Mauna Kea Beach Hotel Launches New Sustainable Garden, Farm-to-Table Culinary Experience

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, an Autograph Collection hotel on Hawai’i’s Kohala Coast, recently debuted the first phase of its $200 million renovation: Ulu Garden. This new garden redefines coastal dining with a transformative culinary experience. Thanks to the garden’s more than 45 varieties of local vegetables, herbs and fruit, Manta, the on-site restaurant, can now introduce new and innovative culinary techniques, as well as a new hyper-farm-to-table menu sourced directly from Ulu Garden.

© Mauna Kea Resort

Ulu Garden is key in Mauna Kea Beach Hotel’s commitment to sustainability, a core value inspired by the hotel’s founder, Laurance Rockefeller. Executive Chef Peter Abarcar lies at the forefront of the garden project with the help of farm entrepreneur Ronen Maman of ‘lo Farms. They focused on aligning the hotel’s culinary needs with organic farming techniques, water conservation and waste-reduction management. The garden will soon also offer educational tours for guests to get an inside look at farming practices and seed-to-plate dining experience.

Wild-caught ahi sashimi © Mauna Kea Resort

To build on the foundation of sustainability and improve the goal of creating a hyper-farm-to-table menu, Chef Abarcar worked with Manta’s Chef de Cuisine, Bryan Nagao, to ensure crops from the garden correlate with the restaurant’s offerings and dishes. The restaurant also works with local farmers, ranchers and fisheries to continue to strengthen the connection between culinary offerings and the island’s storied agricultural heritage.

“Our restaurant is offering a true hyper-local food experience, made with ingredients freshly harvested directly from our resort’s garden,” said Chef Bryan. “It reflects our deep commitment to sustainability and providing the most flavorful produce directly to each guest’s plate.”