Benjamin Henion

As our resort transitions into a whole new operation, our Culinary team is in for a great ride. With many food trends, you see things happening in the food world that are cool, unique, and yes, of course trendy. The molecular gastronomy, the meals that require dozens of tiny portions, the fads that practically wipe out entire species like Chilean Sea Bass. One of the more recent ones, I don't think is going to fade out or disappear like many of its previous trends. Local ingredients, grown organically, and where the chef has a more intimate knowledge of where his ingredients come from. With many vendors I have dealt with over the years, this is the first time I have ever had them send me photos of the products I intend to buy, as they are growing so delicately on the hillside overlooking the Pacific. This photo was taken 4 weeks ago, and I was delighted to see the beautiful lettuces arrive today. This is the first step in a direction for our resort that I believe is just a brush s...

Raku is our new Japanese Restaurant at Makena Beach and Golf Resort which takes this kitchen back to its roots. After a few changes, this beautiful restaurant is bringing classic Japanese food and tradition back in full force. With a great team of chefs with a real passion for Japanese food, Raku is making a major impression on Kama'aina and travelers alike. With the Raku Bento Box, Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu, accompanied with 1/2 price sushi in our opening hours daily, you can count on this place catching on. With beautiful views and incredible decor, we are very proud of the direction we chose for this outlet. We had a Grand Opening celebration on Friday that brought in a nice crowd. We served the entire menu half off, including drinks. We had an overwhelming turnout, and expect to see business booming soon. For those of you located on Maui, and those who plan to visit, you have got to make it to Raku. Enjoy!

' Tis the season, as they say. We are in that time of year that we gather with family and friends to celebrate another holiday season, and the joys of our little world. Today we used that feeling as the theme to our already popular Sunday Brunch. We took a little part of many cultures here in Hawaii and showcased their food in a "Joys of the World Brunch". Naturally we used many of the fresh fruits that you find here on Maui, many of which were brought here from other parts of the world as people migrated to the Islands. We Incorporated the Cantonese style fried rice with Char Sui Pork, Chinese style roast duck which we sliced and made mini sandwiches with steamed kau yuk buns, Portuguese bean soup, huli huli chicken, macadamia nut crusted sweet potato fries and so on. We set up the portable sushi bar, making sushi rolls to order, chicken pot stickers , shrimp shumai , and pork-filled steamed buns. We had shrimp and pork gyozas , lau lau style steamed mahi mahi ,...

This light, refreshing dessert turned out nice. Very simple preparation . Crisp, clean flavors as well. I did a simple guava ice, using guava juice and sugar. It turned out nice and fluffy, with lots of guava flavor. The starfruit is used 2 ways, fresh slices and dried slices. Although the dry slices didn't crisp as well as I would have liked, they preparation concentrated the flavor for a really nice component to the plate. I elevated them and added some color with a couple fresh raspberries, which complimented the fresh starfruit really well. The moisture came from the passion fruit-orange-strawberry coulis that glistens from underneath . In the process of making this dish, I changed direction a few times, but in the end, I decided simple, clean and flavorful was the way to go. I am just glad to make good use of some of the starfruit we picked up today, and it doesn't get much fresher than that.

I received a call out of the blue from a gentleman, we'll call him Lawrence. He informed me that he had a tree that had exploded with the tropical starfruit. There was no joking about that! I had prepared myself to bring quite a bit back to the kitchen with me, but what you see here is probably 1o or 15 percent of the fruit that the tree had produced. Lawrence is more than happy to have us over to take much, much more off of his hands. The starfruit, or Carambola is a tropical fruit that has a waxy, golden or green skin and mild, yet complicated flavors that seem to pair well with many other fruits. Originally from Sri Lanka and Moluccas, the starfruit thrives in the Hawaiian Islands due to the warm environment. The starfruit has no fat or cholesterol , and is a great source of Vitamin C. They are great in fruit salads, chutneys and salsas, but they make a refreshing and impressive garnish to almost any dish or drink. With the amount of free starfruit we now have access t...

During this particular event, we had 4 action stations, plating appetizer sized, yet well designed dishes for our friends with the local Chaine Des Rotisseurs . Often times the outdoors can somewhat limit how you prepare food, what dishes you are able to use, and can set the mood, good or bad. This particular event was defiantly an exception . We served whole Kalua Pig sliders, the meat carved right off the pig. We carved roasted New York sirloin to order. We seared a duet of Diver Scallops and Jumbo tiger prawns. And pictured here, we wok fried a whole red snapper, pulling the crisp skin and moist meat from the fish to build each petite entree. Although the food was a great success, the evening was only perfect when all other aspects fell into place (the way they do in Hawaii). As the sun began to set over the ocean, a large group of spinner dolphins gathered between us and the sun. They jumped and spun, entertaining the guests (and staff) to set the mood. The green flash was mu...