Westside café reopens n with famed apple pie

WAIMEA — Recipes are often the best-kept secrets. In a culture built firmly on the legs of oral history, it is no small feat to keep coveted ingredients under wraps.

Somehow, though, during the 10-year closure of Yumi’s, a Westside café famed for its apple pie, the secret of this divine pocket pastry remained under cloak and dagger in the Okada family.

Yumiko Okada opened her small eatery in Waimea in 1978 with her sister Poshie Fujii. After a series of family challenges and a forced relocation due to renovations, Yumi’s closed its doors in 1997 — that is, until her daughter Michelle Kaauamo and son-in-law Benjamin reopened the café in May.

While Kaauamo claims her mother is retired, customers will vouch for the septuagenarian’s presence in the kitchen. “My mom trained us all to make the pies,” said Kaauamo.

Yumi’s reopened at their old location on the mauka side of Kaumuali‘i Highway in Waimea.

The café hours are from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for breakfast and lunch, and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. Kaauamo recommends arriving early if you have a yen for pie.

“We usually sell out of apple pie by noon,” said Kaauamo.