Tag Archives: best Maui restaurants

A Trio of Maui Restaurants

Posted on by 2 comments
Executive Chef-Owner Jeff Scheer of Maui Executive Catering plates a course at his chef's table dinner.

Executive Chef-Owner Jeff Scheer of Maui Executive Catering plates a course at his chef’s table dinner.

MAUI, HAWAII — On a recent trip here, I had a chance to check out three restaurants: one that lets you get up close and personal with the chef; another that opened only two months ago; and a third spearheaded by a “Top Chef” fan favorite.

The visit and meals were all courtesy of the Maui Visitors Bureau.

The Chef’s Table at Maui Executive Catering

Heartthrob Chef Jeff Scheer may never live down his shirtless photo spread for a story on chefs with tattoos for Edible Hawaiian Islands magazine. (Wherever he goes now, fellow chefs playfully heckle him with “Take your shirt off! Take your shirt off!”)

But the owner and executive chef of Maui Executive Catering has serious cooking chops.

You can taste for yourself at one of his chef’s table dinners offered on Friday and Saturday nights at his catering company’s site that’s hidden amongst a warren of businesses in a low-slung building in Haiku.

Read more

Hankering for Hawaii Part III: Marvelous Maui Dining at Migrant and Ka’ana Kitchen

Posted on by 7 comments
A visit to Chef Sheldon Simeon's new Maui restaurant, Migrant.

A visit to Chef Sheldon Simeon’s new Maui restaurant, Migrant.

MAUI, HAWAII — This island’s dining scene is heating up with the arrival of two new restaurants last year, including a fun one by “Top Chef Fan Favorite” Sheldon Simeon, late of the ever popular Star Noodle.

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to check out that restaurant plus the splashy new Ka’ana Kitchen — all courtesy of the Hawaii Visitors Bureau.

As anyone who’s been to Hawaii can attest, big-name restaurants here tend to be not only pricey and touristy, but at times all too predictable. Not these two. In fact, I can’t wait to go back again to both.

Migrant

Even before he appeared on Season 10 of “Top Chef,” Sheldon Simeon’s cooking drew lines day and night at Star Noodle. After making it to the final three? The place was bombarded with even more throngs.

And now after being named “The People’s Best New Chef — Northwest & Pacific Region” for 2014 by Food & Wine magazine? Tourists and locals alike are following him over to his new restaurant, Migrant, which opened four months ago, as evidenced by the packed tables on the night I was invited in as a guest.

Dusk at Wailea Beach Marriott.

Twilight at Wailea Beach Marriott.

The entrance to Migrant.

The entrance to Migrant.

The slogan on the menu and servers’ T-shirts says it all: Come to My House. Eat.

Simeon is doing his own style of food here — comforting, Asian-inspired island flavors with little twists here and there. It’s food meant for sharing and enjoying a rollicking time over.

Read more