For Kamana Kalani, a second-year student, the path to becoming a chef and owning his own restaurant was nearly derailed by a serious illness and the devastation of the Lahaina wildfires. After being forced out of work for six months, the financial burden was immense.

“I was putting all my bills on my credit card and it was stressing me out,” Kalani said. “I lost a lot of weight and had a lot of physical issues.”

A scholarship from arrived like a lifeline, allowing him to shift his focus from financial survival to his education and recovery.

“It took so much pressure off,” Kalani said. “Instead of worrying about how to pay for school, I could put my energy into learning.”

Investing in �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s future

Kalani recently led a tour for Hawaiʻi Gas executives, including President and CEO Alicia Moy, to showcase his craft.

“During our tour with Kamana, I could feel the passion and focus it takes to thrive in the culinary field,” Moy said. “Culinary education develops talent and creativity, and contributes to strengthening resilience in our community.”

Now thriving at Nobu Grand Wailea while balancing his classes, Kalani continues to sharpen his craft, his future trajectory secured by timely aid.

Moy said, “Supporting students like Kamana is an investment in Hawaiʻi’s future, giving young people the space to grow, learn and achieve their dreams.”

Read more at .

Over the second half of the fall semester, students and community volunteers organized about 1,600 produce boxes and distributed them to students and community members impacted by the Maui wildfires.

The students were members of the purchasing class. They purchased approximately 13,400 lbs. of local produce through Local Harvest funded (a non-profit that promotes food security, educational and economic opportunities in Maui County).

The students also distributed about 1,000 bags of rice sourced through Rimfire Imports and paid for by the Lions Club. ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College baking and pastry students helped by producing 600 boxes of pastries as special treats on a few of the weeks.

“Some people start crying because they’re just happy people are able to help them out and understand what they’re going through,” said culinary student Jennifer Giubardo. “It’s nice to contribute after such a tragic thing that happened to Maui.”

For two months after the August fires, the culinary arts program’s Pāʻina Building was a food preparation hub where a total of 200,000 meals were prepped, cooked and sent out for delivery for members of the community who had been displaced by fires.

In October, the campus pivoted to packing and distributing about 200 produce boxes a week, utilizing a refrigerated container that Matson initially donated to use during food preparation. Matson and Tri Isle have also supported and serviced the container.

More on how to help Maui ʻohana and the Maui wildfires.

“It makes me happy to know that I’m being a part of something good and that it’s benefiting the community,” said culinary student Lily Weber, who said some of her family members lost their homes in the fire. “I’m just really grateful that the program that I’m choosing to participate in is choosing to help and share the love and aloha out there.”

����Vlog�ٷ� Maui college is eager to help where needed and is currently working with the Maui Emergency Task Force to understand how best to contribute for the spring semester.

Star Hawaiʻi chefs, who are alumni of , extolled the virtues of growing up, learning and cooking in Hawaiʻi on an —a national culinary culture and lifestyle radio show and podcast.

Host Francis Lam interviewed chefs Robynne Maii, Sheldon Simeon and Ed Kenney during a live taping at the Hawaiʻi Theatre in January.

James Beard Award winner

“Culinary education belongs in community college”
—Robyn Maii
“God bless the community colleges!”
—Francis Lam

Maii, who won a 2022 James Beard Award, is the chef/owner of Fête restaurant in Chinatown and HeyDay in Waikīkī. She recalled how she decided to enroll in culinary school on the East Coast while she was a student studying modern dance at Middlebury College in Vermont.

“I quickly realized how expensive it was, so I came home and went to ,” Maii said.

She loved her culinary education and then she moved to New York with “a big chip” on her shoulder. At first, Maii thought all her coworkers who went to “fancy” culinary schools knew more than she did.

“Literally it took like two hours and I was like, ‘You guys donʻt know more than me, you guys just think you know more than me,’” Maii recalled. “I feel like I got a really good lay of the land with culinary education, and—not to be dogmatic—culinary education belongs in community college.”

