Maui welcomes visitors back with food, wine, and a message of resilience

“This was my home,” said Angel the cab driver, pointing to a vacant lot, now covered with gravel, where his house of 14 years once stood. It was among the 2,200 homes and businesses destroyed in the devastating wind-whipped wildfires that swept through the historic seaside community of Lahaina on Maui in August 2023. The fire, among the deadliest in U.S. history, killed 102 people, left thousands more in need of food, water, and shelter, and caused $5.5 billion in damages.

Angel picked me up at the airport where I had come to report on the aftermath of the fires and its impact on the hospitality and tourism industries. I was also visiting to join in a celebration, the Fourteenth Annual Hawai’i Food & Wine Festival, a gathering of master chefs, winemakers, mixologists, and sommeliers from all over the world. Events were held on three islands last fall including Maui, where the roster of chefs included James Beard finalist Tara Monsod, executive chef at Animae in San Diego’s Gaslamp District and Le Coq in La Jolla. 

The festival is a program of the nonprofit Hawai’i Ag and Culinary Alliance, which promotes the islands as a world-class destination, celebrating culinary talent and locally grown produce. Since its founding in 2011, the festival has provided $5 million to local nonprofits that support sustainability and cultural and educational programs including scholarships for culinary students. The alliance has also donated $1.25 million in relief funds to more than 1,300 restaurant, bar, and hospitality workers on Maui through its Kokua Restaurant & Hospitality Fund. 

Roy Yamaguchi, the acclaimed chef known for a collection of namesake Roy’s Restaurants, co-founded the festival in 2011 with Alan Wong, both James Beard award-winning chefs, and Yamaguchi’s wife, Denise, who is also the festival’s executive director. Born and raised on Oahu with an MBA in marketing and a background in government affairs, she was instrumental in getting the state agencies, airlines, hotels, and restaurants on board. “It’s not about one property,” she said. “It’s about all the properties working together for the good of Hawaii.”

The 2024 festival also sent a message to tourists: Maui is now back, said Yamaguchi, whose family has roots on the island. His father was born on Maui and did most of the cooking for the family — stews, curries, chicken teriyaki — while his mother from Okinawa, Japan, loved beans, eggs, and miso. “My cooking evolved from the flavors of my parents,” he reflected. “They stand out even today.” 

“We need to be mindful of the hurt that is still here,” he continued. “But we also know that families need to move forward. It’s important to let people know that Maui is open for business. As much devastation and hurt as there is and continues to be, we need to make sure we help families recover. Tourism has a big impact on people’s lives.”

The festival is committed to Maui’s revitalization, serving as a powerful platform in support of local businesses including restaurants, hotels, farmers, suppliers, manufacturers, and tourism. “By returning to Ka’anapali, the festival seeks to remind visitors that their travel can make a difference and play a vital role in restoring the livelihoods of the people who call Maui home,” said Denise.

The festival partners with the Ka’anapali Beach Resort Association, headed by Shelley M. Kekuna, which includes 20 properties — hotels, resorts, villas, condos, restaurants, and retail — along a pristine three-mile stretch of sand, billed as one of the best beaches on Maui by travel magazines. The association works with travel agents and members of the media to provide information on accommodations, activities, and attractions, whether visitors are looking for a family vacation or a romantic retreat. Resorts range from spacious oceanfront condominiums at Kaanapali Ali’i, popular with couples and multi-generation families who want the comforts of home, to the sprawling Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Ka’anapali, which just completed a multimillion-dollar renovation. 

“It’s not about one property,” Denise emphasized. “The beauty of this project is that we have multiple properties willing to work together for the betterment of the festival and the people of Hawaii.” 

The resort association also takes care of its own. In the aftermath of the Lahaina fires, member hotels and restaurants provided food and lodging for months to hundreds of victims, many of whom worked in the hospitality industry, as well as workers with the Federal Emergency Management Organization (FEMA), the Red Cross, and medical clinics. Additionally, the association tries to bring a sense of normalcy to the community by sponsoring Halloween and Fourth of July events, which had usually been held in Lahaina. It is now working to “spread the message that Maui is open to visitors.”

The three-day food and wine festival was “a celebration with a purpose,” Roy told me,  bringing chefs together from all over the globe to raise funds for relief efforts as well as culinary scholarships to schools that include the Culinary Institute of the Pacific where he is director.

The Maui festival began with the sold-out 26th Annual Roy Yamaguchi Golf Classic at the Ka’anapali Golf Course,  featuring six Maui chefs who provided tastings on the tees followed by the 19th Hole Reception at Roy’s Kaanapali restaurant.

The festival’s signature event was a grand tasting on the grounds of the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa where hundreds of guests gathered for light bites and libations from dozens of restaurants and wineries. Billed as “Vita La Vino,” the tasting featured wines from Italy and the Mediterranean. Charles Andres, the Sheraton’s executive chef, was a familiar face. Andres once ran Roy’s Restaurant in La Jolla and opened the now-closed Ocean Pacific Grill in the Gaslamp before returning home to Maui. Here he met his future wife, ironically, a San Diego native who was vacationing on the island. “I love it when all the chefs come together to help families in need without hesitation,” he told me. “It shows the world we’re here, and we’re strong. Come back and enjoy Maui once again.”

The next day, the festival sponsored its first ever pickleball tournament at the Royal Lahaina Resort & Bungalows followed by the Backcourt BBQ, a sizzling Sunday brunch where chefs and “pitmasters” including Monsod fired up the grills to celebrate the art of alfresco cooking featuring Hawaiian-sourced ingredients. She and her team seared local mahi mahi for a large, enthusiastic crowd of foodies. “I was honored to be part of the event to help support those impacted by the fires,” she told me upon her return to San Diego. While on Maui, Monsod talked with many industry workers about their experiences during the devastating wildfires. “It hit closer to home for me,” she reflected. “All I wanted to do was help them during this hard time.”

Tickets to the Fifteenth Annual Hawai’i Food and Wine Festival at Ka’anapali on October 24 to 26 will go on sale this spring. The festival also features culinary events on the islands of Hawaii and Oahu. 808.738.6245, hawaiifoodandwinefestival.com