The Spirit Behind the Plate
There’s something powerful about a room full of Maui chefs. The way they carry themselves with pono. Calloused hands from decades of kneading, chopping and cooking. Quick wit. Deep respect for their craft. So when more than 500 chefs, restaurateurs, managers, servers, mixologists and friends filled The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua on April 26 for the 2025 ‘Aipono Awards, the mana in the room was unmistakable.
Each year, Maui Nō Ka ʻOi hosts the ‘Aipono Awards to celebrate the heart of our food culture: living and eating with balance, respect and care. Winners in 40 categories aren’t chosen by critics. They’re chosen by you – our readers, both residents and visitors – who understand that aloha can be served on a plate as much as in a smile.
This spring’s gala dished up a three-course feast and raised scholarship funds for the UH Maui College Culinary Arts Program. There were cocktails, pirates, prize drawings and stories that stayed with us long after the tables were cleared.
Stories like that of Chef Zach Sato, honored as 2025 Chef of the Year. As told in “Maui’s Homegrown,” Sato turned his culinary skills into community action, preparing more than 40,000 meals for displaced families after the 2023 fires. His leadership didn’t just nourish bellies, it lifted spirits.
Or Chef Ryan Luckey, named this year’s Friend of Agriculture. Luckey sources up to 70 percent of his ingredients from Maui farms, a quiet act of commitment that has shaped his 31-year culinary journey. His story, “Pono Plate Philosophy,” reminds us that a simple salad, made with intention, can carry a deeper purpose.
For the full list of winners, turn to the ‘Aipono Awards section on page 34.
And then, of course, there was Shep Gordon.
The legendary music manager and culinary champion joined us onstage to reflect on the origins of Hawaiian Regional Cuisine – and challenged us to take the next step: to put Maui on the global culinary map. Not because we haven’t arrived, but because we can go even further together.
Food on Maui has always meant more than sustenance. It’s how we care for each other. How we preserve land, honor tradition and reimagine what’s possible. When we sit down at the table, we bring more than ingredients – we bring intention.
To our chefs, farmers and artisans: thank you for rising to the table. To our readers: thank you for lifting their craft.
As Shep reminded us that evening, “Don’t be an island unto yourself. In numbers is power – and power is what you need.”
That’s something worth gathering around.
Chris Amundson
Publisher & Editor
chris@mauimagazine.net