Plus, the chefs who attended “fancy” culinary schools were in debt, and she wasn’t.

“God bless the community colleges!” declared Lam.

• Related ����Vlog�ٷ� News story: James Beard Award winning Chef Robynne Maii cooks with Leeward CC students, January 24, 2023

Top Chef finalist

Top Chef finalist Sheldon Simeon, who owns Tin Roof and Tiffany’s and on Maui, grew up on Hawaiʻi Island and attended culinary school at , before graduating from .

“You know I never thought I was going to be a chef growing up. It’s just that food was always around me. Through culinary school—I attended Leeward here then finished up in Maui—you start to think, ‘What’s the chef that you want to become?’” Simeon said.

He recalled that Emeril Lagasse was “bamming it” on national television, while he was growing up watching Harry Kojima on Hari’s Kitchen and Chef Sam Choy in Hawaiʻi.

• Related ����Vlog�ٷ� News story: Public radio host, Chef Sheldon Simeon cook with culinary students, January 17, 2023

At first Simeon thought he would have to mimic the food of the “big cities,” but then came the invitation to compete on Top Chef.

Simeon said, “It was on Top Chef that I realized that I can cook the food of my upbringing and be proud about that, and be proud of how unique Hawaiʻi’s cuisine really is and all these different cultures that have influenced it.”

Getting ‘cheffy’ with it

Kenney, chef owner of Mud Hen Water, is a long-time leader in Hawaiʻi’s restaurant scene. He started out working in commercial real estate development, which he called “boring,” before his wife convinced him to take a trip around the world, after which he enrolled in Kapiʻolani CC’s culinary program.

Kenney reminisced about growing up in Hawaiʻi and enjoying ʻopihi (the Hawaiian limpet), raw crab and ʻinamona (a condiment made from roasted candlenut and sea salt) at family parties.

“We’ve been given the task of being kind of ‘cheffy’ with these Indigenous foods,” he said.

One of the long-time items on Mud Hen Water’s menu is buttered ʻulu or breadfruit, a Hawaiian canoe crop that Kenney prepares with Chinese fermented black bean, sour orange and cilantro.
He also sources fresh coconut for other dishes, which he said has elevated the restaurant’s food to another level.

Lam said, “Here’s to going back to the way things were, sometimes.”

—By Kelli Abe Trifonovitch

’s Pāʻina Market is open to students and the community this semester with more tasty and affordable lunch options. Run by students in the college’s award-winning program, the World Plate and Paniolo Grill kitchens are doubling the number of lunch options available for the spring semester.

“World Plate gives our students an opportunity to immerse themselves into a multitude of different ethnic cuisines and also to be exposed to exotic ingredients and regional flavor combinations,” said Chef Instructor Gary Johnson.

• Related ����Vlog�ٷ� News story: Gourmet meals for lunch! ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College students create delights, September 26, 2022

Italian-inspired dishes were on the menu, and Japanese-inspired dishes are coming soon. In addition to diverse flavors, World Plate’s menu features locally sourced produce—most notably, herbs from an aeroponics tower located adjacent to the kitchen. The aeroponics stations are managed by ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College students with mentorship from Javier Mollinedo Ticona, leader of the on-campus aquaponics facility.

“We’re off to a great start,” said Chef Instructor Noel Cleary. “My students are excited to be learning new cooking techniques and especially stoked to be running their own a la carte kitchen! Over the next few weeks our sandwiches and plate lunches will transition to a Japanese and Korean vibe.”

In addition to Paniolo Grill and World Plate, Pāʻina Market also offers burgers at the Campus Café and a fully-stocked salad, soup and hot foods bar. Pāʻina Market is open Monday–Thursday and hours vary for the different dining options:

• Paniolo Grill and World Plate: 11 a.m.–12:50 p.m.
• Campus Café: 11 a.m.–1:15 p.m.
• Salad/soup/hot bar: 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
• Coffee and other beverages: 8 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

Paniolo Grill and World Plate will be closed February 27–March 2, and reopen March 8–9 before closing for spring break. After spring break, they will reopen on March 20.

