CookSpace Hawai‘i Returns for Summer Classes With Cookbook Authors

Naoko Takei Moore. Photos: Trang Nguyen, Matt Russell

When CookSpace Hawai‘i resurrected in 2024 with Simmer Sundays, novice cooks learned to make tortillas and crispy pork carnitas with Raíz Tortillas, ras el hanout and Mediterranean chicken tagine with Istanbul Hawai‘i, and mochi and ozoni with Margotto Hawai‘i. That combination of tastings, hands-on experience and demos of recipes reappears in Summer Reading, a new cookbook series launching April 25 at Macy’s Ala Moana.

“CookSpace has always been about culture, food and knowledge and sharing it with a community that has stayed with us since we launched more than a decade ago,” says co-founder Melanie Kosaka. “Our Summer Reading series comes from our eagerness to bring the knowledge of cookbook authors we love to this community.”

The series launches this Saturday, April 25 with Simply Donabe, a new cookbook by leading Japanese clay pot cuisine expert Naoko Takei Moore. At Macy’s demo space in the fourth-floor housewares department, Moore will make a mille-feuille-style donabe with yuba and daikon, plus koji-infused pickles. Students will also sample carrot and wakame rice cooked in a donabe, and get a signed copy of Simply Donabe, all about healthy Japanese one-pot recipes. The morning class is sold out, so a second has been added from 1 to 3 p.m. After that, Moore will sign books for the public. You can buy copies there if you don’t have your own.

Originally from Tokyo, Moore— also known as Mrs. Donabe—is the owner of Toiro, a kitchen supply store in LA. Her 2015 book, Donabe, was the first English-language book dedicated to donabe cuisine and is one of Kosaka’s most dog-eared cookbooks. “The CookSpace experience is very curated and personal, and shaped by the people we ourselves are excited to learn from,” Kosaka says.

The series continues May 23 with Saeng Douangdara, a Lao American chef and Lao-focused content creator also based in LA. Douangdara will demonstrate and share dishes from his first book, The Lao Kitchen: Lao Flavors and Stories Told Through Family Recipes, available starting today. All the classes are at Macy’s fourth-floor demo space and include signed copies of each author’s cookbooks.

Kosaka says the idea for Summer Reading came together after finding out local favorite Sheldon Simeon—whose Cook Real Hawai‘i is “THE book you give friends asking about our food culture”—also has a new book out. On June 6, Simeon will share some of his favorite brunch recipes from the just-released ‘Ohana Style: Food from Hawai‘i, for Your Family at “Dad Brunch with Sheldon Simeon.” In this class, keiki 7 and up can learn to make brunch with Dad. Moms are welcome, too, and parent-child teams will put up their dishes for judging by Simeon.

SEE ALSO: We Tried It: 9 Recipes from Sheldon Simeon’s New Cookbook

Sign up for the CookSpace newsletter or follow social media updates to learn about future classes and find out when registration opens.

Simply Donabe class, $138, April 25, 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m., book signing from 3 to 4 p.m., Macy’s fourth floor housewares department, Ala Moana Center, cookspacehi.com, @cookspacehawaii

Katrina Valcourt is the executive editor of HONOLULU Magazine.