march • 2014 keiki cover model

Aloha to our keiki cover model for March, Lawai‘a Scott Walsh.

Lawai‘a Scott Walsh is five years old. Grandmother Athena Walsh has worked as an activities concierge for Maui Sights and Treasures for the past 17 years.

Lawai‘a attends Kamali‘i Elementary School in Kihei and is in Kindergarten. He enjoys Hawaiian studies at school. He also plays baseball and loves spiderman!

Grandma Athena shares, “Lawai loves to protect his little brother and shares everything with him. I love to spend time with them  and we like going to Surfing Goat Dairy and out on the ocean on boats like Reefdancer.”

Mahalo Athena!

migrant … chef sheldon simeon: ‘come my house. eat.’

Maui’s own Sheldon Simeon won the hearts of viewers as “fan favorite” when he competed on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef” last year. During the competition he conquered the always exciting “Restaurant Wars” challenge with his concept of modern local cuisine with an ethnic twist. Now the chef who became famous on the national cooking stage for his creative, thoughtful cuisine, as well as his 300-watt smile and red beanie, is at the helm of newly opened Migrant at the Wailea Beach Marriott.

Janet and I are diehard “Top Chef” viewers, and we’re also huge Chef Sheldon fans. So we can hardly wait to try the fare at his new restaurant. Migrant is located lobby level, overlooking the vast Pacific. Servers look dapper in black attire with brick red and tan pinstripe aprons—the red color on the aprons matches the paint on the walls. Migrant shares a space with the hotel’s lounge, which lends itself to a lively, but not over-the-top atmosphere. A long high-top communal table separates the restaurant area from the lounge.

rediscover lana‘i: ‘ch-ch-ch-ch ch­anges’

When gazillionaire Larry Ellison purchased 98 percent of the island of Lana‘i in 2012, its residents held their collective breath. Would he be anything like the previous owner, David Murdock, who reportedly strolled the streets of Lana‘i City dressed in all white, accompanied by his entourage, and who referred to Lana‘ians as his “children?” What about the wind farm envisioned by Murdock—intended to generate electricity for O‘ahu— which polarized the community, and provoked so much animosity toward him personally that he stopped showing his face at the annual Pineapple Celebration?

Thankfully, so far anyway, it seems Mr. Ellison may have the best interests of Lana‘ians at heart. In fact, some of the first things he did as new owner were to reopen and improve the community swimming pool that Murdock had closed to save money, refurbish buildings and refresh landscaping in Lana‘i City, and expand and remodel one of the island’s few grocery stores, Richard’s Market. Ellison also renamed his holding company Pulama Lana‘i (cherish Lana‘i), and appointed local boy Kurt Matsumoto as Chief Operating Officer. According to Pulama Lana‘i’s website, Ellison’s vision for the island is “to establish Lana‘i as an island powered by solar energy, where electric cars would replace gasoline-powered, and seawater would be transformed into fresh water and used to sustain a new organic farming industry that would feed the island and supply produce for export.” As Mr. Ellison’s primary representative in the community, Kurt holds regular informational meetings to share the company’s plans for the future, and obtain residents’ feedback.