Beverly Gannon, Famous Maui Chef

It's Who You Know

Beverly Gannon is one of the few Maui chefs famous enough to be known outside of Maui. Her three restaurants are Haliimaile General Store, Joe's Bar & Grill, and Gannon's A Pacific View Restaurant. The food at all of them is outstanding. See below for more about Bev.

Beverly Gannon Maui chef Haliimaile

Beverly Gannon was born in Dallas and worked for a few years as road manager for Liza Minelli, Joey Heatherton, and Ben Vareen. But she changed her career to pursue her real passion, which is cooking. She studied at Le Cordon Bleu in London and worked as a caterer. After she married Joe Gannon on Maui in 1980, they decided to move to Maui, where Bev started her own catering company in 1985. She opened her first and most well-known Maui restaurant, Haliimaile General Store in 1988, her second, Joe's Bar & Grill, in 1995, and her third, Gannon's A Pacific View Restaurant in 2010.

Bev is one of the 12 chefs who invented Hawaii Regional Cuisine in the 1990's. This group has been most responsible for the fabulous food available at many restaurants on Maui today. Bev's numerous awards have included James Beard's Best Chef, Maui No Ka Oi Magazine's Best Hawaii Regional Cuisine, and the Maui News Best Chef. As the executive chef for Hawaiian Airlines from 1999 to 2010, she was awarded Best Food in the Air by readers of Conde Nast Traveler Magazine. She has appeared on NBC's Today Show, PBS Hawaii Cooks, Food Network Best Of, and Discovery Channel Great Chefs of Hawaii.

If you'd like to try making some of Bev's recipes yourself, she has written two cookbooks. The Haliimaile General Store Cookbook (2001), and Family Style Meals at the Haliiimaile General Store (2009).

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