“You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients.”
― Julia Child
When I travel, I feel that the quality of the food Craig and I eat is as important as the exciting destination. Do you feel the same? I recently wrote about our unbelievable vacation at the extraordinary Andaz Maui at Wailea. If I haven’t enticed you to go there because of the property and the views… the food will seal the deal! The cuisine at the Ka’ana Kitchen is some the most incredible food I have had in a long time and in some cases, EVER. I realize that is quite a statement, but it is totally true.
Before we leave for a trip, I research where we are going and our trip to Maui was no exception. As they say at the Andaz Maui at Wailea: “We bring you the best dining on the island from local farmers, foragers and locavores, and we procure many of our ingredients exclusively from Ka’ana Farm and its neighbors”. They even print on the menu the names of the farms where the local fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy come from.
While staying at the beachfront resort, we enjoyed most of our meals (breakfast and dinner) at their signature restaurant Ka’ana Kitchen. As a self proclaimed “foodie” I was in gastronomic heaven! We also enjoyed lunch poolside one day as well.
On most days,we started with a delicious and rather enormous brunch. It was enormous because there were so many tantalizing choices, I could not decide! Do I choose the custom made omelet? The vast array of pastries, Ginger Scones, Taro Scones, Grilled Smashed Potatoes and housemade sausage, Macadamia Nut Waffles, Kale Salad, tropical fruits…the list goes on! Each day we were served a green juice of the day as well as a bit sweeter fruit juice of the day. Seriously? Oh my gosh they were great. One of each please! I always put way too much on the plate, but I wanted so badly to try all of it! Afterward, we took long walks along the gorgeous beaches and attempted to work off the morning’s calories.
Before we left for Maui I had made several dinner reservations at other restaurants at hotels which are very popular and well known. Once I had tasted the food from Ka’ana Kitchen, I cancelled them all. I have never done that before on a vacation. The food was so damn good we did not want to leave!
The Juice Bar! Are you kidding??
Two of our phenominal dinners were spent sitting at the chef’s table directly in the restaurant kitchen. We had a front row seat to observe all of the well orchestrated activity in the kitchen. We were thrilled to spend time talking with Chefs Isaac and MiJin. Although they were incredibly busy,they stopped to chat and talk about food, ingredients and the dishes they were preparing. I felt like a teenager hanging out with a rock star! I LOVED IT! We were also seated next to the bar where they created handcrafted cocktails with unique flavor combinations. They were crazy delicious! It was such a treat for me to be a part of their world if only for a short time!
Our view of Chef MiJin- So fun!
Our adorable and talented bartenders
So what did we eat? Lucky for you I take pictures of my meals if they are particularly photogenic!
Did I say… we ate AMAZING FOOD in Maui!
Here you go…A feast for the eyes!
Poolside – Lobster Grilled Cheese, yes I said lobster!
Chopped Kale Salad – My favorite
Hand Crafted Raspberry Lemonade
Brunch – Enormous, but worth every bite
Extraordinary Dinners
Lobster Ceviche – Out of this world!
Grilled Octopus Salad – A first for me!
Bigeye Ahi -My favorite dish of the trip (I ordered it twice)
Craig and I eat out a great deal and when we travel, we especially look forward to visiting great restaurants and experiencing local cuisine. I am such a food geek, I am constantly reading about chefs and what they are creating and we attend food and wine events whenever we can. I often hear from friends who are traveling and they need a restaurant recommendation. I have even begun writing guides to some of the major US cities that we frequent.
To be clear, I did not eat all of these dishes at each meal, they were spread out over the week! I could have posted photos of several more enticing plates, but I restrained myself! If have not impressed upon you enough, the delicious farm to table food was a highlight of our stay in Maui. It was such a treat!
I can’t wait to plan my trip back to the Andaz Maui at Wailea.
Where have you eaten lately?
The food looks incredible!
Thanks Tam! It was! I look forward to you sharing a post soon!
The food and drink in Maui look wonderful! Made me hungry, now I have to go eat lunch.
