Wyoming-based group acquires Gannons, Haliimaile General Store | News, Sports, Jobs

Gannons, A Pacific View Restaurant, has been acquired by Wyoming-based Gather Restaurant Group, the management company announced Monday. Bev Gannon, whos long served as the chef-owner of the Wailea establishment, will step into a new role as culinary consultant. Photos courtesy of Bev Gannon Restaurants

Gannon’s, A Pacific View Restaurant, has been acquired by Wyoming-based Gather Restaurant Group, the management company announced Monday. Bev Gannon, who’s long served as the chef-owner of the Wailea establishment, will step into a new role as culinary consultant. Photos courtesy of Bev Gannon Restaurants

Longtime Maui chef and restaurateur Bev Gannon is selling her two restaurants to a Wyoming-based management company, a move that she says will allow her to get back in the kitchen and do what she loves most.

Gather Restaurant Group, a national restaurant management company based in Jackson Hole, Wyo., is acquiring Gannon’s, A Pacific View Restaurant in a deal that went into effect on Saturday, according to a news release on Monday. An official contract is set next month for Hali’imaile General Store.

Gannon will go from owning and operating the 6,000-square-foot restaurant at 100 Wailea Golf Club Drive to serving as a culinary consultant creating new menu items and innovative dishes while collaborating with the restaurant group daily. The company plans to update the look and feel of the restaurant, which Gannon welcomes.

“This opportunity will help take Gannon’s to the next level, and I get to do what I love most — be in the kitchen, having fun, and creating new dishes,” Gannon said in the news release. “For the past 30-plus years, I have raised these two restaurants as if they were my children. Now it is time to marry them off! I am grateful for the many years of being part of the Maui community and know this is the right team and right time.”

The acquisition expands Gather Restaurant Group’s portfolio to five total concepts, including Palate Restaurant and Gather in Jackson Hole, a ski resort and tourist destination near Yellowstone National Park, and Gather in Omaha in the city’s historic Old Market District.

Gather Restaurant Group also plans to acquire Hali‘imaile General Store, the restaurant that longtime chef and owner Bev Gannon opened along with her husband Joe in 1988. The award-winning restaurant serves locally inspired fare in a former plantation store.

“Our entire team is looking forward to collaborating with Chef Bev,” said Graeme Swain, CEO and president of Gather Restaurant Group LLC. “We’re grateful for the legacy she has created with these two extraordinary brands that everyone treasures here in Maui. We identified Gannon’s for its commitment to locally sourced, exquisite cuisine — and you can’t beat the stellar view and location.”

Alongside chefs like Roy Yamaguchi, Sam Choy and Alan Wong, Gannon is known as one of the founders of the Hawaiian regional cuisine movement that “champions the concept of using fresh local ingredients in island menus rather than importing ingredients from out of state,” according to her restaurant’s website. Born in Dallas, Gannon moved to Maui with her husband in 1980 and started a catering company, which is now known as Celebrations Catering and still operates today.

In 1987, the Gannons took over the lease for the old Hali’imaile General Store — a former butcher shop, fish market and post office serving Upcountry pineapple plantation workers — and opened it as a gourmet takeout deli, catering headquarters and general store in October 1988. The multi-award-winning restaurant at 900 Haliimaile Road serves dishes like Bev’s famous crab pizza, sashimi napoleon, kalua pork enchilada pie and paniolo barbecue ribs.

Gannon’s, A Pacific View Restaurant, followed in December 2009 and features modern Hawaiian regional cuisine, with dishes like blackened citrus ahi, hoisin-glazed short ribs and crispy roast half duck. Set on the Wailea Emerald Golf Course overlooking the ocean, the restaurant also has been honored by several local and national platforms, and Gannon herself has earned plenty of recognition throughout the years, including a James Beard Award nomination in 2004.

As Gather Restaurant Group takes over, Gannon’s and Hali’imaile General Store will remain open with new ownership transitions taking place throughout the month, according to the news release.

Beverly “Bev” Gannon

“There will be absolutely no changes at Hali’imaile General Store,” Gannon told The Maui News on Monday evening. “It will stay exactly how it is for many, many years to come. Gannon’s is going to get a refresh, but basically they’re both going to be the same.”

Gannon said she made the decision to sell the restaurants as she and her husband are getting older, and “I was ready to be done as the owner.” Potential buyers had come around in the past, but none that she felt comfortable giving “my kids” to until she settled on Gather Restaurant Group.

“The last place I was was in the kitchen, and that was always the place I wanted to be,” Gannon said. “What’s great about these guys is they want me in the kitchen … and to keep it to the flavors that I have had.”

After years in the business, she’s looking forward to continuing to cook and getting in more time with her family.

“My idea of retirement is doing new things,” Gannon said when asked if retirement was in the cards. “I’m going to work with them, and in the free time I have, when I’m not working with them, I’m going to go to the beach, and I’m going to go out to dinner with friends, and I’m going to go see my grandkids, and I’m going to take care of my husband.”

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.

Beverly “Bev” Gannon Gannon’s, A Pacific View Restaurant, has been acquired by Wyoming-based Gather Restaurant Group, the management company announced Monday. Bev Gannon, who’s long served as the chef-owner of the Wailea establishment, will step into a new role as culinary consultant. Photos courtesy of Bev Gannon Restaurants Gather Restaurant Group also plans to acquire Hali‘imaile General Store, the restaurant that longtime chef and owner Bev Gannon opened along with her husband Joe in 1988. The award-winning restaurant serves locally inspired fare in a former plantation store.

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