 (at least).

But I got to see the lava flowing into the sea! When I was little I saw a documentary about it and ever since then I had wanted to go. I think the coolest part was where it had flowed over the road, but I like the lava tube too. That is really a very nice park.

Next time I will fly into Kona and visit your flea market :-)

Lisa

[amber]

I just got back from a week in Honolulu and I had a great experience at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

If you call ahead, they can get you what you need for every meal. They took good care of me and made arrangements for every meal. You can eat at the Tapa cafe, the Hau Tree grill, Bali by the Sea and the Village Steak and Seafood Grill. They are even able to accomodate you through room service. The chefs spoke with me and checked on every meal and they were very knowledgeable about celiac disease.

I give them top marks!

Good to hear of your positive gluten-free experience in Hawaii. We have thought about going to Hawaii but have also heard that the knowledge of celiac disease and availability of gluten-free food is not so good there which makes us think twice about going there.

[kenlove]

HI Amber,

I work with chefs on the Big Island in Kona and they all know about celiac now. Most resort hotels here keep gluten-free items in stock

and we just had the largest healthfood store open in downtown kona with gluten-free items I never saw before!. I spent way to much there last Friday! Some of the smaller restaurants are not too aware but the good ones are.

If you have any questions I'll be glad to try an answer them.

Ken ( in Kona)

Good to hear of your positive gluten-free experience in Hawaii. We have thought about going to Hawaii but have also heard that the knowledge of celiac disease and availability of gluten-free food is not so good there which makes us think twice about going there.