Visiting "The Garden Isle" of Kauai - March 21-23

It is not everyday that you get to wake up to a beautiful sunrise in Kansas City and go to sleep with a sunset in Kauai that just sets the sky afire. I was lucky enough to accomplish this feat recently when my travels brought me to “The Garden Isle” of Kauai. Kauai is the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands and a place where visitor’s worries vanish just as quickly as the warm trade winds blow through your hair.

Visiting Kauai is one of those bucket list destinations, and one of my favorite places to visit because blends everything you want in a vacation into on stop. Luxurious resorts, white sand beaches, fantastic dining, delicious drinks, ancient archaeological sites to explore and the opportunity to get out and explore the islands natural beauty. This place is just gorgeous…no matter which way you look at it.

It has been a couple of years since my last visit to Kauai, but this visit brought me to the Poi’pu Beach area and the brand new Ko’a Kea Resort. This resort was created from the rubble of the old Poipu Beach Resort which was destroyed during Hurricane Iniki back in 1992. The result is a gorgeous 121-room boutique resort that brings personalized service to a new level. Ko’a Key means white coral in Hawaiian and the design takes inspiration from the natural forms that coral takes and the bright colors of aqua and coral.

The hotel is right on the beach fronting a quite cove that provides enough space for the kids to play in the sand, snorkel and a prime location to watch surfers looking for that perfect break.

The 121 rooms are situated on three floors that wrap around a courtyard that features a pool, pool bar with fire pits, watersport activity center and grassy lawn that is just screaming for some sort of activation. All rooms have private lanais (balconies) and feature all the amenities that you would expect from a four star resort.

There is a great restaurant (actually one of the top restaurants in Kauai per Trip Advisor) called Red Salt which is located right in the heart of the resort and the lobby lounge has amazing sushi every night from 5p to 7p. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to eat at Red Salt, which was disappointing as I really wanted to try their signature burger – the $50 Red Salt Burger which is a fresh Wagyu sirloin that includes seared foie gras, poached kona lobster, sweet & sour pineapple, smoked bacon, caramelized onions, cheddar cheese and truffle fries. I did get to enjoy a delicious Mahi Mahi sandwhich at the pool bar which was just delicious. What made it even better was the Kona Brewery – Firerock IPA that I paired with it.

About a mile up the road from the resort there is a new shopping center called The Shops at Kukui ula that has cute boutiques, lots of art galleries and plenty of restaurants. Two of my three nights in Kauai brought us up to this area for dinner. The first night we want to Merriman’s Fish House which had great views and a great story built by 3x nominated James Beard finalist for Best Chef around the idea of using 90% locally sourced items for his menu, but unfortunately the food that was not so great. Similar to the movie Burnt staring Bradley Cooper as a star chef, I wanted to walk into the kitchen and have the chef that cooked my Uku (aka Grey Snapper) fish apologize to it for what he had done to it. Supposedly this fish had been caught by Captain Cody Kimura earlier that day, but it just didn’t do it for me. I love snapper but this just wasn’t cooked right. I had great expectations going into this dining experience, but it just wasn’t executed as I had hoped. Luckily I had great company with me and they had Kona Castaway IPA and LavaRock Pale ale available.

The next night, we enjoyed Tortilla Republic which features modern Mexican cuisine in a chic setting. This wasn’t your father’s Mexican restaurant. Tortilla Republic offered Mexican dishes with an island twist. The upstairs venue offered great views of the sunset…but at this place the food was definitely the star.

We opted to share the guacamole which was prepared tableside and their Los Tres Salsas which were liquid bliss. A Papaya habanero, tomatillo fresca and salsa de mesa were all absolutely delicious. As a main course I opted for the Chili Verde which was absolutely fantastic and full of flavor. This dish was a short rib chile verde that was drenched in a roasted tomatillo and jalapeno sauce set upon roasted garlic jalapeno mashed potatoes with crispy onions.

My final night in Kauai brought me to my old stomping grounds and one of my favorite resorts – the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa – and one of my favorite restaurants – Tidepools. Recognized as the most romantic restaurant on the island – and yes I brought two dudes her – we enjoyed the freshest of fish and delicious steaks surrounded by a tiki-torch lit tropical garden and koi-filled lagoons.

The chef – Kevin Horan has been at the restaurant a couple of years and was trained in the kitchen of Michelin 3 Star chef Gus Savoy in Las Vegas. Everything that Chef Kevin does is thoughtfully sourced and carefully served so that all his dishes reflect the season and local flavors. The resort even has its own hydroponic garden that is the source for

Tonight I had the chance to enjoy a delicious fresh caught Opah (or Moonfish) that was perfectly prepared and served with a side of jumbo lump crabmeat and herb roasted potatoes with a papaya-habanero sauce. The dish was super rich and full of flavor.

While I definitively was able to experience the best of Kauai culinary, one of my favorites things about coming to Kauai and being up every day at 4-5am ready to start my day. The rooster outside my window that started cockadoodledoing at 4:30 also helped. You just get so much more done when you start your day early. Each morning I was able to go on a 2-3 mile walk/run that took me up and down the coast and allowed me to truly see the authentic Kauai. There were waterfalls, roosters, sea turtles, swaying palm trees, multi-fingered banyan trees, ancient Hawaiian historical sites and gorgeous views of the ocean. All these things make it worth it.

I truly hope you get to experience the spirit of aloha in your lifetime and get to make it to the Garden Isle of Kauai. It is well worth the effort.