From Humble Beginnings, An Honored Place

Twelve hundred feet up the slopes of Maui’s Mount Haleakalä is the unpretentious source for one of Hawai‘i’s most surprising and honored culinary delights. Twenty years after its founding, even the name, Hail‘imaile General Store, belies the trappings of this celebrated Upcountry eatery and the gal who cooked it up. With its 1920s plantation styling and wide-porch-welcome, the venue might evoke the hospitality of the Old South… were it not for those nearby fields of fragrant pineapple and sugarcane.

In Hawaiian, Hali‘imaile (pronounced Ha-LEE-EE-my-lee) means “a covering of the fragrant maile twining shrub.” The plant is a native vine with shiny, aromatic leaves used to make leis. But to those who have supped at Hali‘imaile General Store, the meaning is down-home hospitality and Aloha-infused food, thanks to chef/owner Bev Gannon and her husband Joe.

Born in Dallas, Bev Gannon was raised in a family where eating was an all-consuming way of life. “It’s what really got me interested in food and its preparation,” she recalls. Before embarking on a culinary career, Gannon had a turn as road manager for Liza Minelli, Joey Heatherton, and Ben Vereen. But after five years, she says, “I realized it was time to get serious and follow my passion for cooking.” So she enrolled in London’s Le Cordon Bleu and learned the culinary arts from Marcella Hazan and Jacques Pepin.

Returning to Dallas, she worked briefly for a caterer before starting her own company. In 1980 she married Joe Gannon on Maui and later moved there. In 1985 Bev started Celebrations Catering, serving everything from Fortune 500 companies to baby luaus.

Then in 1988 she and Joe bought a plantation-style general store built in 1925. They hired a renovation team to preserve and enhance the building’s old charm, which included restoring 70 percent of the original Philippine mahogany floor. Designer Jeremy Railton also incorporated a zinc/copper bar top and bas-relief by artist Tom Faught, decorating the space with ceramic fish by Karen Jennings and tropical floral arrangements by Valerie Spaulding.

The interior boasts a lively front dining area under high ceilings, along with an exhibition kitchen and a forest of pine shelves stocked with giftware and gourmet foods for sale. The back of the building hosts a more intimate, softly lit dining room.

The Store’s menu reflects Gannon’s taste for freshness, including appetizers like raw ahi tuna layered between crisp wontons, and entrees like, sashimi Napoleon, szechuan barbequed salmon and rack of lamb Hunan style. Dessert selections include her classic chocolate macadamia nut pie, piña colada cheesecake and Hawaiian-style upside down pineapple cake.

Bev Gannon is considered one of the 12 original founders of the Hawai‘i Regional Cuisine movement, which gained prominence in the 1990s. She went on to open “Joe’s” (named for her husband) in Wailea in 1995. Four years later she accepted the post of executive chef at Hawaiian Airlines, where her work was frequently voted “Best Food in the Air in North America” by readers of Conde Nast Traveler.

Putting all that experience to good use, Gannon released her first book in 2001 under the title, The Hali‘imaile General Store Cookbook: Home Cooking From Maui, written with Bonnie Friedman. She is developing a second cookbook due out in the spring of 2009.

After 20 tasty years of the General Store, Gannon has proved Hail‘imaile is no flash in the pan. She has earned numerous kudos for her culinary accomplishments, including Honolulu magazine’s coveted “Hale ‘Aina Award,” Maui No Ka Oi magazine’s “Aipono Award for Best Hawaii Regional Cuisine Restaurant,” and The Maui News’s “Best Restaurant.”

Despite the success Gannon remains as humble as the down-home Upcountry institution she created, saying, “I think about food all the time. I am constantly searching out new creative ways to put ingredients together. I guess my reality is that food is my life.”

Bev Gannon Restaurants’ Corporate Headquarters:
900 Hali‘imaile Road, Hali‘imaile, Maui, Hawaii, 96768
www.bevgannonrestaurants.com