What is your Legacy?

"What is your Legacy?" This question is meant to get you thinking about living for a higher purpose than just the "day to day"...I would like to dedicate this post and the cafe to 2 wonderful men who have influenced Suzette and I in the most important way: they loved us unconditionally. Red Ginger Cafe is their legacy.

My Dad is Jim and Suzette's is Walter, they both worked hard their whole lives for their families. They instilled a good work ethic in both of us and taught us to take what life sent our way with grace and dignity. They set good examples for their children and their communities and lived "pono". They were active in our lives, always volunteering within our extra-curricular activities. Our Dads also had another thing in common, both knew how to have a good time and could be counted on the "bring the party" if you know what I mean. Both Dads passed away recently of Cancer, my new mantra is "Cancer sucks". Suzette and I still carry the best parts of them in our hearts.

My Dad grew up in Papakolea and in the valleys surrounding the homestead there is an abundance of Red Ginger flowers. Maybe this was why he always grew it in our yard and put it in vases in around house. I never understood why he would adore such a "common flower", I used to tease him that Red Ginger was a weed not a flower. He would always smile, a knowing smile, you know the one father's give us when they know a secret and we have not proven ourselves worthy to be let in on it. Well I think the lesson to be learned is that there is beauty in the most common everyday things. He wasn't fascinated by the rarer more delicate pua that we covet at the lei stores, instead he saw the beauty in the large, waxy, red torch ginger in everyone's backyard. How wonderful is that? To be able to STOP and enjoy the beauty of his own life, never having to search for more, knowing that the most beautiful part of his day was right in his backyard?

I'm going to have to end this now because its getting a little heavy for me, but you get my point. Be happy with your flaws, embrace your differences...Love those around you as if they may leave tomorrow. Always tell people how much you appreciate them and enjoy what the Akua have given you...one more day.

Ho`i Hou i ka Iwi Kuamo`o.

Aloha,
Red Ginger Cafe Manoa

Kulia's Korner

Kulia is my 6 year old son. He goes to Ma`ema`e Elementary and he's in the 1st grade.  Recently Kulia came home and started looking at all our plastic-wear in the house...I asked him what he was doing...he said that he was checking the recycling codes.  Well, that day at school he had learned what the # meant on the bottom of his water bottle.  By heart he knew which numbers were good for recycling, what numbers meant to reuse the container and which ones were BAD for the environment like styrafoam cups.  Quite honestly I didn't even really know what exactly the numbers meant before he told me.  That boy is forever impressing me! 

We've been using WorldCentric biocompostable to go containers in the cafe, we're hoping other businesses will be inspired to use these as well because they are the  most eco-friendly ones available.

I've attached a link to Wikipedia's guide for you to do some research, hopefully we can be more aware of what we are using! Thanks Kulia!

"Each Day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children." -Charles R. Swindoll

XOXO,

Red Ginger Cafe Manoa 

Red Ginger Cafe - Manoa Shout Outs!

Hope you're all enjoying this WINDY weather!

For those of you that haven't heard me rave about this yet, WE HAVE THE BEST CUSTOMERS...EVER!!!! We've had this great little family visit us since we opened, their beautiful little son (Micah) first caught out attention because he is so well-spoken for such a young little man. Mike and Julie (Micah's Parents) have been so loyal and helpful and have even helped guide us through the process of creating our website (which is coming soon!).
How can we ever thank them enough for their time? ~ how about a lifetime supply of Pick Me Ups, Mike?

Julie and Mike's generosity is just one story of MANY of guests who have gone above and beyond to help us! Because of this we realize more than ever the importance of giving back to our community and helping others. Stay tuned 'cause we're constantly brainstorming to see what we can do!

Look to be Treated by others as you have treated others...Publius Syrus.

Aloha, 

Red Ginger Cafe Manoa

Aikane Plantation Coffee now served at Red Ginger Cafe Manoa Marketplace

I wanted to update everyone on some new coffee that we're serving in the cafe now.

Aikane Plantation Coffee
Aikane's first trees were planted in 1894 by Merle's great grandfather, 115 years later Merle and her husband are coming back to their roots and harvesting these absolutely delicious coffee cherries.

