Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hawaii's 'breadbasket.' In 1991 coffee saplings were planted on formerly fallow pine-
apple fields and now cover some 600 acres.
Eating & Drinking
Kualapuʻu Cookhouse
HAWAIIAN $$$
MAP
(Hwy 490; meals $5-25; 8am-8pm Tue-Sat, 9am-2pm Sun, 8am-4pm Mon)
Once called the
Kamuela Cookhouse, this old roadhouse serves the island's best food. A recent revamp
has put a little flair in the traditional charm, but pretension remains off the menu. When
your plate lunch of the best and tenderest teriyaki beef you've ever had appears, you'll be
hooked.
Breakfasts here are huge and feature the most perfect omelettes you're ever likely to
come across. Panko-crusted Monte Cristo sandwiches join the plate lunch brigade, while
at dinner inventive fare like ahi in a lime cilantro sauce or lusciously juicy prime rib star.
At night locals sometimes serenade with Hawaiian music. Beer and wine can be pur-
chased at the grocery directly across the street.
Coffees of Hawaii
CAFE, SHOP
MAP
(
www.coffeesofhawaii.com
;
cnr Hwys 470 & 490; snacks from $2; 10am-4pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm
Sun)
Coffees of Hawaii grows and roasts its own coffee, although it has been shrinking
operations as it sells off land to Monsanto. Still it's an attractive and easily reached set-
ting. You can survey the scene from the verandah and enjoy a cup of the local coffee and
a snack or modest lunch.
On Sunday afternoons, the porch is the scene for the lilting tunes of Hawaiian trad-
itional performers. The grande-sized gift shop, Blue Monkey, has an excellent and com-
pelling selection of locally made goods. Besides books there is an intriguing selection of
ukuleles.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Kalaʻe
Rudolph Wilhelm Meyer, a German immigrant who had plans to make it big in the Cali-
fornia gold rush, stopped off in Hawaii en route (he was going the long way around) and
never left. He married a member of Hawaiian royalty who had huge tracts of land on
