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COURTESY FOUR SEASONS RESORT MAUI
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COURTESY FOUR SEASONS RESORT MAUI
Four Seasons Resort Maui
The bar area at DUO Steak and Seafood at the Four Seasons Resort Maui.
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COURTESY NINA KUNA
Courtesy Nina Kuna
Pita Paradise Bistro Wailea.
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COURTESY FOUR SEASONS RESORT MAUI
Baby beet salad, candied pecans and Surfing Goat cheese is one of the appetizer choices from DUO Steak and Seafood restaurant during Restaurant Week.
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COURTESY NINA LEE
Courtesy Nina Lee
Gannon's offers spectacular views of the ocean, Kahoolawe and Molokini islet.
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COURTESY FOUR SEASONS RESORT MAUI
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| This story has been corrected. See below. |
While he was on abusiness trip to Newport Beach in late 2008, Bill Countryman, general manager of the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, heard about a promotion that the city’s restaurant association was sponsoring to showcase its wide range of dining options. Participating restaurants were inviting patrons to sample prix fixe menus created especially for the event.
"Bill showed me one of the menus and asked, ‘Why can’t we do this?’" recalled Bud Pikrone, general manager of the Wailea Resort Association, which represents 2,200 hotels, homeowners, restaurants and retail operations in the South Maui visitor destination. "I met with all of the hotel general managers, everyone liked the concept and we decided to add a charitable component to support the Maui Food Bank."
Restaurant Week Wailea was launched six months later in May 2009. "It didn’t take much to get other restaurants in Wailea involved," Pikrone said. "The inaugural Restaurant Week was so successful, we decided to hold it twice a year, in May and November. We started with 13 restaurants; 21 will be participating next month."
In addition to their regular menus, each participating restaurant will offer a multicourse dinner at a set price dinner during Restaurant Week. A dollar will be donated to the Maui Food Bank for each fixed-price dinner sold.
Pikrone said restaurants often round up the number of dinners to increase the amount of their contribution. To date, Restaurant Week Wailea has raised more than $50,000.
"The Maui Food Bank is the official beneficiary of Restaurant Week, but in actuality it benefits everyone," Pikrone said. "Chefs love the challenge of creating new dishes for the event. Restaurants see a boost in business. Guests enjoy some of Maui’s best dining experiences at a special price and appreciate being part of a community effort to support a great cause."
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Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.
SAMPLE MENUS
GANNON’S, WAILEA GOLF CLUB
Cost: $29
>> Salad: Apple salad with Kula greens and blue cheese or baby beet salad with frisee, pistachio pesto and goat cheese
>> Entree: Smoked salmon ravioli, lilikoi-glazed pork tenderloin or cashew-crusted fresh fish
>> Dessert: Dark chocolate trifle or tropical fruit sorbet
Executive chef Bret Scott Pafford: "Chef-owner Beverly Gannon and I like to create unique fusions of flavors and textures such as the cashew crust and black forbidden rice for this menu’s fish entree. We believe preparing fine food is an art that requires the same time and care that one would put into a painting. That’s why our smoked salmon ravioli is hand-stamped, meaning it is cut and formed by hand, not with molds. That’s truly artisan."
PITA PARADISE BISTRO WAILEA, WAILEA GATEWAY CENTER
Cost: $39
>> Appetizer: Grilled eggplant pitza, soutzoukakia (Greek lamb and beef meatball) or American Greek Salad
>> Entree: Char-grilled rib-eye steak, fresh fish special or shrimp fettuccine
>> Dessert: Baklava or flourless chocolate torte
Co-head chef Benjamin Reitzes: "John Arabatzis Jr., the owner and executive chef, goes fishing three times a week to provide all of our fresh fish. … Johnny’s dad is from Greece and his mother is Sicilian, so our Restaurant Week menu also includes pitza, soutzoukakia, baklava and pasta — all family recipes that Johnny has enjoyed from the time he was a kid."
DUO STEAK AND SEAFOOD, FOUR SEASONS RESORT MAUI AT WAILEA
Cost: $49
>> Appetizer: Baby beet salad with candied pecans and goat cheese or French onion soup
>> Entree: Grilled salmon with baby fall vegetables in Thai red curry or duo of beef (shortrib and skirt steak)
>> Dessert: Vanilla cheesecake ice cream with green apple soda or Waialua Estate chocolate square with avocado ice cream and Maui olive oil powder
Chef de cuisine Bryan Beneke: "Seventy percent of the ingredients on this menu is from local farmers and ranchers. We make all of our sauces and dressings from scratch. The secret to my steak sauce, which accompanies the beef entree, is tamarind, which has a distinctive citrus flavor."
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CORRECTION
>> Restaurant Week Wailea takes place at the resort area in South Maui. A headline on the "Hawaii’s Backyard" column referred to the location as West Maui.
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