We had Chef Cory cook two dinners during our trip to Kauai and they were spectacular! He was very…read moreflexible in the meals and showcased a wide range of cuisines. We opted for Hawaiian / Pan-Asian for our menu and had some the best meals we ever tasted. We had a group of 15 people, 9 grown up foodies and some children who are very picky eaters. He somehow made food that made everyone happy. As a grandpa himself, he knew how to make kids food and wasn't bothered by the little kids running around while he cooked. As a parent of young kids, it was totally worth it compared to the hassles of organizing, transporting, and dealing with everyone going out to a restaurant with 15 people... this was nice and easy. This was our first private chef experience so we didn't know what we were getting into, but he made it very easy for us throughout the process, from meal planning to clean up.. Chef Cory's pricing was similar to the other options on the island and his initial quote was fairly accurate compared to the final invoice. I will definitely hire him again next time I'm in Kauai!

I am still thinking about the meal Cory Stokes made for us 2 years later and am writing this review…read moreon its anniversary. We hired Corey for a private dinner for 17 people. He made it a night to remember and was very professional on a short timeline. He prepared fresh sushi, tuna, and lumpia with ube icecream. He brought in a great team to prepare welcome drinks, serve appetizers, and do a complete cleanup. I highly recommend hiring Corey for your next event. Mahalo!!!

We hired Chef Allen for my father's 70th birthday celebration in Kauai, and it was truly the…read morehighlight of our trip. From the very beginning, Chef Allen was incredibly communicative and went above and beyond to craft a menu that perfectly suited our family. The food was phenomenal--fresh, flavorful, and beautifully presented--but what made the night extra special was Allen himself. He is a joy to be around and fit in so naturally with our family that it felt like having a friend in the kitchen. My dad even told us afterwards that the evening was a 'core memory' for him. If you are looking for a private chef who brings both world-class talent and wonderful energy into your home, I cannot recommend Conscious Cooks enough!

Chef Allen prepared the most delicious dinner for our family on our recent trip to Kauai…read more Everything was spectacular. He was very respectful of the property we rented, including wearing gloves for sanitizing, and cleaning up after himself, including running the dishwasher at the end. While cooking, he shared many beautiful stories about the island and his adventures, was able to provide recommendations, and is very knowledgeable about Kauai. The evening was more than just great food, but true entertainment as well which we really enjoyed. Our toddler really enjoyed interacting with him as well. We customized our menu in advance and everything came out perfect! Surf and turf, seafood paella, shrimp spring rolls, bruschetta, salad, and amazing assortment of desserts. I loved that absolutely everything was locally grown, and bought from local stores. I can't say enough good things about this experience. Allen was very efficient and a true joy to have in our rented condo for our family vacation. We will absolutely hire Allen again next time we are on the island. Mahalo!

Janice and her sous-chef came to our Poipu house, made their way around the kitchen and grill, and…read moreprepared and served the most amazing meal for our party of 8. From start to finish they were professional and most importantly the food was scrumpdillyicious. All the dishes had balance and layers of flavor. They kept a clean kitchen throughout and cleaned and did the dishes at the end. Highly recommended!!!

Chef Janice is amazing! She prepared two dinners for us at our Poipu house rental for 8 adults and…read moretwo toddlers. She uses fresh local ingredients with a style that is bold in her use of spices and herbs, many of which come from her garden. Our first night we selected off of her Hawaiian Pacific menu, starting with her Ahi Bruschetta with an avocado mouse and her Purple Sweet Potato galettes, then a Farm Fresh Salad to lead into the entrees of Steak and MahiMahi with grilled veggies and an amazing Cauliflower done two ways. Matcha Brownies with Haupia ice cream and a black salt sprinkle brought it all home! The following dinner stepped the flavors even more over the top as we enjoyed her Mediterranean menu. We started with an incredible Mezzo platter including delicious hummus and the freshest, most flavorful feta I have ever had. The menu progressed to include a beautiful salt crusted Red Snapper (see Pix) and concluded with an awesome Strawberry Rose Coconut Cheesecake. Our family has a wide range of tastes and includes some serious foodies (two live in San Francisco and dine out multiple times a week) and all were blown away. Her portions are also very generous, so we enjoyed a full leftover meal the following days. I heartily recommend Farm Cook Kauai for an incredible personal chef dining experience!

