Merriman's Kapalua

From Farm to Table on Maui's Western Shore

Merriman’s Kapalua

Award-winning chef Peter Merriman, co-founder of Hawaii Regional Cuisine, opened a new fine dining restaurant in the Kapalua resort area. Merriman’s Kapalua brings to Maui what his flagship restaurant—Merriman’s in Waimea—brought to the Island of Hawaii: a menu featuring foods grown and raised locally. Chef Merriman is committed to offering 90 percent local products in all dishes at his Kapalua restaurant—a standard unsurpassed in the Hawaiian culinary world.


While the farm-to-table concept is a current buzzword among food enthusiasts and restaurateurs, Merriman has been following this philosophy for over 20 years. He sources ingredients from local farmers, many who farm organically and use sustainable methods. Buying locally is the heart of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement, which Merriman co-founded with eleven other talented Hawaii chefs in the early 1990s. Prior to this, cuisine in Hawaii often followed European traditions and techniques, with many products and produce flown in from the mainland. With the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement, food on the islands has transformed. At Merriman’s Kapalua, the tradition continues. Produce is often picked that morning at the nearby Kapalua Farms and served in the evening, allowing the fresh flavor of the food to really stand out.

Chef Peter Merriman

Merriman’s Kapalua is located at the site of the former Bay Club. Featuring sweeping ocean views of Kapalua Bay, the restaurant is bright and airy with outdoor lanai and indoor open-air seating. Lunch is offered Monday-Friday and dinner daily. Dishes include organic Kaupakalua tomato and Kula onion salad; Kona Kampachi sashimi and inamona ahi tartare; local beets with Surfing Goat Cheese chevre; Big Island butterfish “misoyaki”; wild line-caught mahimahi; Maui cattle beef filet with sauteed ali`i mushrooms; macadamia nut cake with Hawaiian chocolate fudge timbale; Hana Farms apple-banana flan; and coconut crème brulée. George Gomes, Jr., formerly of Hawaii’s Tri-Star Restaurant group and chef Jean-Marie Josselin’s A Pacific Café Maui, takes the helm as Executive Chef.

by Corinne L. Domingo