Kula strawberries with Browsing Goat cheese and edamame at Koast. Picture by Sarah Burchard.
Editor’s word: Whereas I’ve loved complimentary meals at these three eating places, I’ve additionally visited Koast and Marlow by myself dime. The next opinions are fully my very own.
There hasn’t been a extra thrilling time to eat on Maui than now. With a rising variety of exceptional food trucks, new craft cocktail bars like Tiki Hau Lounge and Esters Fair Prospect, the takeover of Tiffany’s by Sheldon and Janice Simeon and the return of native favourite Sale Pepe, I really feel like I’ve spent extra time eating out this yr on the Valley Isle than in my house base of Honolulu.
Over the previous few years of food-hopping on our neighbor island, three eating places have stood out to me for various causes. One jogs my memory of my time cooking with the seasons in San Francisco, one other poured me the very best mai tai I’ve ever had (I’m not a fan of the mai tai) and the third has one hell of a pizza dough recipe. All of them outline the class of farm-to-table with their dedication to supporting native agriculture. Whether or not you reside on Maui, or want a purpose to go to quickly, listed here are three eating places you will need to attempt.
Koast. Picture by Sarah Burchard.
Koast
That is my favourite restaurant in Hawai’i proper now. The menu is recent and daring, filled with native elements ready in methods not often seen right here. The place else can you discover seafood laab, heirloom tomato-watermelon salad with nori, fried pig’s ears, Denver steak tataki, Maui strawberries with edamame and goat cheese, complete roasted kanpachi served with inexperienced papaya salad, grilled carrots that style like BBQ, kombu-dry-aged ribeye with a spiced mahogany crust and a whole pineapple stuffed with frozen custard and toasted meringue all on one desk?
Chef Chris Cosentino opened his Wailea restaurant in January this yr with Alicia and Dave Saboda – a husband and spouse staff that helped open his restaurant Cockscomb (now closed) in San Francisco. Friends might know Cosentino from Iron Chef America, The Subsequent Iron Chef, Cooks vs. Metropolis and Prime Chef Masters (which he gained). He’s appeared in quite a few cooking-related reveals over the previous 20 years. I keep in mind him from his immense contribution to the Bay Space’s culinary scene, together with his nose-to-tail restaurant Incanto and house-made charcuterie at Boccolone.
In case you are on Maui this vacation season, Koast can be providing a particular menu on Thanksgiving, and on Christmas Eve – as an alternative of an Italian “Feast of Seven Fishes” – Cosentino will put together “A Feast of Hawaiian Fishes.”
The menu adjustments usually to maintain up with native farm availability, and the entrance of the home employees retains up. They’re well-versed on every new merchandise and their pleasure is infectious. As an alternative of lacking dishes which can be changed, I’m desperate to see what’s subsequent. Don’t fear about ordering the “signature dish” or scrolling Instagram to seek out what seems good. Sit again, belief and open your thoughts to all the great issues you’ll attempt (perhaps for the primary time) right here.
Koast, 116 Wailea Ike Drive Unit 2204 Wailea, Maui. Open every day 3-5 p.m. for pleased hour, 5-8:30 p.m. for dinner, (808) 214-5545
Citrus-cured kampachi crudo at Aurum Maui. Picture by Sebastian Sayegh at Sayegh Visuals.
Aurum Maui
Aurum, which implies gold, was a extremely anticipated addition to Wailea’s already travel-worthy restaurant scene this year. With Chef Taylor Ponte within the kitchen and his spouse, Natasha Ponte, main the eating room, diners can anticipate a meticulous expertise.
A crudo of citrus-cured kanpachi rests in a cool tub of tomato water as clear as consommé. A creamy bowl of native pumpkin soup, drizzled with lemon yogurt and garnished with toasted pepitas, brings the sensation of autumn to Hawaiʻi.
Aurum is situated inside The Retailers at Wailea – a high-end out of doors mall recognized for internet hosting free live shows within the courtyard going through the restaurant. Bar supervisor Ryan Dunton’s cocktail menu additionally offers buyers purpose to cease in for a drink and a snack. The Aurum Maui Mai Tai, made with Sugar Cane Dane Tropical Gomme and lilikoʻi honey, is among the most balanced takes – on a notoriously unbalanced cocktail – I’ve had. I like to recommend popping in from 3-5 p.m. throughout “Golden Hour” when the crunchy gochujang fried rooster and smoky native fish dip are provided at a particular value. These are dishes I’ll undoubtedly be returning for.
That, and the Darkish Chocolate Ganache Bar made with Valrhona chocolate, whipped espresso caramel, recent Kula strawberries and sea salt. The dessert menu additionally options house-made gelato and sorbet, together with 5 dessert cocktails, together with the Rusty Coconut – Irish whiskey and Drambuie island-ized with KOTA Pandan Liqueur and coconut ice.
Aurum Maui, Open every day noon-close, 3750 Wailea Alanui Drive, B-27, Wailea, HI 96753, (808) 793-0054
Mortadella “white pie” with mozzarella, jalapeno and pistachio pesto at Marlow. Picture by Sarah Burchard.
Marlow
Within the morning, this Upcountry restaurant is the very best espresso store on the town. Previous the reward store tables stuffed with cookbooks and residential items, an ivory La Marzocco espresso machine and a counter stuffed with house-made pastries await. The chocolate croissant rivals something you’ll discover in Paris.
Within the night, Marlow transforms into a complicated pizzeria serving domestically sourced Mediterranean fare, house-made pasta and sourdough Neapolitan pizza.
House owners Jeff and Kaili Scheer created the best neighborhood gathering place with an open kitchen as the focus — identical to any correct Italian house. A 700-degree wood-burning oven glows within the again nook. A group of sauté pans hangs above the recent line. Bottles of wine and Italian amaros line the cabinets alongside the perimeter. Within the middle sits a big picket prep desk. It’s what I want my house kitchen seemed like.
Chef Jeff Scheer, who was nominated for a James Beard Basis Award final yr, is revered for his scratch cooking and use of remarkable elements — most sourced domestically. His naturally leavened pizzas are a labor of affection, made with natural flour in an Italian oven he heats with kiawe wooden — a sort of mesquite invasive to Hawaiʻi. The result’s a chewy, pillowy crust, charred to perfection.
The Scheers’ wine listing can be notable, that includes a collection of pure wines from Italy, France and Argentina, made with grapes farmed organically and biodynamically by small producers.
Marlow, 30 Kupaoa St A104, Makawao, HI 96768, Breakfast and lunch served Monday by way of Saturday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m, Sundays Eight a.m. to 2 p.m., Dinner every day 4:30 to 9 p.m., Reservations