“It’s crazy what you get for the price here. I was expecting to pay like $24 dollars for the quality I got,” said Maui resident Billy McDermott, who recently dined at Pāʻina Market. “The students did an awesome job and I feel like I stumbled upon a gem.”

To stay up-to-date with Pāʻina Market’s menus and hours, .

Chicken piccata served with broccolini and confit garlic, oven-roasted tomatoes and caprese; eggplant parmesan served with penne pasta with marinara sauce, kale caesar salad and garlic bread—these are just a taste of the lunch dishes being served at the ’s newly modernized Pāʻina Market.

The dishes are prepared by the “World Plate” class at ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College’s award-winning program, and are available for as low as $10 each.

“We’re all excited to be fully open again,” said Chef Instructor Noel Cleary. “The students are so energized. They love serving the public as well as our ����Vlog�ٷ�MC ʻohana.”

After closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pāʻina food court reopened to the public on March 23 this year. In addition to the World Plate entrees, Pāʻina Market also offers soup, burgers, a full salad bar and a hot foods bar. Pastries prepared by ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College’s baking students are also available.

“Our program is excited to now have our re-designed Pāʻina Market open to the public,” said Culinary Arts Program Coordinator Chef Craig Omori. “Besides featuring designs and concepts by our very own Marc Antosch (����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College graphic artist) and Bonnie Friedman (a Maui public relations specialist), we were also very fortunate to have local artist Donald Shamblin donate his time to create some really beautiful chalkboard art. It’s a great time for folks in our community to come in and check out the exciting things our faculty and students are doing.”

Pāʻina Market is open Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m.–12:50 p.m. It is closed on ����Vlog�ٷ� holidays.

“I’ve been coming here since about 2005,” said Maui golf pro Bradley Bowen. “I’m happy it’s back. I enjoy the ambiance and trust that I’m getting good, clean, well-cooked food. And I think the program is fabulous and worth supporting.”

The World Plate culinary class offered Mediterranean-inspired food at the market through September 22. The menu transitioned to Southeast Asian-inspired dishes through October 10.

Starting on October 18, the class will switch from World Plate to Paniolo Grill, where they will be preparing deli-style sandwiches and salads to-order. Paniolo Grill will be open during regular Pāʻina Market hours through December 6.

To stay up-to-date with Pāʻina Market’s menus and hours, .

In normal times, most of the food prepared by University of Hawaiʻi Maui College students is sold in the cafeteria, in The Leis Family Class Act Restaurant or at events the college caters. These times, however, are anything but normal, leading the culinary students to use their kitchens to help feed their community instead.

Intermediate baking student Amber Kalish helped the culinary program partner with a Maui non-profit , which was founded by her friend Brad Kukral. The culinary students used their skills to bake loaves of bread for Kukral to distribute, recently donating six bags of rye, all kinds of sourdough loaves, baguettes and more.

“We’re so humbled and grateful to be able to partner with Hungry Homeless Heroes,” said ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College Culinary Arts Program Coordinator Pastry Chef Teresa Shurilla. “Bread baked with love and passion by our students going to our neighbors who need it most. We hope we can continue the relationship with the organization as long as they need us.”

About Hungry Homeless Heroes Hawaiʻi

The non-profit began during the pandemic lockdown when Kukral and his friend Steve Calkins started to cook some meals and pass them out to the homeless in their hometown, Lahaina. They are currently working out of Blue Moon Café in Kīhei alongside more than 70 volunteers, distributing 300 to 350 meals a day in Kahului, Wailuku, Kīhei, Lahaina and Pāʻia.

“We work with many local farms, too,” explained Kukral. “They donate hundreds of pounds of produce and some of the folks we feed work on the farms.”