My family of 6ppl, visiting from Maine, found Emily Bucks while looking for a chef this holiday…read morevacation in Hanalei. They've had trouble in the past finding private chefs matched their budget and food preferences. As travelers to the North Shore, they've become frustrated with the lack of good dining. Theres a few great restaurants, and they often make it hard to get reservations. Other local chefs have quoted them outlandish prices per meal. They reached out to Emily because her website focused on farm to table ingredients, locally sourced, from Kaua'i. My family visits often, not only to escape the cold, but to benefit from the healthy lifestyle available in the islands. WOW! Chef Emily came through in the clutch. She threw down like a boss, whooping up incredible spreads, day after day. Each was unique in flavor, and the best version we'd tasted. Chef Emilies private in home experiences are easy and affordable. Honestly, having her hours a day, in our vacation rental, was less than 6-8ppl at Bar Acuda, with no line. She brings more than food, it's an experience. When traveling to Kaua'i with a small to medium size family, you can't afford not to have an in home chef. Especially when the experience itself was the most memorable part of the trip! Thanks Emily for taking care of my folks and helping to create life long memories.

Emily was 100% awesome!!!!! She was personable, fun and attentive to our culinary needs. Picked…read moreawesome wines. And she has HUGE pride in what she does - quality was everything to her. Homemade rosemary bread, customer Cocktails, outstanding appetizers and main meal - begging her to come back for another dinner before we leave Kauai. Gotta use her. She's the best.

ABSOLUTEY DO NOT HIRE FARM TO TABLE KAUAI OR ARCH AND ARBORS! We worked with the owner and chef for…read morea year to plan and execute a small wedding only to have the him turn into the most unhinged and unprofessional person imaginable just 10 days out from the event. Cancelling the event because of his ego, while insulting and harassing us all along the way. *Backstory* We hired farm to table to provide rehearsal and wedding dinner, and all decor for a 25 person wedding in Kauai. The chef also agreed to receive additional wedding items at his house with the agreement that he could keep any items that would be useful to his business once the event ended. Throughout the whole process my fiancé really struggled to get even the most basic communication from this guy. We ended up having to ship most of the stuff elsewhere it was so bad. 2 months before the event we sent a final head count and requested an updated invoice. He ignored not only our initial request, but FIVE REQUESTS for an updated invoice! Fast forward to two weeks before the event (the cut off point for requesting a refund) and all of sudden he starts aggressively harassing us for payment, while he still had not sent us an invoice. He then gives us several different invoices (including a screen shot of a calculator?) all with different amounts none of which appear to be correct, before finally giving us the right one. He demands immediate payment through a cash app. We could only send half of the amount through zelle so we sent the first half of the payment and told him we would send the second half the next day after the limit reset. He demanded that we use another cash app before agreeing to wait. The next day before the reset had occurred he threatened to charge a late fee that was not in the contract. When my fiancé called him to discuss this, he became belligerent and started yelling over her, eventually hanging up and following up with some nasty text messages. We sent the final payment that night despite everything that happened and then he stopped responding to her completely. At this point I take up communication with him as seen in the messages below. The messages attached speak for themselves but the tldr is: I told him that I was disappointed with the way he handled the situation and suggested that he apologize to the bride. He instead trash talks my bride to me and then in a mocking manner demand that she apologize to him. At this point I let him know how that his behavior had become so odd and erratic that we were growing concerned for our safety around him. His response is to immediately cancel the event and threaten to throw our stuff away. He claimed to have bought all the food already (10 whole days out from the event) and said he would not be returning any money. When I asked him to confirm that he was indeed cancelling he began to really spiral out, trash talking me and my fiancé, trying to characterize our business agreement as a personal favor. Saying that every time my fiancé emailed him that he and his partner would trash talk her. I tried making good faith offers to unwind the deal amicably which he mocks while continuing to ramble on about a bunch of made up grievances (including complaining about off menu items which he offered). In the end he took all of our money, and did nothing but torture us for a year with his incompetence. I sent one last text offering to allow him to keep the deposit money to settle out of court, which he mocked, bragged about how good his lawyer is and seemed to indicate that he does this often. In total this man took around $8000 dollars from us and left us scrambling to replan a wedding merely days before it was to take place. He expressed no sympathy, no remorse, and mocked the pain he put us through. Please do not hire this man or any of his related companies.

