New guide to Kauai restaurants prompts Garden Isle parties

A new guidebook to some of Kauai’s best restaurants will be celebrated with a series of post-Thanksgiving/pre-Christmas parties, including one at a Princeville restaurant that bears the imprint of rocker Todd Rundgren.

The four gatherings are part of the launch of local food critic Marta Lane’s “Tasting Kauai: Restaurants 2015 — An Insider’s Guide to Eating Well on the Garden Island.”

Cocktails and appetizers will be served during four book-release parties:

Friday: 5-6:30 p.m. at the Feral Pig in Lihue. Co-owner Dave Power, recognized as one of Hawaii’s best bartenders, will greet guests.

Dec. 5: 5-6:30 p.m. at Tiki Iniki in Princeville. Owner Michele Rundgren will discuss the menu she and her husband, rock musician Todd Rundgren (“Hello It’s Me”) have created.

Dec. 10: 5:15-6:45 p.m. at Hukilau Lanai in Kapaa. Guests will learn that the emphasis at this restaurant is on locally sourced food.

Dec. 19: 5-6:30 p.m. at Josselin’s Tapas Bar & Grill in Poipu. Owner Jean-Marie Josselin is one of the 12 chefs who banded together in 1991 to create Hawaii Regional Cuisine.

Lane told me that although her book, which features about 90 eateries, will be useful to locals, it will be particularly helpful to tourists.

“A lot of them are coming here for the first time and like to experience places for food,” she said. “Some of them might even get annoyed when they eat somewhere and it’s not good, especially on vacation.”

Tickets cost $37, which includes a signed copy of Lane’s book. Part of the proceeds will help support a local food bank.

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