Let’s get cooking
Local chefs serve first responders
Even without access to her food truck and equipment, Tiara Dudoit cooked up 150 meals for first responders who were handling power outages, controlling traffic, evacuating homes and fighting a large brush fire in West Maui on Saturday.
With 30 to 40 mph winds fueling the 760-acre Olowalu blaze, power at thousands of Lahaina homes and businesses went out just before 4 p.m. Saturday, leaving stores closed and homes without electricity to cook. Honoapiilani Highway was also closed for several hours that evening, because of the fire, leaving many stranded.
“It was such a crazy day, we didn’t even expect the weather to be like that, we always have to prepare for the worst and be ahead of the game,” said Dudoit, owner of Bang Um Out Grindz food truck, and previously, Mama T’s Molokai Grindz. “It was just a blessing and an honor to give back to the ones who are fighting for us to keep us safe, I would do anything for them.”
With the power out Saturday and many stores and restaurants closed up, there were limted food options for residents and visitors.
Dudoit and other operators came to the rescue.
Owners of the Teppanyaki2Go food truck in Lahaina were spotted cooking for work crews stranded in West Maui until 10 p.m., according to a Facebook post. The food truck’s usual hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on 741 Wainee Street.
Meanwhile, Dudoit and her family were staying at the Westin Nanea Ocean Villas in Kaanapali for the holiday weekend. All the food they had packed was to feed their 10 family members.
They were cooking dinner for themselves Saturday on an electric grill when suddenly harsh rains and wind cut the power.
Moments later, Dudoit’s friend Kalawe Sparks received a call from West Maui Police Officer Marvin Tevaga, asking about cooking for first responders due to the storm and Olowalu fire. But Dudoit’s Bang Um Out Grindz food truck, which serves local and Hawaiian food throughout the week, was in Central Maui.
“My food truck was on the other side of the island, and I was staying on the other side, but I can do food anywhere,” Dudoit said Monday morning. “Just give me a grill and a propane tank and a wok and I can do it.”
The family left the resort and drove through “crazy winds” and fallen trees to sister Lisa Poaha’s home in Lahaina. The power was out there, too.
With a flattop grill, a few burners, woks and a generator already on hand for the holiday staycation, Dudoit said “I know we can do this, I want to do this.”
“I was like, ‘OK, I have all this food and I had enough food to cook for 10 of us,’ but I pretty much pack for an army just in case,” she said with a laugh. “I always like to be ahead of the game in case anything happens.”
With the combined efforts of both families, the group cooked everything they had left, including steaks, shrimp, hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs, barbecue chicken, rice, bread rolls, and veggies.
About 150 plates were made in an hour.
“We just made a whole bunch of stuff, and I just tried my best to hurry up and get it all cooked,” Dudoit said. “The team of 10 of us got it all done. We just all worked together.”
She said that Sparks organized two food pickups with Tevaga, who delivered the meals to first responders.
“They kept asking for compensation, but I told them ‘no,’ ” Dudoit said. “I did it from my heart, that’s the type of person I am. I’d rather give than receive and I’ve always been known for that.”
“It was just from my heart and I don’t expect anything in return.”
Before moving to Maui, Dudoit said she was born and raised on Molokai where she learned to live off the land — hunting, fishing and growing food needed to survive. She has been in the food service industry since 2009, with her food truck usually parked at the Kahului Harbor off Kahului Beach Road when in service.
She was raised in a household that taught her to give more than to receive.
“I just feel blessed to give back for the ones that are out there fighting for us,” she said. ■ Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.