Diane Woodburn of Maui No Ka Oi Magazine talks with chef Taylor Ponte & sales and marketing director of Ka’anapali Beach Hotel, John White.
In this podcast Taylor talks about his reaction to winning the recently announced 2020 Maui No Ka Oi Magazine Chef of the Year award, his inspiration to get into cooking, the experience he had at UH Maui College, what he learned during his internship with chef Jonathan Mizukami, what he learned working with chef Jeff Scheer, what it was like being named Executive Chef at The Mill House, how the Chef’s Table at The Mill House was conceived, his approach to constructing a menu, and his initial expectations for what the restaurant will be like when it’s allowed to reopen. Diane also speaks with sales & marketing director John White (26:50) about the origins of Ka’anapali Beach Hotel, what the decision making process is like on when and how to reopen the property, how employees are helping with crafts that will be used in each renovated hotel room, how ownership decided to keep everyone on payroll during the stay at home order, why they moved their reopening date to July 1st, and how they’ve used this time for construction on a new oceanfront restaurant.
