Maui fires devastated Lahaina, a local chef offers lifeline

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Chef Jojo Vasquez in the open kitchen of FOND – a Neighborhood Eatery, in west Maui. Deanne Fitzmaurice for NPR hide caption

Chef Jojo Vasquez in the open kitchen of FOND – a Neighborhood Eatery, in west Maui.

LAHAINA, Hawaii – On a recent Saturday evening, Chef Jojo Vasquez is directing traffic in the open kitchen of FOND – a Neighborhood Eatery.

"You can go on sirloin anytime," Vasquez says, instructing his cooks to start working a steak dish.

The restaurant is known for its seasonal menus featuring local ingredients. It's in a strip mall convenient to nearby resorts and residential neighborhoods. Vasquez says he's cultivated a loyal following among both locals and tourists.

"I don't have the best view of anything, but when they do come in, they definitely feel a vibe."

Vasquez is a 50-year-old Filipino-American who worked for years as a chef at high-end hotel restaurants on Maui before breaking out on his own. His wife, Eliza Escano, is his business partner and the face of Fond – when customers walk in, she greets them with a smile. She also waits on tables, and plays DJ. The couple opened the restaurant in 2019.

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"The first thing we did was break the [kitchen] wall," says Escano, who sports a short pink hairstyle. "Because he wants people to see how they're working."

Vasquez steps from the brightly-lit kitchen to deliver the evening's amuse-bouche.

"This is going to be a butternut squash arancini," he tells his customers. "Our local butternut squash boasts a beautiful sweet finish to a crispy risotto ball."

Fond is the French word for pan drippings. The name also captures the restaurant's friendly, artsy atmosphere. A mural in shades of pink, red and yellow on one wall reads 'Fond of you Maui.' A newer one above the kitchen says 'Lahaina Strong,' recognizing the resilience of the community to overcome all that was lost in the devastating wildfires last August that destroyed much of the historic town of Lahaina, and killed 101 people.

The restaurant itself was spared damage, but Vasquez and Escano lost their home and everything they owned. So did many of their employees. Fond remained shuttered for more than three months.

"It's not just checking your menu and your computer system," says Vasquez.

For weeks, he says he sat in the quiet, empty restaurant to consider what reopening would require, and what questions his staff and customers would have.

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Restaurateurs Eliza Escano (left) and Jojo Vasquez opened FOND in 2019. The married couple lost their home, car and all their belongings in the Maui wildfires last August. Deanne Fitzmaurice for NPR hide caption

Restaurateurs Eliza Escano (left) and Jojo Vasquez opened FOND in 2019. The married couple lost their home, car and all their belongings in the Maui wildfires last August.

"It's not only the restaurant, it's also our lives and livelihoods that we had to actually put into place before we can say we're back to work."

He worked to make sure his family and his staff had housing for one. And then the emotional toll.

"I was a wreck," he says. "Then I went through an angry stage."

That's not the right frame of mind for the hospitality industry, says Vasquez.

"Are we actually in a position to be hospitable when we do not have that sense within us?"