I'm learning a lot about coffee from (Merle's husband - Phil), Aikane coffee is an estate coffee, this means that there are 3 different beans in the roast ~ Fancy, Extra Fancy, and Peaberry. If it says "Estate" then it must have these 3 beans. We serve this medium - dark roast for only $2.25 the only other restaurant in Oahu serving it is selling theirs for $6.00. It really is great coffee, full bodied, smooth, full of flavor...This is for serious coffee drinkers. We're trying to help Aikane get their coffee into the White House to be the official coffee served...Got any connections we can take advantage of?

The Hawaii Seal of Quality is a government project aimed at rewarding and identifying agriculture that meets the highest quality standards, the farms must go through rigorous testing, as you can imagine its a long application process. Aikane Coffee is the ONLY Ka`u coffee with the Hawaii Seal of Quality.

Everyone knows KONA coffee, but Ka`u coffee is overshadowed and often overlooked by the better known Kona brand. We support Aikane because they are a family owned local business and they are great people, Phil comes to talk story and eat all the time, which we love and he treats us like friends instead of customers. We'll do whatever we can to support his plantation and hope you'll enjoy it along the way!

Hope to see you all soon! Take Care.

Aloha,

Red Ginger Cafe Manoa

Valentine's Sale

Hi Everyone! If you're getting this post as an email its because I'm (finally) learning how to use the features of this website and have requested that you receive this via email.

Just letting everyone know that we're making room in our gift shop for some new retail items so everything is 25-30% off! We're planning to bring in some organic clothing and more recycled bags soon but need more room!!! Come down during the month of February and get some goodies!

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the Life you have Imagined. (Henry Thoreau)

Red Ginger Gift Shop and Cafe in Manoa Marketplace

What is Fair Trade?

I was recently asked what the importance of Fair Trade is to Red Ginger. Well, Fair Trade products help farmers and their families make a better living by ensuring that they are paid a decent price for their products. This is important in the global economy because historically powerful capitalistic nations have taken advantage of their host countries and made large profits off of their low wage employees.
This is important to us because of the OBVIOUS ~ it is not PONO. We work with a variety of suppliers who help us to ensure that we are supporting fair trade. Some include Encore Bags, Coldfyre Cookie Cremes, Madison and Marcela Toffees, Yummy Earth candies, Fukunaga Produce and the Tea Chest. Maintaining relationships with these companies are important to us because it is always better to have all of us doing research about our products than for just Red Ginger alone to bear the responsibility. We are happy to partner with these companies because their mission of sustainability is in line with ours.

On another note!!! Lt. Governor Aiona visited our cafe for lunch the other day! I wasn't able to get a picture with him but it sure was exciting to have him in our humble establishment!!!

A loving heart is the TRUEST wisdom (Charles Dickens)

Encore Recycled Bags

As FEATURED ON UGLY BETTY!

Another exclusive product at Red Ginger Cafe - Manoa

We have been carrying an exclusive product for about 3 months now, bags made of recycled juice pouches. They are super cute and stylish at an affordable cost. For those of you who've been by you know that we have an ec0-friendly gift shop. When researching for my business plan I realized that there are no gift shops in Hawaii dedicated solely to eco-friendliness, as far as I now we are the only one. Let me know if you know of any others...
Anyway, I digress...These bags support a co-op in the Phillipines which allow women to earn a living and support their families while ensuring that their children are safe throughout the day. Kelly, Cherie and Rica are the 3 sisters that import the bags were born in the Phillipines, when they visited a few years back they found this co-op and wanted to support it because they saw how they could help the families, particularly the children. So they've been importing them for awhile now, some of you may have seen them at their kiosk in Waikele or Ala Moana. They've since closed their retail outlets and are doing the craft fair circuit. We're so lucky to have met these ladies, their commitment to helping others is inspiring and we are so happy to a part of it!
We try to carry styles for all types of women from handbags to lunchboxes so come down and have a look! They're on sale till the end of this week at 20% off!

