Tahiti Nui has been serving tiki drinks and Hawaiian food for more than 50 years. In that time, the restaurant has become a legendary element of Kauai’s story and a character for popular media. Tahiti Nui’s humble beginnings started in
Tahiti Nui has been serving tiki drinks and Hawaiian food for more than 50 years. In that time, the restaurant has become a legendary element of Kauai’s story and a character for popular media. Tahiti Nui’s humble beginnings started in 1963 when, Bruce Marston, and his wife, Louise Teupootehererii Hauata Marston, opened a bar and Tahitian curio shop in Hanalei.
The couple had moved from Tahiti, where Louise was born and raised. Bruce, a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force from Pasadena, California, was in Tahiti enjoying rest and recuperation when he met Louise.
“Louise was the person who was most responsible for keeping Tahiti Nui going,” says Christian Hauata Marston of his mother who passed in 2003. “She had a way with people. It didn’t matter if it was their first or second time to Tahiti Nui, she’d run around and make them a lei. It’s mind-boggling to me. When I want to make a lei for somebody’s birthday, it’s a big deal, but she did it every day! People who came back to Kauai, came back to Tahiti Nui, especially to see her.”
Today, her smiling face graces the restaurant’s walls and prominent media have given Tahiti Nui a trendy boost. Part of “The Descendants,” a 2011 film set in Hawaii starring George Clooney, was shot at Tahiti Nui. Jill Landis, a Hanalei resident, is the author of the hilarious “Tiki Goddess Mystery Series,” which takes place on Kauai. Her first book, “Mai Tai One On,” opens with a death in the imu pit at the Tiki Goddess Bar.
“Jill, her husband, and I are the best of friends from way back,” says Christian. “Tahiti Nui definitely inspired her books and we do have an imu pit for our luau.”
Whole hogs from M&H Kaneshiro Farm in Omao are cooked in an imu modeled after the traditional Hawaiian underground oven. Pigs are sprinkled with sea salt, wrapped in banana and ti leaves and cooked for up to eight hours. This type of cooking, called kalua, renders succulent pork that’s smoky and salty.
Tahiti Nui’s kalua pig is available on the Kalua Pork Sandwich ($12) with homemade barbecue sauce, as well as Da Hui ($24.50), a pizza with homemade crust brushed with garlic butter and topped with kalua pork and pineapple.
Only organic chicken, dairy and eggs are used at Tahiti Nui. Fresh and sweet Kauai Shrimp, which are farm-raised in Kekaha, are served with macadamia honey sauce and steamed bok choy. Many restaurants leave the head and tail attached to show the shrimp are local, much like Mexican restaurants leave the stem on to show that fresh chiles (not canned) are used in chile rellenos.
“A lot of people didn’t like that we shelled them but left the heads and tails on,” says Nanea Marston Correa, Christian’s daughter and general manager at Tahiti Nui. “We had a meeting and it was 50/50. So the server can ask the customer how they want it and the chef will make it that way.”
“My kids are growing up and now it’s their generation’s turn,” says Christian, who spends his time building canoes and paddling with the Hanalei Canoe Club. “Us old generation come here to have some wine, but we go to bed early! Local families come to celebrate their birthdays and it’s a place where kids can come and have fun. We’ve been fortunate to be here after 50 years and we have to thank all the old timers that kept it going, and we have to keep it going for the next generation.”
Marta Lane has been a food writer on Kauai since 2010 and is the author of Tasting Kauai: Restaurants – From Food Trucks to Fine Dining, A Guide to Eating Well on the Garden Island. For more information, visit www.TastingKauai.com.
