Take an all-star group of Maui restaurant professionals—young, energetic, and innovative. Add a young chef who is Hawaii’s rising star of Pacific Island Cuisine. Put them in one of the island’s best locations—Kapalua’s Pineapple Hill overlooking the golf greens, the groves of Norfolk pines, and the shimmering blue of West Maui’s sea channel. Combine two intentions—a menu to delight the senses of the most jaded gourmand, and an easy-going atmosphere where everyone can feel at home. The result? Pineapple Grill at Kapalua Resort, a new generation in the tradition of great Maui dining experiences.

“We’re creating a fun atmosphere without sacrificing a sense of elegance,” says Pineapple Grill’s Managing Partner Chris Kaiwi. “We want a ‘locals’ favorite’ place, relaxed but upscale. You’ll want to dress up, but you won’t have to pay over-the-top prices.” Kaiwi and his management team have years of experience in the Maui dining world. Kaiwi himself hails from Kailua, O‘ahu, and he learned the business by working for many years with the Chart House Restaurant and the TS Restaurant chains both in Hawai‘i and in California.

The Pineapple Grill team has designed a sense of theater, of excitement, into the wholly renovated restaurant. Guests enter past the huge bar, a black-marble island with plenty of stools for bar-top dining. On the right is the exhibition kitchen, sizzling with action and savory with aromas. The dining area, floored with antique teak and ornamented with original murals by Maui artist Fred Lorenzo, is completely air-conditioned and captures breathtaking views at every turn. (What a place for watching West Maui’s top golf tournaments—on plasma TVs in AC comfort under slowly turning fans next to a panoramic view of Kapalua’s verdant greens!)

Noted San Diego interior designer JLorene Gage contributed the ingenious layout plan, which subdivides the split-level dining room into numerous themed mini-rooms. For example, the Honu Room, with its sea turtle motif, offers cozy small-table dining. The Aloha Room features a huge teak-inlaid koa table capable of seating a single group of 14 guests, ideal for family gatherings or small wine parties. Venues both indoors and out are perfect for private parties and cocktail receptions. The large lanai, capable of seating 80 - 100 guests, features sensational views over the golf greens, the glittering sea, and West Maui’s inspiring sunsets. The design plan creates choice and diversity.

At the heart of this dining environment, a glass-walled, temperature-controlled wine room proclaims its bounty of carefully selected wines by the bottle. Kaiwi and staff have assembled a truly global wines-by-the-glass selection. The wines-by-the-glass program is dispensed by a state-of-the-art 24-spigot wine cruvinet system. Their selections reflect two great priorities of the house. The first is range of price, to ensure that this particular fine-dining experience will be as affordable as the house can possibly make it. The second is food-friendliness, to ensure that the wines complement the dishes coming from the kitchen. After all, it’s the menu and the unique creativity of Chef Joey Macadangdang that the new Pineapple Grill is really all about.

For those who follow the fine art of Pacific Island Cuisine, Chef Joey is truly a name to know. Philippines-born Joey Macadangdang moved to Lahaina when he was 13, the second youngest of a hardworking farming family. Working his way up the ladder of West Maui’s fast-paced restaurant scene, he became a close protégé of chef Roy Yamaguchi. When Roy’s Kahana first opened, Joey learned classic culinary techniques from executive chef David Abella. After stints as executive chef for Blue Tropix Restaurant & Nightclub (Lahaina) and for Jerome Metcalf’s Rusty Harpoon (Ka‘anapali), he returned to Roy’s tutelage. He worked as sous chef for Roy’s Hawai‘i Kai (O‘ahu), then as executive chef for Roy’s Nicolina, and later as the executive chef who opened Roy’s Kihei. Now as executive chef and partner with The Pineapple Grill, he has his opportunity to make his own original culinary statements. “This is my baby,” he says. “I want to bring my food out there.”

And what food it is! Innovation based on Asian flavors makes every dish at Pineapple Grill a new taste sensation. For example, Chef Joey has developed a refreshing pineapple gazpacho flavored with Thai basil, kaffir lime leaf, and lemongrass. His crispy “skin on” opakapaka comes with the chef’s own potato gnocchi and a low-butter velouté (white sauce) made from a reduction of chicken stock flavored with yuzu, a Japanese citrus sauce. His sizzling hamachi carpaccio appetizer consists of that delectable raw fish (hamachi), carefully pounded flat, which is then embellished with hijiki (seaweed) salad and eschallote. His tempura oysters are served on a bed of capellini (fine pasta) that turns out to be not pasta but actually shredded cucumber. Every item on the menu contains a surprise, an innovation, and a new taste experience.

Nearly every ingredient Chef Joey works with comes fresh from a high-quality locally raised source. For beef, the chef goes to the all-natural, Maui-raised meat of Maui Cattle Company. His produce is all locally grown, including greens and poha berries (goat cheese, too) from Kula, pohole ferns from Hana, and exotic mushrooms from the Big Island. Look for the delicious new fish called kampachi, just now coming available from an aquaculture project off the Big Island’s Kona coast.

The driving force behind the new Pineapple Grill is David Cohn, the San Diego entrepreneur who created the Cohn Restaurant Group. This collection of nearly a dozen eclectic fine-dining houses has earned numerous awards not only for its superb cuisine but also for its efforts in community service and industry enhancement. By combining David Cohn’s business genius and Chris Kaiwi’s intimate knowledge of the Maui restaurant world, the Pineapple Grill partnership has assembled the best combination of local island talent. And it has fired them up with the ambition to create the next generation in a tradition of outstanding Maui dining establishments.

The Pineapple Grill at Kapalua Resort, casual but elegant, is introducing the next generation in Maui-style Pacific Island cuisine. Overlooking the golf greens of The Bay Course and conveniently close to the resort’s tennis club, the Pineapple Grill is now open daily for lunch, and dinner.

For reservations, call (808) 669–9600
Top