3 Must-Try Restaurants on Maui – Editor’s Picks

Editor’s note: While I have enjoyed complimentary meals at these three restaurants, I have also visited Koast and Marlow on my own dime. The following opinions are completely my own.

There hasn’t been a more exciting time to eat on Maui than now. With a rising number of exceptional food trucks, new craft cocktail bars like Tiki Hau Lounge and Esters Fair Prospect, the takeover of Tiffany’s by Sheldon and Janice Simeon and the return of local favorite Sale Pepe, I feel like I’ve spent more time dining out this year on the Valley Isle than in my home base of Honolulu.

Over the past few years of food-hopping on our neighbor island, three restaurants have stood out to me for different reasons. One reminds me of my time cooking with the seasons in San Francisco, another poured me the best mai tai I’ve ever had (I am not a fan of the mai tai) and the third has one hell of a pizza dough recipe. All of them define the category of farm-to-table with their commitment to supporting local agriculture. Whether you live on Maui, or need a reason to visit soon, here are three restaurants you must try.

Koast. Photo by Sarah Burchard.

This is my favorite restaurant in Hawai’i right now. The menu is fresh and bold, packed with local ingredients prepared in ways rarely seen here. Where else can you find seafood laab, heirloom tomato-watermelon salad with nori, fried pig’s ears, Denver steak tataki, Maui strawberries with edamame and goat cheese, whole roasted kanpachi served with green papaya salad, grilled carrots that taste like BBQ, kombu-dry-aged ribeye with a spiced mahogany crust and an entire pineapple filled with frozen custard and toasted meringue all on one table?

Chef Chris Cosentino opened his Wailea restaurant in January this year with Alicia and Dave Saboda – a husband and wife team that helped open his restaurant Cockscomb (now closed) in San Francisco. Guests may know Cosentino from Iron Chef America, The Next Iron Chef, Chefs vs. City and Top Chef Masters (which he won). He’s appeared in numerous cooking-related shows over the past 20 years. I remember him from his immense contribution to the Bay Area’s culinary scene, including his nose-to-tail restaurant Incanto and house-made charcuterie at Boccolone.

If you are on Maui this holiday season, Koast will be offering a special menu on Thanksgiving, and on Christmas Eve – instead of an Italian “Feast of Seven Fishes” – Cosentino will prepare “A Feast of Hawaiian Fishes.”

The menu changes regularly to keep up with local farm availability, and the front of the house staff keeps up. They’re well-versed on each new item and their excitement is infectious. Instead of missing dishes that are replaced, I’m eager to see what’s next. Don’t worry about ordering the “signature dish” or scrolling Instagram to find what looks good. Sit back, trust and open your mind to all of the wonderful things you will try (maybe for the first time) here.

Koast, 116 Wailea Ike Drive Unit 2204 Wailea, Maui. Open daily 3-5 p.m. for happy hour, 5-8:30 p.m. for dinner, (808) 214-5545

Citrus-cured kampachi crudo at Aurum Maui. Photo by Sebastian Sayegh at Sayegh Visuals.

Aurum, which means gold, was a highly anticipated addition to Wailea’s already travel-worthy restaurant scene this year. With Chef Taylor Ponte in the kitchen and his wife, Natasha Ponte, leading the dining room, diners can expect a meticulous experience.

A crudo of citrus-cured kanpachi rests in a cool bath of tomato water as clear as consommé. A creamy bowl of local pumpkin soup, drizzled with lemon yogurt and garnished with toasted pepitas, brings the feeling of autumn to Hawaiʻi.

Aurum is located inside The Shops at Wailea – a high-end outdoor mall known for hosting free concerts in the courtyard facing the restaurant. Bar manager Ryan Dunton’s cocktail menu also gives shoppers a good reason to stop in for a drink and a snack. The Aurum Maui Mai Tai, made with Sugar Cane Dane Tropical Gomme and lilikoʻi honey, is one of the most balanced takes – on a notoriously unbalanced cocktail – I’ve had. I recommend popping in from 3-5 p.m. during “Golden Hour” when the crunchy gochujang fried chicken and smoky local fish dip are offered at a special price. Those are dishes I will definitely be returning for.

That, and the Dark Chocolate Ganache Bar made with Valrhona chocolate, whipped espresso caramel, fresh Kula strawberries and sea salt. The dessert menu also features house-made gelato and sorbet, along with five dessert cocktails, including the Rusty Coconut – Irish whiskey and Drambuie island-ized with KOTA Pandan Liqueur and coconut ice. 

Aurum Maui, Open daily noon-close, 3750 Wailea Alanui Drive, B-27, Wailea, HI 96753, (808) 793-0054

Mortadella “white pie” with mozzarella, jalapeno and pistachio pesto at Marlow. Photo by Sarah Burchard.

In the morning, this Upcountry restaurant is the best coffee shop in town. Past the gift shop tables filled with cookbooks and home goods, an ivory La Marzocco espresso machine and a counter full of house-made pastries await. The chocolate croissant rivals anything you’ll find in Paris.

In the evening, Marlow transforms into a sophisticated pizzeria serving locally sourced Mediterranean fare, house-made pasta and sourdough Neapolitan pizza.

Owners Jeff and Kaili Scheer created the ideal community gathering place with an open kitchen as the focal point — just like any proper Italian home. A 700-degree wood-burning oven glows in the back corner. A collection of sauté pans hangs above the hot line. Bottles of wine and Italian amaros line the shelves along the perimeter. In the center sits a large wooden prep table. It’s what I wish my home kitchen looked like.

Chef Jeff Scheer, who was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award last year, is revered for his scratch cooking and use of exceptional ingredients — most sourced locally. His naturally leavened pizzas are a labor of love, made with organic flour in an Italian oven he heats with kiawe wood — a type of mesquite invasive to Hawaiʻi. The result is a chewy, pillowy crust, charred to perfection.

The Scheers’ wine list is also notable, featuring a selection of natural wines from Italy, France and Argentina, made with grapes farmed organically and biodynamically by small producers.

Marlow, 30 Kupaoa St A104, Makawao, HI 96768, Breakfast and lunch served Monday through Saturday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m, Sundays 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Dinner daily 4:30 to 9 p.m., Reservations