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

(The 14th Dalai Lama)

Coldfyre Cookie Cremes

Part of our mission is to support other local companies. We were lucky enough to get hooked up with Gerry Nakashima, the owner-creator of Coldfyre Cookie Cremes. Gerry makes these unbelievably unreal (in a good way) gourmet ice cream sandwiches. He bakes his own cookies and ice cream which is technically considered a frozen custard because of the eggs that he uses in lieu of preservatives and additives. He makes small batches so they're always fresh and let me tell you he is a ice cream master! Gerry also shares our goal to support local farms and uses Keopu Farms organic coffee for his Mocha Latte Kudasai which is coffee ice cream smashed between 2 crispy chocolate chip cookies. He uses fresh Kahuku apple bananas for his Banana Ballistic, banana ice cream sandwiched between yummy macadamia nut cookies. All Natural fresh ice cream with homemade cookies, does life get any better?

As of last week we also have mint chocolate chip, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice cream sandwiches ~ but they sell fast so get yours quick!

Another Exclusive product found only at Red Ginger Cafe and Gift Shop in Manoa Marketplace!

It's Not Easy Being Green! That's Why We love Kermit!

Been doing some research about styrofoam and the danger it poses to our health.  

1. Restaurants are notoriously "un-environmentally" friendly (yes that's a word from "Mel's Dictionary) and Hawaii in particular uses the highest amount of take out containers in the nation.  No kidding! We're plate lunch capitol! That means our tiny little islands use a lot of styrofoam...what is the waste doing to our ecosystem?

2. Polystyrene is the official name of the chemical we know as styrofoam is made with petroleum a nonsustainable and heavily polluting chemical.

3. When discarded styrofoam is often mistaken by animals for food, after ingesting their digestive systems become clogged and animals often die a slow painful death.

4. Toxic chemicals come out of styrofoam and into our food (especially when microwaved) which we ingest directly.

5. Officially styrofoam is CFC free but they are still manufactured with a chemical called HCFC-22 which is not as harmful as CFC's but it is still a greenhouse gas and harmful to the ozone layer.

 

Do your own research.  Knowledge is power.  Be a proactive consumer.  Patronize businesses that care about your health, well being and Hawai`i.

Aloha,

Red Ginger Cafe Manoa

 

Red Ginger Cafe - Kanu Hawaii

Red Ginger is an active member of KanuHawaii, an organization that supports environmental sustainability and economic resilience.  If you log on you can see different commitments that we are making as a business that are in line with environmental sustainability and economic resilience.  Some of our commitments include being a positive role model for children, teaching employees about sustainability and encouraging them to incorporate it into their daily lives and decreasing waste in all areas of our business.  We feel that these commitments are important to our business because if we don't surround ourselves with positive influences and behavior then we fail you, our supporters.  There are a lot of family and friends out there supporting us and by being positive influences on our community we will succeed even if we never "break even" financially.  If we make you proud we will consider ourselves successful.

"You are never asked to do more than you are able without being given the strength and ability to do it"  

Valentines Gifts at Red Ginger Gift Shop - Manoa

It's almost Valentine's Day! For anyone wanting to get their sweetie something unique and "green" Red Ginger is the place to come! We've got beautiful Blooming Tea sets, Cute and Stylish bags made of recycled materials and CANDY! For those of you in the know, candy is the way to a woman's heart and we've got the best kind...organic!

We've been getting a lot of questions lately about whether our entire menu is organic. Well the answer is no, while we strive to use organic and/or local ingredients whenever possible, we are not an "organic" themed restaurant.  The idea behind the menu is to offer a fresh, healthy alternative for lunchers while incorporating sustainability whenever possible.  More important than organic though is supporting local businesses.  This is a way to keep our economy in Hawaii strong and not rely so much on imports.  I would much rather support a local farmer here in Hawaii than an organic farmer from elsewhere.  We will make every effort to maintain relationships with our farmers/distributors to make sure their food is grown safely.  The costs of getting certified organic are extremely high but many farmers are able to incorporate and adhere to many standards but cannot afford the complete certification process, these are the farmers we want to support and promote.  

On that note, back to the Gift Shop.  We will be putting our entire Gift Shop on sale for 2 weeks (sale ends 1/31/09).  The entire shop will be 20% off.  We've got our eye on a lot of new products and need to make some room in the shop.  Pick up your Valentines or Mother's Day present early this year!

