Are You A Localvore?

By Kristin Hashimoto

Grand Wailea fountain. File photo by Wendy Osher.

You are a localvore if: you seek out the freshest ingredients from land to sea, and crave inventive dishes that highlight, instead of drown, the ingredients’ naturally delectable flavors.

Living in the islands, no one can escape developing their own particular predilection for fresh ingredients from the local farm, and still wiggling catch of the day, from the Pacific ocean.

At the Grand Wailea Resort, restaurants Bistro Molokini and Humuhumunukunukuapua’a celebrate sustainability, local farmers, and fisherman by cooking up their own ode to the localvore in us all. At Bistro Molokini, Chef Mike Lofaro and Pastry Chef Natalie Wilkinson, create a fixed three-course menu four times this year, which emphasize that modern bias for fresh, local and sustainable.

From May 15 through May 21, the Bistro is offering a $39 pre-fixe menu. Choose between a tasting of local radishes or Surfing Goat cheese with watercress for an appetizer, then move on to weigh the pros and cons of a seared scallops with Kula baby bok choy, crisp carrot cake and red wine, versus dry aged Painted Hills beef with garlic confit, grilled crostini, baked Kula greens, and truffled jus.

Chef Lofaro of Bistro Molokini, image courtesy of Grand Wailea

For dessert, enjoy a frozen Nutella crepe with caramelized local apple bananas and a homemade waffle tuile. This pre-fixe localvore special ends the day before Wailea Restaurant Week begins. Then the Bistro offers another entirely new set of three course options for that week of gastronomic pleasure.

Call 875-1234 ext. 4900 for reservations, and/or visit www.wailearesortdining.com for more information.