KUKUI‘ULA — Living Foods will celebrate its grand opening on Sept. 16, Alexander & Baldwin, the owner of The Shops at Kukui‘ula, announced Tuesday.
“We are thrilled to welcome Living Foods to The Shops at Kukui‘ula,” said A&B Regional Manager Stacie Chiba-Miguel. “Residents and visitors will have more shopping and dining options at the shops, and can enjoy the new offerings of restaurant-quality, ready-to-eat items while shopping for local and organic fresh produce.”
Living Foods is a specialty grocer that aims to bring the Kaua‘i community healthy food choices and a place for kama‘aina and visitors alike to gather. Living Foods features a cafe offering coffee and fresh-baked goods, and an all-day restaurant offering a range of gourmet meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Combined, the Living Foods owners and management team bring more than 30 years of experience in the Kaua‘i restaurant industry, led by President and Managing Partner Nicole Freeland. Matthew Duncan is the assistant general manager, and Executive Chef Mark Arriola add their talent and experience to the leadership team.
“We look forward to offering premier food items and first-class customer service to our guests,” Freeland said. “Our new ownership and team are excited to be part of The Shops at Kukui‘ula ‘ohana, and we are ready to serve the community.”
Living Foods was founded in 2021 and provides a welcome and inclusive environment for residents and visitors to stop by for carefully curated take-away items, or stay awhile for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.
“To us, ‘‘ohana’ means bringing the community together around high-quality and socially conscious products and ingredients daily,” said a spokesperson for Living Foods. “At Living Foods, we are always celebrating the craft of aloha. We will be open daily, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.”
• Info: livingfoodshawaii.com, @livingfoodshawaii on social media
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
Are people who don’t wear masks and/or want to get vaccinated allowed in this new “welcome and inclusive” environment?
Best of luck.
They will certainly need it. No masks, all huddled together. Not getting the picture of a safe environment. I’ll pass.
Where are the masks and social distancing?? This picture is a poor example of a so-called healthy place to get food. I refuse to support a business that is NOT sending the right message.
unfortunately, kainoa, masks, social distancing and “bubble boy” living is NOT the picture of health you think it is. Exposure to the trillions of bacteria and viruses found everywhere on everything on a normal basis allows your body to build up your immune system in a natural fashion, and it is stronger than any smacksine. a poor example of healthy is wearing masks (no fresh oxygen), rebreathing the waste your body breathes out continuously, washing all the beneficial bacteria off your hands all day long, eating crap, not exercising or getting sunshine…and most of all, living in fear that anyone and anything could kill you because they don’t wear a mask…well, and neglecting a healthy emotional state by staying distanced from community. That is a poor example of health. What these people are doing in the photo IS A PICTURE OF HEALTH. Watch some Zach Bush, MD,PhD, brilliant human, MD. on the microbiome. Your mind might be blown.
Welcome news. I don’t understand why they closed for so long in the first place. The South Shore is sorely lacking healthy food choices. And you’d see better equipped shelves in Iraq (literally) than at Kukuiula Market.
Unfortunately, covid is not a simple virus like regular flu. A small dose of a similar virus can give partial immunity to related viruses. but covid-19 and particularly the delta variant are not in that class, they have few related viruses that we get exposed to.
As a result, a slight exposure to Delta is the same as a huge exposure and you are ‘on for the ride’ … you will probably survive because we have learned a lot on how to treat covid, but you could die and will likely have some long term symptoms to deal with.
I had original 19, lost my Dad, and had ‘long covid’. My immune system is robust, I am healthy. I have never gotten a flu vax. I got the vax for covid.
I believe I will live, now my only concern is that I could be asymptomatic and pass it to the un-vaxxed. So I wear a mask and I distance. I worry about others and do not want to be responsible for someone giving it to their grandparent and losing them.
This is not fear, it is caring about others as much as I care about myself.
If they had some vegan options (which include no sugar as 80% of sugar is processed through bone char) they would do a heck of a lot more business. Leahi Health in Koloa runs out of many of their vegan selections daily they are so busy.