The organization accepts donations of cooked food prepared in certified kitchens, fresh produce and non-perishable food items. For more information and how to help, go to Hungry Homeless Heroes Hawaiʻi’s .

The University of Hawaiʻi Maui College is ranked No. 1 and Kapiʻolani Community College No. 7 on . The rankings were based on median starting salaries. Graduates of the earned a median $37,600 in their first year after college.

“It’s an incredible and humbling honor,” said ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College Program Coordinator and Pastry Chef Teresa Shurilla. “It’s a tribute to our faculty, staff, administration and students. Even in this challenging time with our kitchens and classrooms closed, we are forging ahead making use of every available technology. And it underlines the importance of all us supporting our food and beverage community. We want all our graduates to thrive in industry when it’s safe out there once again.”

Johnson Park Community College in Kansas ranked No. 2 with an average median salary of $34,400. The well-regarded Culinary Institute of America was ranked No. 5. According to GradReports, had an average median salary of $29,300.

Kapiʻolani CC Chancellor Louise Pagotto said, “We are especially proud of our experienced faculty and the quality of our graduates, who can be found in the best restaurants and hotels around the world.”

GradReports’ rankings are based on median early-career salary data of more than five million graduates in dozens of different programs of study from the U.S. Department of Education’s .

—By Kelli Trifonovitch

• Related ����Vlog�ٷ� News stories and videos:
  • ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College students cook, serve at No. 1 restaurant in Hawaiʻi, March 1, 2020
  • ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College culinary arts program coordinator returns to battle on Food Network, November 19, 2019
  • Kapiʻolani CC culinary student part of first Hawaiʻi team to win national competition, May 4, 2020
  • National silver medal for Kapiʻolani CC culinary team, August 9, 2019

The University of Hawaiʻi’s and four community college programs are among the beneficiaries of the 2019 (HFWF), which recently announced donations totaling $413,580 to local culinary, agricultural and community organizations statewide.

����Vlog�ٷ� beneficiaries included:

• Culinary Institute of the Pacific—$80,000
• Hawaiʻi Community College Culinary Program—$7,000
• Kapiʻolani Community College Culinary Arts Program—$55,000
• Leeward Community College Culinary Program—$25,000
• ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College Culinary Arts Program—$20,000

“HFWF has been a huge and critical supporter of our ����Vlog�ٷ� culinary programs, which educate incoming employees for the hospitality sector across the islands of Hawaiʻi through our statewide system of public higher education,” said ����Vlog�ٷ� President David Lassner. “In addition to providing financial support for our programs and the construction of the Culinary Institute of the Pacific, HFWF has enabled us to provide our culinary students with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to work side by side with world-class chefs.”

Beneficiaries were recognized at a mahalo reception held in March. Proceeds from the ninth annual event were gifted to 18 nonprofit partners that contribute to the overall success of HFWF through many different channels including student volunteers, agricultural and educational activities, event concepts, fundraising, cultural enrichment and more.

“We are fortunate and thankful to have the support of so many diverse industries as sponsors, companies, policymakers, purveyors and individuals who are part of the greater HFWF ʻohana,” said Denise Yamaguchi, HFWF chief executive officer. “It is only through the generous efforts of these essential supporters that we can give back to so many deserving organizations in our community.”

OpenTable has named the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College’s as the for both Maui and the state of Hawaiʻi. The ratings are based on 400,000 new diner reviews posted on the huge online reservations hub. The Leis Family Class Act rating is 4.9 out of five stars based on 390 posted reviews.

The restaurant also landed on or near the top of the following lists:

State of Hawaiʻi

• Best Food (#2)
• Best Value (#1)
• Notable Diners Choice “Great for Lunch” (#1)

Island of Maui

• Best Food (#2)
• Best Value (#1)
• Best Service (#8)
• Notable Diners Choice “Fit for Foodies” (#1), “Great for Lunch” (#1), “Neighborhood Gem” (#1)

All the cooking and all the service at the restaurant is handled by ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College Culinary Arts Program students under the supervision of Chef Instructor Tom Lelli and Dining Room Lecturer Mark Malone.