Malama Pono,

Red Ginger

Ma`o Farms

Mahalo to Maenette Benham ~ Dean of Hawaiinuiakea Hawaiian Studies at UH Manoa for allowing us to cater her meeting yesterday! We were able to touch bases with some very influential executives in the Hawaiian Community including Kukui Maunakea-Forth the Executive Director of Ma`o Organic Farms in Wai`anae.  

A little about the farm...Ma`o is a non profit organization focusing on empowering the community to become self reliant and encouraging a more sustainable Hawaii.  Their produce is featured in restaurants such as Alan Wongs and Town.  Ma`o farm is a 5 acre area which produces about 25 different varieties of organic fruits and vegetables.  The farm's mission includes educating Hawaiian youth, fighting hunger, improving health and nutrition and increasing the organic agriculture industry. 

Red Ginger Cafe and Gift Shop will ALWAYS strive to support and work with organizations such as Ma`o to foster a sustainable Hawaii.  This organization in particular is especially dear to my heart because of its focus on helping the Hawaiian community.  Right now the organization is not accepting any new customers; they are in high demand~however we are hoping to showcase their produce in the near future.

Aloha

We've been busy little bees this month! We're surprised at how quickly everyone rebounded from the holidays! It's so nice to see all you regulars again.  We're gearing up for tax time...ugh! Can you believe we opened 4 months ago? Time sure flies.

We've been approached on several occassions by people wanting to use the cafe at night for special events.  We recently allowed a friend to have a bridal shower and was surprised at how beautiful it came out.  The cafe is really intimate at night, no street noise at all just beautiful Manoa in all its sunset glory.  Yvette the wedding coordinator used candles and lace tableclothes to decorate and it was awesome! 

For anyone looking for a venue for something small and intimate give us a call, we can accomodate up to 20 people for any occassion.  There is no rental charge for the space and you may bring you own liquor.  Give me a call and we can work out a menu!

Mel Kawai

Trust your Na`au 

2009 Honuguide Hawaii's Sustainable Living Guide

Aloha!
The first-ever edition of the Honuguide is out and we're carrying it! It's $20, $5 of which Red Ginger cafe will be donating to KanuHawaii.

This book is great! I thought it would be like the Entertainment Book that you can buy from fundraisers (The creators are actually looking to offer non-profits a chance to fundraise with this also). After I read it I realize that this is sooooo much better. 2/3 of the book is an in-depth yet surprisingly easy to follow resource to sustainable living in Hawaii. The theme of this year's guide is to buy local and really explains how doing so will save our economy as well as help the environment. The remaining 1/3 of the book includes coupons from local businesses who are incorporating sustainability into their business model.

For example:
We only have an estimated 5 days of food available to us on Oahu at any one time.
Our imports travel a minimum 2,500 miles before they reach us.
5 great reason to buy local

1-cheaper prices and increased revenue by avoiding the middle man

2- keeps money in the local economy

3-decreases carbon footprint

4-provides fresher and more nutritious foods

5-builds community


I really enjoyed reading the Honuguide, if you know of any non-profit organizations that are looking for fundraising opportunities let me know and I'll hook you up with them!

Take Care and Buy Local!

Happy January 6! Tomorrow is Kawehi's Birthday! Hauoli La Hanau Anake Tabehi!!!

Thursday we will be featured on Aha`i `Olelo on KGMB9 news.  Kehau and Scott were wonderful interviewers making me feel very comfortable! I am so thankful for the free press (Mahalo!) We went over sustainability as a native Hawaiian value and just a little about the business and how it came it be.  I am so thankful to be a part of the native Hawaiian community which allows for such wonderful showcases of its members.

Just a little mana`o on my part, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" are buzz words right now that seem to be everywhere, from my son's preschool to the nightly news.  Keep in mind that these are values that were an integral part of the Hawaiian culture, long before the "green phenomenon".  I will not attempt to be over-prideful and say that Hawaiian's "were the first" since many indigenous cultures who lived off the `aina were also very mindful of the cycle of life and how to sustain.  Let's all do our part to make our ancestors proud and make sure that our keiki have a beautiful Hawaii when they grow up.

Sorry, off my soapbox....I hope everyone is having a wonderful New Year.  

Malama Maika`i Kakou a pau