Chef Jojo Vasquez who kicked the kitchen of the Banyan Tree on Maui in Kapalua Resort up several notches left over a month ago to open a new resto on Oahu with a famous Iron Chef competition winner. Sayonara, Jojo.…

Here's the caveat. I eat at a lot of places around Hawaii and had not eaten at the Pineapple Grill so last time I was on Maui I jumped at the chance. ate at the Pineapple Grill for lunch and…

The good folks over at Maui Time Weekly lay out the top 5 plate lunch palaces on the Valley Isle. I have been to Hana Hou in Haiku and can tell you its a superb plate. For the uninitiated, plate…

So some people know that Maui onions rival Vidalias from Georgia fot the crown of sweetest on Earth. So sweet you can eat them raw and kiss your sweetheart. Witness the Maui Onion Festival raw onion contest, pictured here. This…

This is one of the last Microsoft Mobile Posts. You see this logo and it means I'm posting on the go. Again, thanks to Microsoft for underwriting this Maui trip (indirectly, of course). So here we have a picture…

Word in the blogosphere is that Alan Wong is in the running for Outstanding Chef (we had already reported as Best Chef in the Northwest -- We were wrong).. He won it in 1996. Would be nice to get a…

Aside from that lame reference to the global chain that has convinced sweets hounds that its ok to roll out your ice cream on a slab before wolfing down enough to sink a battleship, this Maui Time Weekly article points…

One of my favorite Maui memories involved a supreme chocolate desert and a snifter of port at the old Bay Club in Kapalua, Maui. The restaurant is perhaps the most romantic setting in all of the islands, with an open-air…

This pub serves as the hip city mag for the whole Valley Island (for the over 40s crowd, that is -- who else can afford Maui?). But I found its annual reader restaurant awards to be kinda off key. Not…

When I last ate at Charley's in Paia, the food pretty much sucked. It was drab, boring, and definitely not befitting this noted biker-hangout and secret celebrity gig spot. Maui Time Weekly revisits and sez food better. Duly noted. Next…

Gourmet Magazine has named Pacific'o and I'o, two highly regarded Lahaina, Maui eateries helmed by popular award-winning Chef James McDonald, to its list of top restaurants with farm connections. There were only nine restaurants named so major congrats to the…

Here's the latest tidbits. Over at Planet Kauai, Charley Foster is doing an admirable job of eating his way around the Garden Isle. He opines on the Kilauea Farmer's Market -- no, t he store, not the weekly event --…

I mentioned this briefly in a recent food news posting. Here's a bit more about the Best of Maui issue for 2007. Best Mai Tai goes to Mama's Fish House in Paia on the lovely, lush North Shore. I can…

Maui Time Weekly weighs in on the Kula Sandalwoods Cafe, a restaurant I have often heard mentioned as a local favorite with simple, hearty fare. It was really nice food when I went there. Plenty of local vehicles parked outside,…

Pull up the list of the Top 5 recommended restaurants on Maui and you can see why TA is totally untrustworthy when it comes to food. Ferraro's Bar e Ristorante, Kihei (I've never a Hawaii local say this one is…

Maui Time Weekly puts forth a review of Cloud Nine Cafe, a seat-o-the-pants eatery in this erstwhile cowboy town located farm from the hotels (though you'll still rub elbows with the tourists). This is the first I've ever heard of…

Waikiki has been getting a lot of travel section and magazine press of late. A slew of hotels have rebranded, revamped, and renovated. A new, massive and quite attractive airy mall has opened, the Waikiki Beach Walk. The ugliest tourist…

D.K. Kodama's saucy wine bar / Italian rustic foodie joint on the Valley Isle will shutter in June as the Kapalua Resort undergoes massive renovations to Kapalua Village Golf Course, the Ritz-Carlton (closing for six months), and the Kapalua Bay…

