Kapalua Restaurant Week
Meal deals start Monday
With posh resorts, pampering amenities and upscale restaurants, Kapalua Resort may not jump out as the Maui destination to go to for discounted meals.
But specials do occur on occasion and the powers that be behind Kapalua Resort are also pleased to announce that the dates for its fall Kapalua Restaurant Week will be from Monday to Oct. 29 with gourmet meal deals set to entice.
Eight participating restaurants are offering either a two-course menu for lunch or a three-course menu for dinner daily through the week. Some restaurants are opting to dish up one menu item.
This year’s Kapalua Restaurant Week beneficiary is Maui Food Bank’s Aloha Backpack Buddies program, which provides elementary school children who are signed up for the free or reduced meal program at their schools, with a pre-filled backpack every Friday that contains six meals to take home for the weekend, according to a press release on the subject.
A donation of $1 for every restaurant week item sold will go to support the Aloha Backpack Buddies program. Last year, the resort restaurants raised more than $2,000 to support the cause.
Participating restaurants include Cane & Canoe at Montage Kapalua Bay, which will offer a three-course dinner for $49, plus tax and gratuity.
Chef de Cuisine Robert Barrera will let you choose from ahi carpaccio with shaved radish, salt-roasted beets and local greens; or kabocha-pumpkin salad with Lacinato kale, avocado, hearts of palm, pepita peppers and sesame vinaigrette.
Entrees include prime flat-iron steak or fresh catch; and dessert choices range from chocolate macadamia-nut bombe or lilikoi semifreddo. Montage’s Hana Hou outdoor poolside restaurant will present two-course lunches for $29 with your choice of fresh watermelon and local goat cheese salad or Kumu mixed lettuces and Kula Farms berries as starters; and chicken bahn mi sandwiches and green papaya peanut slaw or roasted Maui squash pizzas with parmesan creme fraiche, shishito peppers, basil and pesto as entrees.
The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua will wow with a three-course dinner for $58 at its signature Banyan Tree restaurant.
Chef de Cuisine Alvin Savella will do five-spice duck on buns with hoisin-ohelo berry glaze, pickled carrots and toasted sesame as the pupu; followed by an Upcountry barbecue of seared mahimahi, lump crab, Kula-corn-and-pea succotash, housemade spice rub, lemongrass cilantro, poha-berry chutney and sweet potato crisps from Molokai. The piece de resistance will surely be the “Wow Wee” Maui milk-chocolate and macadamia-nut bar with praline crunch, Mandarin-orange ice cream and chocolate coral sponge.
Chef de Cuisine Davis Hood of Pineapple Grill delights with a fun, two-course lunch special for $29 and a four-course dinner for $49 per person. For the latter, choose from potato-leek soup or tomato-beet salad with orange vinaigrette; and entrees of 72-hour braised short rib with artichoke risotto; half a roasted chicken with truffled polenta; or the vegetable tart. For a $10 supplement, you may opt for the filet mignon.
The Plantation House will showcase $40 three-course dinners with numerous options from which to choose. Select from pea soup, Kealoha Farms tomato Caprese or classic Caesar for starters.
Plantation House entrees include mac-nut crusted Hawaiian fish with sauce Romesco; roasted free-range chicken breast; Sale Pepe fettuccine pasta with beef ragu; or the duck a l’orange. Sweet endings include S’mores, Maui pineapple cake with compressed fruit and ice cream or island sorbet.
Other participants in this year’s promotion are Taverna and The Wine Palette, both on Office Road in Kapalua.
* For a complete menu and specials list, visit www.kapaluarestaurantweek.com.