“Our students give 110 percent every single semester. We’re very proud of them and we’re so happy they have the opportunity to enjoy this honor,” said Lelli.

Malone added, “It’s our goal to teach our students every day the value of service, as good service accents the delectable cuisine that our chef and his team of students create.”

Lunch is served every Wednesday and Friday while classes are in session. The restaurant is located on the second floor of the Pāʻina Building at .

For many weeks and countless hours, baking students at the dreamt up, put down on paper, baked, revised, baked again and decorated original recipe cakes to compete in a product development competition sponsored by the iconic company King’s Hawaiian.

The students were charged with creating three-layer, refrigerated cakes “made of sweet, soft based cake sponges with light, sweet creamy fillings. The cakes and decorations must be durable enough to stay intact through delivery to grocery stores, display and customers transport home.” And, of course, they needed to highlight Hawaiʻi flavors and ingredients.

In the end, after five judges (all ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College Culinary Arts Baking alumni) tasted 10 delicious and beautiful cakes in two categories—Tropical and Chocolate—they unanimously chose Amber Kalish’s POG Cake and Dana Lynn Soriano’s Chocolate Kona Coffee Fruit Cake. Each winner was awarded $1,000 from King’s Hawaiian.

Leading the judge’s panel was ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College Culinary Arts Alumnus Pastry Chef Jeremy Choo. He is now the innovation pastry chef—Office of Hawaiian Foods for King’s Hawaiian. “We’ve done these kinds of competitions before at [Kapiʻolani Community College] and I was thrilled to be able to bring this one to Maui,” he says.

Jordan Frank, King’s Hawaiian director of product development and innovation also traveled to Maui for the competition from the company’s headquarters in Los Angeles. He was duly impressed and explained that there is certainly a chance that the winning concepts or a component or components of one of those concepts might find their way into a future King’s Hawaiian commercial product.

����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College Culinary Arts Program Director and Pastry Chef Teresa Shurilla and Pastry Chef Instructor Hannah Stanchfield shepherded their students through the process and were extremely proud of all of them. “All the participating students came up with such imaginative concepts and worked so hard to bring them to life on the cake plates!” says Shurilla. “As I always say, friendly competition is a great motivator.”

From bonbons to baked goods, Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator Teresa Shurilla—better known as Cheech—is in her element in the pastry kitchen. Her sugar work is especially sensational.

So it’s no surprise that she’s been an invited competitor multiple times on shows, such as .

“It’s good for me personally, because it just pushes me to a limit that I don’t think I would do normally,” Shurilla says. “So competition is always good. It makes you better.”

Her latest sweet skirmish, (No. 5, to be exact) with shades of Santa, is on a new show called , scheduled to begin airing on Food Network on December 1.

Shurilla said, “I think the reason that I go out and do these little adventures that I do is so that I can entice students to come to the program and see what we have in the baking and pastry department as well as cooking.”

Students, who have come to ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College from near and far, are impressed with both Shurilla and the program.

“I think her dedication and her love for pastry kind rubbed off on us, because she’s so motivated and she’s so energetic,” says culinary arts student Meili Jahja, a Baldwin High School graduate, who said she considered going away to the mainland at first, “And then I was like, ‘Why would I go there for culinary school when we have such an amazing program here?’”

Culinary arts student Stephanie Serraglio moved from Vancouver, Canada, to study at ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College. “It was worth traveling half-way across the world,” she said. “It’s a really great program and the community here is amazing.”

Shurilla started teaching pastry at ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College 18 years ago and was a pastry chef for almost 20 years before that. In March 1992, her piña colada cheesecake graced the cover of Food & Wine.

