Fresh Fish Is Good. Day Boat Is Better.

Peter Merriman has said it for decades, and the line still shapes every menu at every Merriman’s restaurant: fresh fish is good, day boat is better. There is a serious philosophy behind that simple line.

For us, sustainability has never been a selling point. It is how we have always operated. Sustainable seafood means fish caught in ways that protect the species, the ocean, and the communities that depend on them. For Merriman’s, that means partnering with Hawaiʻi’s day boat fleets, the small vessels that go out in the morning and come back the same afternoon. The result is less bycatch, less fuel, and a fish that has been on ice for hours rather than days.

The choice runs deeper than freshness. Hawaiʻi’s waters are finite, and the fishermen working these channels today are fishing the same places their families have for generations. What we protect now is what the next generation of captains and cooks will have to work with. We have built direct relationships with local fishermen because the story of a fish matters as much as the way it is cooked.

That commitment has been the standard at Merriman’s since 1988.

Two Cuisines, One Island Home

Hawaiʻi has a rich and layered food story, and at the heart of it are distinct culinary traditions that together shape the way these islands eat today. Understanding where each one comes from makes every meal here a little more meaningful.

Native Hawaiian Cuisine: The Foundation

Native Hawaiian cuisine is the traditional food of the Polynesian voyagers who first settled these islands, shaped over centuries by a deep knowledge of the land and sea. It is rooted in the ʻāina, the land, and built around ingredients like kalo, poi, kalua pig, laulau, and poke. This cuisine predates Western contact and reflects a way of life that shaped these islands for centuries before the outside world arrived.

Local Cuisine: The Bridge

In the early 1900s, Hawaiʻi’s sugar and pineapple plantations brought waves of immigrants from Japan, China, the Philippines, Korea, and Portugal. Each community brought its own food traditions, and over time those traditions mixed with Native Hawaiian ingredients and flavors to create something entirely new: local cuisine. Dishes like saimin and chow fun are the result of that blending, food that belongs to Hawaiʻi not through ancient tradition but through generations of community and shared meals.

Hawaiʻi Regional Cuisine: Bringing It All Together

Hawaiʻi Regional Cuisine brings both Native Hawaiian and local cuisine together with a single commitment: source ingredients grown and raised right here in Hawaiʻi. HRC is not just about what is on the plate; it is about where it comes from, who grew it, and what that means for the future of these islands.

Peter Merriman was the chef who made it happen, and his path to founding HRC started long before the movement had a name. When he arrived in the 1980s, most of Hawaiʻi’s hotel kitchens were flying in mainland ingredients and favoring European cuisine over the rich, diverse flavors and extraordinary local producers right outside their doors. As Peter immersed himself in the local community, paddling with his canoe club and sitting at beach potlucks and family celebrations, he discovered a diversity of flavor that made Hawaiʻi unlike anywhere else in the world. He wanted those flavors on the menu. When asked at a job interview for the Executive Chef position at the Mauna Lani Resort’s new Gallery Restaurant what kind of food he wanted to cook, Peter answered without hesitation: regional cuisine.

He got the job, and then he had to deliver. Peter went out to the farms, ranches, and docks himself, letting local producers know he wanted whatever they had. His message was simple: “If you grow it or catch it, I’ll buy it, and we’ll all succeed.” That same commitment runs through every Merriman’s menu today, with at least 90 percent of our ingredients sourced locally. Those partnerships and that passion became the foundation of something bigger. Together with eleven other chefs, Peter cofounded Hawaiʻi Regional Cuisine, a collective pledge that cuisine should reflect the place it comes from and the people who have always called it home.

How It All Comes Together

At Merriman’s, all three traditions live on the menu. You will find Native Hawaiian dishes like poke and kalua pig, local favorites like saimin and chow fun, and HRC dishes like the Kalua Pork and Sweet Onion Quesadilla with house-made kim chee and mango-chili sauce. Each one carries Native Hawaiian roots and local flavors, sourced from the islands and served the Merriman’s way. What connects them all is a commitment to sourcing at least 90 percent of our ingredients from Hawaiʻi’s local farmers, fishermen, and ranchers.