Visitors are seeking out the local plate lunch scene more so now than ever before, the Pac Rim high end cuisine are always elevating with chefs on Maui such as Peter Merriman, leading with his high profile restaurants, and I'm out at Kapalua Maui, and believe me, his restaurant seems to be always busy.
But the visitors who eat at places such as Merriman's are now searching for those mom and pop digs, where a great and tasty meal can be bought without spending a fortune, with shows on the Food Network and Travel Channels promoting out of the way diners that have a local following in anywhere U.S.A., foodies are searching for what Hawaiians eat, and they are out in force.
Recently I spoke to a well known chef here on Maui, he just did not want to reveal his name because of a current venture he is working on with investors, but what he told me was very very interesting.
"Ron if I could do this whole thing over again, and could foresee the future, I would not be in this high end business of fancy high end foods, I'd get some people together, and cook and sell what my grandma and mother made at home, here in Hawaii, there's a plate lunch revolution going on, and it is really hitting very fast!"
Chef went on to explain, "If done right, you would have a huge huge profit margin, the cooking would be much more simpler, no need to find exotic herbs or spices, just the basic ingredients we know and love, salt and pepper, garlic, ginger, shoyu, sesame oil etc. and you could really make a killing, the tourist are looking for Spam Musubi now, my daughter is in college, she makes it for her friends on outings, she said 'dad, I tell them Spam is just like a sausage,' and they eat it up. She goes through lots of nori."
So then what is really happening in the plate lunch world? I'll tell you, visitors that come to these islands are smarter and more informed because of devices such as the iPhone, or Android smart phones, before, the only info they got was from publications such as Menu etc. or The Maui News, or Channel 7's visitor channel, but now, friends are telling their friends around the world about their dining experience.
One visitor told me, "Ron I had a loco moco the other day from L&L, and it was just great! My husband wants to eat that everyday." One visitor asked me, "Ron where can I get some good Malaysian food? I said, I don't know on Maui, but if you like Malay, you would love Filipino food, so I told him to head to Paradise Market on Wakea in Kahului for some adobo, and some pork with mung beans, and some pancit noodles, when he saw me a few days later, the guy and his family were hooked on Paradise and Filipino food, it is just scratching the surface, anyone that wants to make money in the food biz, I'm telling you, go plate lunches and do it right, like how a backyard cook would prepare his or her food, or how grandma and the aunties cooked in their homes, it's a recipe for success.
Another chef I met from New York asked me this, "Ron I'm Italian, I'm a chef, I'm from New York, so the last thing I wanna freaking eat is Italian, what the hell you locals love to eat man?" So I asked him how was his Japanese chops? Did he study the Umami thang? Does he eat at Japanese restaurants? His reply was "No, I don't eat Japanese food, but I know of it, I don't eat sushi or anything like that." So I told him to go to Zushi in Lahaina, and to get the deep fried Chicken Teri with Miso Soup. He went there, and again I saw him a few days later, the chef man from New York was stoked! "That was the best freaking meal I had this whole trip man, so simple, just like how I cook, simple, not overdone man."
Simplicity is what people are after, I've told some folks to go to Aloha Mixed Plate for local food, and they all came back to me happy I referred them there, amazingly, some never tried teriyaki beef the way we make it. People love simple, and that's exactly what local plate lunches are, simple, not complicated at all, you really don't need to be a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu to open a plate lunch counter, just basic cooking skills, fry an item just right, stew the meats just right, not too much salt, stuff like that.
I had some people that were staying in the mansion/gated community in Kapalua tell me that their travels around the world gave them lots of appreciation for food, but guess what? They told me this, "There's nothing better than having Chow Fun and Chicken Katsu once we land on Maui, nothing can take its place!"
Okay you entrepreneurs, get your business plans out, and do your research, find a good place to lease and cook up a storm and sell those plates!
Pictured is a Beef Chowfun Plate
But the visitors who eat at places such as Merriman's are now searching for those mom and pop digs, where a great and tasty meal can be bought without spending a fortune, with shows on the Food Network and Travel Channels promoting out of the way diners that have a local following in anywhere U.S.A., foodies are searching for what Hawaiians eat, and they are out in force.
Recently I spoke to a well known chef here on Maui, he just did not want to reveal his name because of a current venture he is working on with investors, but what he told me was very very interesting.
"Ron if I could do this whole thing over again, and could foresee the future, I would not be in this high end business of fancy high end foods, I'd get some people together, and cook and sell what my grandma and mother made at home, here in Hawaii, there's a plate lunch revolution going on, and it is really hitting very fast!"
Chef went on to explain, "If done right, you would have a huge huge profit margin, the cooking would be much more simpler, no need to find exotic herbs or spices, just the basic ingredients we know and love, salt and pepper, garlic, ginger, shoyu, sesame oil etc. and you could really make a killing, the tourist are looking for Spam Musubi now, my daughter is in college, she makes it for her friends on outings, she said 'dad, I tell them Spam is just like a sausage,' and they eat it up. She goes through lots of nori."
So then what is really happening in the plate lunch world? I'll tell you, visitors that come to these islands are smarter and more informed because of devices such as the iPhone, or Android smart phones, before, the only info they got was from publications such as Menu etc. or The Maui News, or Channel 7's visitor channel, but now, friends are telling their friends around the world about their dining experience.
One visitor told me, "Ron I had a loco moco the other day from L&L, and it was just great! My husband wants to eat that everyday." One visitor asked me, "Ron where can I get some good Malaysian food? I said, I don't know on Maui, but if you like Malay, you would love Filipino food, so I told him to head to Paradise Market on Wakea in Kahului for some adobo, and some pork with mung beans, and some pancit noodles, when he saw me a few days later, the guy and his family were hooked on Paradise and Filipino food, it is just scratching the surface, anyone that wants to make money in the food biz, I'm telling you, go plate lunches and do it right, like how a backyard cook would prepare his or her food, or how grandma and the aunties cooked in their homes, it's a recipe for success.
Another chef I met from New York asked me this, "Ron I'm Italian, I'm a chef, I'm from New York, so the last thing I wanna freaking eat is Italian, what the hell you locals love to eat man?" So I asked him how was his Japanese chops? Did he study the Umami thang? Does he eat at Japanese restaurants? His reply was "No, I don't eat Japanese food, but I know of it, I don't eat sushi or anything like that." So I told him to go to Zushi in Lahaina, and to get the deep fried Chicken Teri with Miso Soup. He went there, and again I saw him a few days later, the chef man from New York was stoked! "That was the best freaking meal I had this whole trip man, so simple, just like how I cook, simple, not overdone man."
Simplicity is what people are after, I've told some folks to go to Aloha Mixed Plate for local food, and they all came back to me happy I referred them there, amazingly, some never tried teriyaki beef the way we make it. People love simple, and that's exactly what local plate lunches are, simple, not complicated at all, you really don't need to be a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu to open a plate lunch counter, just basic cooking skills, fry an item just right, stew the meats just right, not too much salt, stuff like that.
I had some people that were staying in the mansion/gated community in Kapalua tell me that their travels around the world gave them lots of appreciation for food, but guess what? They told me this, "There's nothing better than having Chow Fun and Chicken Katsu once we land on Maui, nothing can take its place!"
Pictured is a Beef Chowfun Plate
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