Timeless Magic, 1965 - 2015
65 MAUNA KEA BEACH HOTEL The macadamia nut is one of Hawai i Islands most delicious and irresistible foods Whether eaten roasted and salted straight from the can crusting a piece of baked ono fish used in place of pine nuts in a pesto sauce or sprinkled atop fruit and yogurt for breakfast there is no denying its crunchy goodness Of course residents of and visitors to the Aloha State also love mac nuts covered in chocolate In the mid 1980s Mauna Kea pastry chef Hans Weiler created a Macadamia Nut Tart as a mouthwatering addition to the hotels buffet and it was an instant hit The classic presentation pictured left uses a traditional pie crust with a filling of chocolate mac nuts sugar butter and heavy cream and tops the concoction with more nuts and powdered sugar Pastry Chef Ross Alaimos modern interpretation above uses many of the same ingredients but adds fresh raspberries papaya coulis and mint leaves and serves the dessert like the piece of culinary art that it is THE CLASSIC MACADAMIA NUT TART Ono with Baby Bok Choy and Purple Sweet Potato and curries of all varieties started appearing on menus Making use of the abundant seafood caught daily in local waters and perfect agricultural and cattle grazing lands just up the hill from the hotel in Waimea guests were treated to different specialties every day of their stay with many of the ingredients culled from local sources Indeed Chef Blum is widely credited for having spurred the original farm to table movement on the island A story is told that he and the hotels first general manager Leslie Moore worked with the Waimea farmers to grow and procure the fresh produce they needed for their menus Moore apparently stood up at a community meeting with the farmers and drew a dollar sign on a blackboard Does anyone here read music he asked This practice carried forth Rockefellers overarching goal of creating jobs for the community while also providing guests a top rated dining experience Daniel Thiebaut came aboard as the first executive chef under the Westin brand It was up to him to oversee the transition from the Modified American Plan MAP where breakfast and dinner were included in the room rate to the European Plan where all meals were priced Walter Blum 1965 1971 Achim Kim Dietrich 1971 1983 Daniel Thiebaut 1983 1990 Klaus Mayr 1990 1993 Corey Waite 1993 1994 Goran Streng 1995 1999 Piet Wigmans 2003 2009 George Gomes Jr 2008 2012 Peter Pahk 2012 2014 Hans Lentz 2014 EXECUTIVE CHEFS
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