Help Us Launch Farm to Table Dining
Donation protected
Imagine what it would be like
if a restaurant, using ingredients from local farmers, came along and replaced
a fast food restaurant . . . would that make your day? Would it be something to
cheer about? Would you love the ability to choose healthy over fast food? Well
then, with your support, it is about to happen.
Starting in early May 2013 MaukaMakai.Me Restaurant will be opening in what used to be KFC in Pahoa, Hawaii . . . You read that right, a healthy, farm to table restaurant will be opening up in what once was a fast food establishment!
MaukaMakai.Me Restaurant will be serving healthy meals using ingredients from local farmers, fishermen, and ranchers. Not only will the ingredients be local but as local suppliers are sourced (after visits by our staff to their farm, ranch or boat) information about where each ingredient comes from will be made available at the restaurant as well as on-line.
Having grown up here in Hawaii I was always told that I would never amount to anything and for too many years I believed that. But my life started turning around when i got a job at Edelweiss Restaurant as a dishwasher and worked my way up to chef at the Parker Ranch Grill. I could have moved to Las Vegas and continued with my cooking career, but my roots are here in the Island, so I started working at Aloha Luigi's in Hilo Town. After Louis "Luigi" Lichtenstein passed away, I hoped to become the new owner, but fate was not on my side, and it seemed that maybe what I had been told as a teenager was true and I would never amount to much . . . That is what I believed up until just a few months ago when this opportunity to not only own my own restaurant but to work with local youth and the community and be an integral part of Puna opened up to me.
Now everything is in place to make something amazing happen, but there is one last hurdle. I had spent my life paying cash for things, never wanting to incur debt. And that worked just fine for me until I needed $10,000 to get the restaurant up and running , and i had no credit history. So, I am coming to you, my friends and family and those of you who just want to see a local boy make good or want to be part of replacing fast food with local, healthy, food. Help us be the change we know every community needs. Be part of the solution! Help us help our community Thrive!
Without you and your support, we could not make this happen.
Mahalo
Chef Thomas Aiu
Starting in early May 2013 MaukaMakai.Me Restaurant will be opening in what used to be KFC in Pahoa, Hawaii . . . You read that right, a healthy, farm to table restaurant will be opening up in what once was a fast food establishment!
MaukaMakai.Me Restaurant will be serving healthy meals using ingredients from local farmers, fishermen, and ranchers. Not only will the ingredients be local but as local suppliers are sourced (after visits by our staff to their farm, ranch or boat) information about where each ingredient comes from will be made available at the restaurant as well as on-line.
Having grown up here in Hawaii I was always told that I would never amount to anything and for too many years I believed that. But my life started turning around when i got a job at Edelweiss Restaurant as a dishwasher and worked my way up to chef at the Parker Ranch Grill. I could have moved to Las Vegas and continued with my cooking career, but my roots are here in the Island, so I started working at Aloha Luigi's in Hilo Town. After Louis "Luigi" Lichtenstein passed away, I hoped to become the new owner, but fate was not on my side, and it seemed that maybe what I had been told as a teenager was true and I would never amount to much . . . That is what I believed up until just a few months ago when this opportunity to not only own my own restaurant but to work with local youth and the community and be an integral part of Puna opened up to me.
Now everything is in place to make something amazing happen, but there is one last hurdle. I had spent my life paying cash for things, never wanting to incur debt. And that worked just fine for me until I needed $10,000 to get the restaurant up and running , and i had no credit history. So, I am coming to you, my friends and family and those of you who just want to see a local boy make good or want to be part of replacing fast food with local, healthy, food. Help us be the change we know every community needs. Be part of the solution! Help us help our community Thrive!
Without you and your support, we could not make this happen.
Mahalo
Chef Thomas Aiu
Organizer
Thomas Aiu
Organizer
Hilo, HI
