La Dolce Vida @ The Four Seasons

 I was invited to attend a really special event at the Four Seasons Hualalai (recently voted the #1 resort in all of Hawaii by readers of Travel and Leisure) called La Dolce Vida: the Sweet Life. It was a fund raiser for the Kona Hospital sponsored by HI Luxury Magazine and the Four Seasons. 

It was a beautiful night on the grass near the Beach Tree. The music was incredible and the weather was perfect. We had a glorious sunset and met up with some great friends who came to the event. It was great to see part of my Four Seasons Ohana there too. But the star of the night was the FOOD!

The event was a showcase of the trip that Chef Nick of Beach Tree and his sidekick Chuck a.k.a. “Carlos”, restaurant manager made last spring while the restaurant was closed for repairs from the Tsunami. They toured wineries and restaurants in California’s Central Coast and then made their way to Italy where they wined and dined and cooked throughout their trip. They brought back more than just memories. The foods and wines that they experienced on their trip were shared with the lucky people at the event. Several stations were set up and we nibbled and sipped our way around them.

Chef Nick is a buddy of mine. I spent a day with him last fall and he even taught my friend Janet and I how to make his mother’s special recipe of gnocchi. You can read more about that, including the recipe here.

At the event I even got to meet some of my Facebook friends who I had not met in person before. They came to the event after I posted about it. One of them is beautiful Joy who is a talented hula dancer.

If you are on the Big Island, you must make a visit to the Four Seasons Hualalai and have lunch or dinner at Beach Tree where you can partake in some of Chef Nick’s Italian Inspired menu items made with mostly local ingredients. His wild boar ragu is to die for. Beach Tree is one of the best places to watch the sunset on the island.