These days, she’s teaching everything from the proper tempering of chocolate for elaborate handcrafted bon bons (to sell as a fundraiser for the program), to the design and construction of many-tiered wedding cakes and, of course, sugar artistry.

Serraglio said, “She is amazing and very enthusiastic. I’ve never met anybody that wakes up every day and really puts that much passion into what she does and also teaching the students, because she’s really here for us; which is the best part.”

“She really loves what she’s doing and she loves her students,” added culinary arts student Angel Burger, a Maui High School graduate. “This is like the perfect place for her to be.”

—By Kelli Trifonovitch

The (MCA) at the , in partnership with the and , will present the 19th annual benefit on Saturday, October 17, 2015.

The Noble Chef is Maui Culinary Academy’s largest annual fundraiser, and features a mentorship program that pairs together many of Maui’s most celebrated chefs and MCA students. This year’s event theme is “The World on a Plate–Latin America” represented by a celebrity chef-designed reception menu spanning the flavors, traditions and the spices of Latin culture.

The 19th annual Noble Chef benefit begins with a festive courtyard reception with a celebrity-chef designed menu at 5:30 p.m., followed by an elegant gourmet dinner with entertainment and auction at 7 p.m.

Back by popular demand is the Buena Vista Lounge industry after party at 8:30 p.m. in the Fairmont Kea Lani’s Lobby Mezzanine, featuring Cuban tastings from Maui Culinary Academy alumni Chef Travis Morrin of .

“The annual Noble Chef event is our most anticipated function for our culinary art students and faculty.​ They benefit from spending valuable time with our local Maui celebrity chefs ​through kitchen preparation that begins a few days out from the event date,” said Chef Dean Louie, Maui Culinary Academy program coordinator. “This creates real–world environments for students to cultivate working relationships with industry partners and the hands-on training they receive is an invaluable and memorable experience.”

This year’s celebrity “Noble Chefs” include:

• Craig Dryhurst, Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea
• Mark Ellman, Frida’s Beach House
• Lyndon Honda, Laulima Catering and Events
• Matteo Mistura, Matteo’s Osteria
• Travis Morrin, Three’s Bar and Grill
• Paris Nabavi, Sangrita Grill + Cantina
• Geno Sarmiento, Nick’s Fish Market
• Sheldon Simeon, Migrant
• Ryan Urig, Grand Wailea

Added Louie, “​The training MCA students receive for a summer at the Fairmont Kea Lani will transport them far beyond the college lecture room and practical kitchen labs. First-hand industry experience will provide priceless learning lessons and skill sets required for life-long careers.”

For more information or to purchase a ticket/table, visit the .

For more, read the full story on .

The has made a $10,000 gift to fund a scholarship for a full-time student pursuing an Associate of Arts degree in the Culinary Arts program at the . The award funds four semesters of tuition and fees, and will be awarded all at one time. It is the largest scholarship gift at ����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College.

Jami Burks, president of the Makana Aloha Foundation said, “The Makana Aloha Foundation wanted to make an immediate and profound impact in the life of a culinary student.” Burks continued, “We decided to establish this two-year scholarship so that a talented culinary student can focus on school and successfully graduate without financial concerns. We are humbled to be able to provide the support students need to achieve their goals and dreams.”

����Vlog�ٷ� Maui College Chancellor Lui Hokoana said, “Many students receive funding for their first year of school but not the subsequent ones, creating barriers to on-time graduation. We are most grateful to the Makana Aloha Foundation for its generous and thoughtful support. This scholarship will make a big difference in the life of the scholarship recipient.”

Maui Culinary Academy at the , in partnership with the and presents the 18th annual benefit on Saturday, November 1. This year’s theme is The World on a Plate—La Dolce Vita. The students and chefs will embrace the “sweet life” of Italy, with cuisines selected from Umbria, Abruzzo, Tuscany, Sicily, Calabria, Veneto, Piedmont, Lombardy, Puglia, Lazio and Sardinia.

