For years, Pounders Restaurant, the signature eatery at the Polynesian Cultural Center, was churning out burgers, steaks, sandwiches and pizzas to visitors to the center or on their way to Oʻahu’s North Shore. But a couple of months ago—and almost by chance—chef, cookbook author and “MasterChef” judge Graham Elliot was named the restaurant’s executive chef, […]
Last week Sheldon Simeon walked into Costco in Kahului on Maui and saw his cookbook, “Cook Real Hawaiʻi” ($35, Clarkson Potter/Penguin Random House) on the shelves. It was a surreal moment for the Hilo-born chef. “I not going lie,” he says. “I got kinda emotional. I saw it sitting next to Éric Ripert’s [cookbook] and
Every restaurant that award-winning chef Peter Merriman has opened in the Islands—from the laid-back Merriman’s in Waimea nestled amid ranches on Hawaii Island to the bustling Merriman’s Honolulu that opened last year in one of Oahu’s most vibrant new neighborhoods—has one very important thing in common. And it’s come to define him for more than