Hope your lunch was half as good as these meals! I don’t usually order lobster, but they do a great job with it at the Andaz. Thank you for coming by and commenting – I appreciate it!
Food is such an important part of a great travel experience. I’m so hungry after viewing your fabulous photos. Thanks for sharing your lovely adventure!
Thank you for your comments Michelle. It’s hard to look at great food when you are hungry!
The food was so yummy, I guess I’d go just for those meals. I could eat lobster every day.
Yes – the meals were so delicious and just the icing on the cake! What an amazing place! Thank you for your comment and for stopping by my new blog!
Wow Suzanne, you must have been in foodie heaven,at one of the newest and posh places to dine and stay in Maui no less, will have to definitely visit when I go back there. The dishes do look amazing and I’m a total foodie myself
So nice to meet you! I think we have a lot in common! Thank you for your comment and coming to my new blog!
Everything looked wonderful. I feel like I gained 5 lbs just reading about it.
The good news Michelle, is that you didn’t gain 5 pounds! I probably did. I am in the process of working off those delicious meals in Maui.
Great job covering your gastronomic highlights! Photos were fabulous.
Thank you Beth! I appreciate your comments and for stopping by!
So much to see so little time… My hubby just retired, well actually a year ago now. We have been traveling so much we are actually downsizing to a condo so we don’t have the upkeep. We also enjoy new restaurants.
I love your enthusiasm! Go see the world as much as you can! We are in the process of downsizing as well. Then there is more time for adventures!
The food looks impressive and, aside from the brunch, the portions seem to be the right size for you not to feel like a whale at the end of the meal. I hesitate (and am a little embarrassed) to mention that I think we’re having dinner at Red Lobster this evening 😉
The portions were perfect, it was all my fault to have such a full plate at Brunch! Hmmm Red Lobster, I hope you had a great dinner! I have never been so I will not judge. Thank you for reading and commenting!
All the food looks so delicious! I loved your photos!
It was soooo wonderful! Thank you! People I eat with have gotten used to my photography. I do it quick however and try not to call attention to myself 🙂
It all looks amazingly good. I would love to try the kale salad and the lobster. However, would be very hard to stop there!
Those are both great choices. I went out of my comfort zone several times, I trusted the chefs and was amazed. Thank you for your comments!
Why am I suddenly starving?!? Thanks for the scrumptious pictures.
Food photography can do that to you! Thank you for stopping and by and for your comments. I welcome you and Marc to share what is going on in your Empty Nest world in Florida!
What a lovely story you took the time to share! We were so delighted to read of your experience and see what great photos you took. Mahalo to all of your friends for such kind comments as well. So excited to have you back in the future. Aloha, The Andaz Maui Team!
Thank you for your comments as well! It was my pleasure to share our incredible experience. I want everyone to know what a special place the Andaz Maui at
Wailea is to visit! Keep up the great work and keep us updated on the “happenings” at the resort.
Waiting for this blog entry! My favorites were the lavender lemonade, the grilled octopus and the amazing coconut sundae. At the pool for lunch I had the delicious summer rolls! One of the great things about the Andaz and Ka’ana Kitchen was it was easy to stay on a somewhat healthy diet as they use such fresh, organic ingredients. I try to keep to a gluten-free diet and found it was pretty easy to do. They were so flexible with the breakfast, if you wanted a different type of pancake or just plain eggs and toast, etc. The banana macadamia pancakes were to die for with the coconut syrup. We sat at the chef’s table one night too. It was an absolute blast! Darn, now I’m depressed about leaving all over again! Thanks for a great post!!
Oh Mary Ann! You and I are kindred spirits! I loved all of the dishes you mentioned too! There were so many that I had to cut back, the post would have been three pages long :0 The food was not heavy at all, just healthy organic and delicious. They were so helpful, we asked for plain waffles with banana and receive them with an enthusiastic smile! We will plan to go back next March again! I wish we could go sooner! Thank you for your lovely comments and I hope to hear from you again!