Master mixologists will be pairing the reception and dinner courses with fine wines and spirits. In addition, designer cordials will be created for the After Party Lounge.

The event begins with a lively courtyard reception at 6 p.m., followed by an elegant gourmet dinner with entertainment and an auction at 7:30 p.m. New this year is an after party celebration at 9 p.m. in the Kea Lani’s Mezannine Lounge.

The Noble Chef is Maui Culinary Academy’s largest annual fundraiser, and features a mentorship program that pairs together many of Maui’s most celebrated chefs with academy students.

This year’s celebrity “Noble Chefs” include:

• Robert Andrade,
• David Gemberling,
• Wes Holder,
• Eric Favre,
• Marc McDowell,
• Lyndon Honda,
• Anton Haines,
• Matteo Mistura,
• Travis Morrin,
• Chris Kulis and Brian Etheredge,

Maui Culinary Academy faculty chefs include Jake Belmonte, Tom Lelli, Craig Omori, Mike Umetsu, Theresa Shurilla and Christina Pafford.

Ticket information

Tickets are $250 for preferred seating and $195 for general seating. Table sponsorships begin at $3,500. Tickets and tables can be purchased at on a first-come, first-served basis.

����Vlog�ٷ� to for more information.

The University of Hawaiʻi presents ����Vlog�ٷ� News on OCSports. Narrated by ����Vlog�ٷ� students, the four-and-a-half minute segments air on the OCSports channel during ����Vlog�ٷ� sporting events.

  December 2012 and January 2013

• (reported by ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa student Mark Tenorio)
• (reported by ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa student Leon Sheen)
• (reported by ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa student Leon Sheen)
• (reported by ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa student Keliʻi Alapai)
• (reported by ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa student Keli’i Alapai)
• (reported by ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa student Mark Rulona)
• (reported by ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa student Emilie Howlett)

����Vlog�ٷ� News on OCSports highlights University of Hawaiʻi programs systemwide.

To view more segments go to the .

Tomorrow’s top chefs are preparing top-notch meals today at the Leis Family Class Act Restaurant at the . The restaurant is staffed by second-semester students from the college’s Maui Culinary Academy, with a new group of students coming in each semester. The group is split into chefs and servers and they switch roles halfway through the semester. Waiting on tables is a surreal experience for many of the students who came to college to learn how to cook.

“I can’t believe I’m serving fine dining, you know, and I’m actually getting really good at it in just a short amount of time,” said culinary student �ٲ�����Բ����ٳܴDzԲ�. “But I’m excited to get into the kitchen.”

“This week is our last week of service before we do our rotations, so Friday’s the last day, then I get to be doing what all these guys are doing,” said fellow student RJ Domingo. “I get out of the jacket and pants and get to put on a tie and my whites.”

By getting out of the classroom and cooking and serving in a real restaurant, the students learn every aspect of fine dining.

“The only way you can really understand is to do real world experience, and we give it to them,” said dining room instructor Juli Umetsu. “This is a fine dining restaurant, our guests expect the best, we give it to them each and every week.”

The proof is the zuchinni saltimbocha and every item on the Italian menu, which changes weekly. Then there’s the quality service. Leis Family Class Act is the number one rated restaurant in all of Hawaiʻi according to national online reservation service OpenTable.com. The customers raved about this day’s lunch.

“The hors d’oeuvre was the zucchini saltimbocca,” said Kathy Pisony. “It was awesome.”

“It was really great, the fish was cooked perfectly, it was just super, good stuff,” said Timothy Pisony.

The compliments and national recognition is nice, but it’s the real world experience the students appreciate.

“We’re just introduced to a lot of different things, said Duong. “You’re learning every day. There is so much to learn about the different foods that we make and, there’s just a lot to it.”

“So grateful, for everything we’ve been given going to this school and learning from all of our great chefs,” said Domingo.

The Leis Family Class Act restaurant is open for lunch Wednesdays and Fridays. Menus and reservations are available online.