The Wailea restaurant scene on Maui has, despite the uber poshness of the hotels on this peachy stretch of beach, remained utterly disappointing. Most of the hotel restaurants have failed to inspire widespread recognition or accolades, with patrons merrily decamping…

This is a cool article from No Ka Oi Magazine on Maui that details a bit about an effort by Valley Isle restaurateurs to create sustainable seafood menus. Right on! This is particularly important due to the rapid declines among…

Granted, you don't come all the way to Hawaii to expect to get great pizza. And for the most part, Hawaii trails in that category. You'll never find a pie from the island ranked up there with the greats of…

We've been hearing good things about the Main Street Bistro in Wailuku, the sleepy county seat of the Valley Isle. Wailuku has been threatening a revival and it has enjoyed an influx of refugees from overpriced resort towns and Honolulu.…

The Maui News has a far too comprehensive rundown of New Year's Eve dinner extravaganzas on the Valley Isle. They all sound pretty good but we know that a few of them are more than pretty good. The Hawaiirama reccomendations?…

Mark you Maui calendar for Dec. 2. That's the next Grand Dairy Tour at Surfing Goat Dairy in upcounty Kula. The Surfing Goat is a five-year old goat farm and cheese making operations founded by Thomas and Eva Kafsack, two…

This is part of a series of five excerpts from a book I like very much by Jessica Ferracane and Yvonne Biegel, "50 Thrifty Maui Restaurants". Foodies trolling for blue collar grubs should dig in. And a hat tip to…

I got a chance to sample this insanely delish sauce from Ali'i Kula Lavender at the Hawaii Products Expo in August. Ali'i Kula is an 8 acre lavender farm in Upcountry Maui. Full disclosure. I'm a chocomaniac. And I'm not…

This is part of a series of five excerpts from a book I like very much by Jessica Ferracane and Yvonne Biegel, "50 Thrifty Maui Restaurants". Foodies trolling for blue collar grubs should dig in. And a hat tip to…

Maui chef James McDonald has three respected eateries in Lahaina. I'o and Pacific'o are upscale oceanfront Hawaii east-meets-west fusion joints with stellar fish and apetizers. Feast at Lele is actually a luau / dinner show but McDonald suppliers the…

This is part of a series of five excerpts from a book I like very much by Jessica Ferracane and Yvonne Biegel, "50 Thrifty Maui Restaurants". Foodies trolling for blue collar grubs should dig in. And a hat tip to…

This is the first in a series of five excerpts from a book I like very much by Jessica Ferracane and Yvonne Biegel, "50 Thrifty Maui Restaurants". Foodies trolling for blue collar grubs should dig in. And a hat tip…

Cupid roams free on Maui. Almost everyone I talk to who has spent time on Maui has a story of a magical night under the stars sipping a glass of amazing vino, noshing on the most sensuous edibles, with…

I've stuffed more sushi down my gullet in a faster period of time than any human should have thanks to Ivan Pahk. Pahk is the executive chef at the Sansei Sushi Bar & Restaurant in Kapalua. It's probably the…

Sifting through all the garbage offerings from freebie publications on Maui is a major hassle. All masquerade as true editorial -- 101 Things to Do on Maui, or Maui Menu's or whatever. Maui Time, however, is a true-blue alt…

The rooftop drinking and dining craze that has swept Manhattan and many other hip locales across the country in the past year has only just landed in Hawaii. In Lahaina, locals are raving about the Lahaina Store Grill, which…

I made a quick getaway to Maui yesterday for dinner with an old family friend who was on a golf trip to Kapalua. We ate at David Paul's Lahaina Grill. I've eaten there at least a half-dozen times over…

We left Charley's and Paia town to drive up to our digs in Huelo. It's not really a town as much as a place. There is no center and its mostly rural homelots and gentlemen farms spread above and…

We blew across the isthmus through Kahului on our way to Paia from Wailea, driving from the southern side of Maui to the northern side between the great basin formed by the West Maui Mountains on one side and…