I flew across the country to Hawaii for my brother's wedding only to discover that this person had…read morecompletely screwed my brother and his wife out of thousands of dollars with zero remorse. His actions have soured memories of what should have been one of the happiest days of their lives and left us scrambling to put together the pieces. If you value whatever event you are scheduling, please learn from our experience and don't place your trust with this person.

Brilliant chef, amazing food. Our group hired Chef Leo for Mother's Day dinner, and he impressed…read moreabsolutely all of us. (Also, shoutout to his sous chef - she was just as efficient, attentive, and super nice as Leo). Leo arrived a few hours prior to dinner, brought everything he needed to the house, and made a superb multi-course meal. He was all about making sure we were well-fed with food at its optimal temperature and texture the whole way through. Flavors were bold and harmonious, textures were perfect, and the pairings were excellent. At the end of the meal, Leo and his sous chef cleaned up perfectly, too. If you're considering hiring a private chef in Hawai'i, do yourself and your guests a favor - hire Chef Leo and his team!! You won't be disappointed!

We couldn't give higher praise to Chef Leo and his team. He spent so much time in advance to put…read moretogether the perfect menu for our wedding reception with 9-10 dishes. Every single item was a hit! He went above and beyond to help us find tables and chairs for our reception and ceremony as well. His team was exceedingly professional before, during and after the dinner and really attentive to our guests throughout the evening. They efficiently set up, served and cleaned up including providing us all the great left over food. He was also so flexible as we had to make some adjustments throughout the entire process. Couldn't recommend him more!

Leora is a fabulous chef. She cooked a delicious 5 star dinner for us so we could relax and enjoy…read moreour time with friends. I highly recommend her.

Chef Leora cooked for me and my group of 12 friends to celebrate a birthday dinner. She was a great…read morecommunicator. She provided a delicious menu in advance which she executed beautifully. She was timely and efficient. She was a pleasure to work with and the food was excellent. I would happily hire her again.

Would you pay $20 for a single chicken thigh from a food truck?…read more We were at the Thursday Allerton Gardens Farmers Market near Lawai Rd Spouting Horn in Southern Kauai. There was a kiosk with food trays under covers. Big sign advertising Caribbean food and jerk chicken. About the last place I expected to find Jerk Chicken. Took a sample of the jerk chicken, and was in food heaven. Pricey at $20 cash only for one large piece of spicy delicious, finger licking dark chicken meat, together with large sides of tasty beans-rice and tasteless cabbage. The chicken thigh was covered with a thick blackened layer of spice, almost too spicy, it overwhelmed the chicken thigh. Addicting. Had to carry four TV dinner like trays 1.2 miles back to the timeshare, as wife had lost me. We were in the area of Kauai where our cell phones on Tracfone didn't work, so couldn't even send texts, let alone phone. This jerk chicken is sweeter than our local back-a-yard jerk chicken. Dark meat marinated in a sweet sauce. Don't get used to it, as only available at catering events in Kauai, with no home restaurant.

Every Friday, Hanapēpē (Kauai's biggest little town!) hosts its Art Night. Various craftspeople…read moreshow off their paintings, pottery, jewelry and more. I was not expecting to find Koropo's Kitchen and Chef Sara with her beautiful and delicious African and Caribbean dishes, which are pieces of art in themselves. She is the friendliest person I've met in a long time, ever delighted to serve you her epicurean masterpieces. I had the jerk chicken and vegetable sambousa. Served with yellow rice (not too fluffy, not too sticky, but just right!) and a bed of steamed cabbage, this chicken is amazing. The sambousa is heavenly with seasoned mixed vegetables and drizzled with the jerk chicken sauce. Everything is locally sourced when possible. Atmosphere? No place better than under the glow of Hanapēpē and its streetlights with happy people bustling about. I'm yet to sample Koropo's at their physical location.