Culinary experts Diane Stanislaw (wife of chef Alex Stanislaw of Sea House in Napili) and Will Hawkins are happy to educate you on wine picks, cheese pairings, and getting live Maine lobsters out of the tank. The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photo
Gourmet food lovers will be in heaven for the holidays with Kurobuta bone-in hams; thick and well-marbled prime steaks; and game meats and birds such as venison, quail and pheasant.
These coveted holiday foods and much more are all available at Maui Prime Fine Foods in Lahaina.
Pick up bottles of, say, Moet Chandon brut or sec or Methvan Vineyards pinot noir from Oregon, pair them with Maui Prime Kusshi oysters and a double-cream cheese, and you’ll be the most in-demand hostess or guest at any island party.
“We are bringing in prime Porterhouse steaks that are selling like hot cakes,” says owner Cary Button, who emailed me from South America where he’s sourcing more fresh seafoods in Peru, Chile and Uruguay as well as local meats.
“We’ve also got live Maine lobsters, very sweet, and Black River Oscietra caviar for the holidays.”
Steamer pots are perfect gifts for the holidays as you get to keep the pot full of clams, shrimp, lobster, corn, aromatic broth and baguette. The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photo
The caviar is live Russian sturgeon stock sustainably raised in Uruguay in raceways fed by pristine river water mimicking a wild habitat, where fish swim free.
It has got a firm texture, unique glazed sheen, intense creamy taste and a lingering nutty flavor.
Starting in Santiago, Chile, Button plans to visit the Uruguayan operations, eat some caviar, and make his way down to Cape Horn and up to Buenos Aires before heading home to Maui.
He also raves about his new all stainless steel American Muscle Grill. “We are now distributing the best grill you can find on the island,” he says.
The 500-pound behemoth is American made and boasts quality 16-gauge stainless steel and can be wood or propane fired. Maui Prime is also the exclusive Maui distributor of the Big Green Egg wood-fired ceramic earthen grill/oven.
Jason Mahon hoists a hefty Snake River Farms American-style Kobe ribeye. The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photo
“And we’ve got fun steamer pots, great for gift giving.”
You or the person you gift with one get to keep the pot, filled to the brim with seafood, local corn, white-wine-and-garlic broth for steaming and French baguette for dipping. Sizes vary from feeding two to four people up to six to eight people.
The smallest pot includes one live Maine lobster, one pound of clams, six pieces of shrimp and six snow crab claws. You may add Mediterranean mussels, sausage, fresh dayboat scallops, Alaskan king crab and just about anything you desire.
Button and employees Will Hawkins and Jason Mahon are all classically trained chefs who make the aromatic broth and prepare holiday platters with advance notice. They shuck oysters for you and custom cut Snake River Farms American-style Kobe ribeyes, flat irons and sirloins. Give them 24 hours notice to prepare the Maui-style clam bake so it’s as fresh as it gets.
Maui Prime’s team will ice your seafood down and can even carry it to the car. Tips are not expected, but appreciated.
“We have a lot of people under one roof with decades of culinary experience. We can cater pretty much anything that you want,” says Button, who also owns the adjoining Oyster Seafood that purveys to all the top hotels and restaurants on Maui with his wife, Karin Button.
“We have been in the business for over 30 years, Let us show you how to do it island style. We can deliver,” he adds.
Oyster Seafood, of course, specializes in the freshest, most glistening oysters that your money can buy, and varieties it stocks at Maui Prime rotate and may include Fanny Bay, Belon, Kusshi, Pacific, Royal Miyagi, Shigoku and East Coast bivalves Stellar Bay and Blue Point.
“Fromager d’Affinoise double cream brie, truffle gouda cheese, St. Agur French blue cheese are all in the display case right now,” adds Hawkins.
“We’re here to help everybody and we’re super excited for the holiday season to be here,” concludes Mahon.
Jason Mahon hoists a hefty Snake River Farms American-style Kobe ribeye. The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photoToday's breaking news and more in your inbox
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