SOURCE: [TravelWeekly.com_]

Yeshua Goodman (FS ’09) grew up on the Island of Hawaii, and ventured to Southern California in 2004 to study English at Hope International University and play volleyball as a Royal. After 4 years of study at HIU, Goodman returned to his home state and lives on Maui, where he has developed “the ultimate dining experience.” Yeshua now curates the exclusive Fire & Wine luxury dining experience at the Four Season Resort Maui at Wailea.

Goodman integrates his passion for Hawaiian culture, history, and ecology into his extraordinary interactive meals as an immersive vehicle for discussing Hawaii’s food systems and sustainable future. He purposefully plans and prepares each meal well in advance, based on the guests’ preferences, featuring as many local ingredients as possible.

"Using these ingredients makes it more of an educational experience, where we start talking about the invasive species on the islands and how they impact the environment," said Yeshua. "We talk about the differences in hunting wild animals versus farm-raised animals and their impact on the Earth.”

"I think there are multiple factors at play here that are making experiences like this more and more popular," Goodman continues. "The pandemic, for one, has people wanting to get back outside and connected with nature. Also, I think there is a generational shift happening where millennials and younger tourism consumers are very much about experiences. They are really interested in knowing where their food comes from."

Dr. Natalie Hewitt, Goodman’s former professor at HIU, says, “I’m still in contact with Yeshua, and so proud of the work he’s done.”

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