Bev Gannon at home in her kitchen in Maui.

The Queen of Hawaiian Cuisine

For nearly 2 decades, 57-year-old Bev Gannon has been an Hawaii restaurant fixture. She runs the Hali'imaile General Store, one of Hawaii's most respected fusion-fare restaurants, and the Wailea restaurant Joe's. Originally from Texas, Gannon had never been to Hawaii nor set foot in a restaurant kitchen before the 1980s. So how did she become the long-reigning queen of Hawaii Regional Cuisine, a category of American food that she helped develop? She talked to Priceless.com about her rise to fame.

The Sashimi Napoleon, a favorite of Hali'imaile regulars.

At Hali'imaile, "you'll find wonton wrappers next to mochi balls next to Filipino lumpia wrappers."

What initially brought you to Hawaii?

Well, it started with my husband, Joe. He kept telling me how wonderful Maui was, so we went for what we thought would be a 1-week vacation. That was 26 years ago.

Was the food on the island an immediate allure?

Not at all. Upscale Hawaiian food was behind everywhere else in the country. "Fresh" was something that had been on a barge for 3 weeks. Unless you just wanted to serve cabbage and zucchini or had your own garden, there wasn't much "fresh" food. Meats were all C-grade, and the local fresh herbs and vegetables were all being exported. Restaurants only served Continental food - over-cooked vegetables and heavy sauces. I've always loved food and I remember thinking, "the food here should taste better!"

So, did you decide right away to open a restaurant?

I'd been to cooking school in London in the 1970s, but only because it seemed like a fun thing to do. I never thought I'd be a chef. When we first got to Hawaii, my goal was to just get as tan as I could get. But then I got kind of bored with sunning, and that's the only reason I started cooking. My husband was a producer and director for concerts - we originally met when I was Liza Minnelli's road manager and he was her production manager. So, he'd have large groups of entertainment industry people over, and I'd cook. Then one day I woke up and thought, "Maybe I could make a living doing this?" So, in 1984, I started catering.

But there must've been hundreds of local caterers - ones who'd had actual experience in restaurants.

Yes, but all the other caterers were using black folding chairs and luau tables. I brought in real plates and silver trays and white tablecloths. It was something people had not seen outside of an hotel. They thought they couldn't have all that on an island. But why not? And I was making very creative food, not just pig and poi. In 1988, I had so much business that I decided to open up a takeout shop inside the old Hali'imaile General Store. I thought people would just come in wanting food to go, but the moment I opened, 150 people were there waiting to sit down and eat dinner. Overnight, it became a restaurant. And the rest is history.

And this success was despite the fact that you picked a spot that's at least 30 miles from the nearest tourist destination?

Yes. It's literally the only thing in the town of Hali'imaile besides the Maui Pineapple Company, where they pick and ship pineapples. But the fact that it's hidden is, to me, what makes the restaurant special. Everyone thought I was crazy to open a place in the middle of nowhere, but I felt like it was a quaint spot that gave you a feel of old Hawaii. It's one of the last untouched places. We are surrounded by pineapples and sugarcane. It's rare that people just happen upon us - for most people, the restaurant is the destination. You have to come and want to eat here. You just need to take a left turn lane off of Highway 37. It's not very well marked, but that's Hali'imaile road, which is a 2-lane highway that goes through sugar fields. You stay on that a couple of miles. Just when you start thinking "how lost am I?" you'll suddenly find this pink restaurant. That's us.

So how did this little sandwich shop end up having such an effect on the cuisine of the whole state?

Well, I was frustrated with the food choices for a chef. There were limited supplies of good locally grown product. I started talking with other chefs at other restaurants and chef Peter Merriman had the idea we should all meet to discuss our issues with getting top quality ingredients. We met with the local farmers, fishermen, and agriculture representatives and brainstormed how we could get better and different products farmed and raised. That was in 1991, and it was the beginning of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement. Within a few years, it raised the level of the food in Hawaii.

And this meeting ultimately changed the face of Hawaiian food?

Completely. It started off the idea of Hawaii Regional Cuisine. All of a sudden people were noticing Hawaiian cuisine in a way they never had before. What's different about the food here is that there are many ethic food influences: American, Filipino, Japanese, Tongan - it's a melting pot of humanity. You'll find wonton wrappers next to mochi balls next to Filipino lumpia wrappers, and when you're mixing all these different ethnic ingredients, you get some pretty interesting flavors. That, to me, is the definition of Hawaii Regional Cuisine. I think it's that mixture - that melting pot - that makes the food, as well as Hawaii, so great.

Posted on July 31, 2006