These Bay Area Restaurants and Bars Are Raising Money for Maui Fire Relief

The wildfire that razed Lahaina on Maui is the deadliest in a century, and it’s still unclear what the extent of the devastation will be. Given San Francisco and the Bay Area’s proximity to Hawai’i, it comes as no surprise that plenty of NorCal restaurants and bars are finding ways to help.

Since disasters like these evolve every day, industry folks on the West Coast are moving with haste. Liholiho Yacht Club’s chef Ravi Kapur already went to Maui to pitch in. The Golden Gate Restaurant Association is encouraging donations to the Maui Strong Fund. Here are some opportunities to give money through our local restaurant scene to help those impacted by the Lahaina wildfire.

Liliana

In the Mission District, chefs Elise Takase from Good Good Culture Club and Uzziel Pulido Orea from Osito and Liliana are teaming up with beverage consulting group West Bev to benefit the Maui Chefs Fire Collective. At Liliana the group will host a Lahaina Love event on Monday, September 11 for two seatings at 4 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the casual dinner soiree cost $40, and reservations for both seatings are available through Resy with all proceeds benefitting the organization.

Abacá

The talented minds behind Fisherman’s Wharf’s Filipino restaurant Abacá are hosting a superstar chef party benefitting those impacted by the wildfire in Maui. On Sunday, September 17 at 6 p.m., guests can witness a veritable “Fellowship of the Rings” of the culinary world: Abacá Francis Ang; Acquerello’s Suzette Gresham and Seth Turiansky; Chris Kajioka who cut his teeth in Bay Area fine dining kitchens; Aziza, Mourad, and Waicoco’s Mourad Lahlou; Good Good Culture Club and Liholiho Yacht Club’s Ravi Kapur; Nightbird’s Kim Alter; Nisei’s David Yoshimura; Rich Table’s Sarah Rich; and State Bird Provisions’ Gaby Maeda will all cook a sprawling $195 feast including nine courses. All the proceeds go to Maui United Way, and tickets are available through Resy.

Musubis for Maui round two with Unco Frank

The fine folks of Musubis for Maui, who sold more than 800 musubi with support from Outer Orbit in August, are back for an even bigger bash to raise money for those impacted by the fire. This time, the team will head to the Sports Basement at 610 Mason Street on Sunday, September 10 with live Hawai’ian music, a raffle and auction, and beer and snacks. All of the money raised will go to the People’s Fund of Maui. Clement Street’s Unco Frank will be on-site selling poke bowls to raise money for Maui, too.

Revival at Sawyer

This rooftop bar in downtown Sacramento is raising money for the Kokua Restaurant & Hospitality Fund at its tiki night on Thursday, September 14. From 4 until 8 p.m. performances from the Polynesian entertainment group CoCo Tiki will take over the bar with $1 from each menu purchase going toward the fund.

MackBox Desserts and Confections round two

Dessert wiz Mackbox is headed to Berkeley’s Pamana Plantas on Saturday, September 9 from noon to 3 p.m. Ten percent of sales and 100 perecnt of tips head to the Maui Food Bank and Maui Humane Society. Furikake Chex Mix, ube cheesecake, chocnut cookies, and other righteous goodies will be available for sale.

Kona’s Street Market round two

The FiDi cocktail destination Kona’s Street Market will play host to eight top-tier bartenders and a litany of cooks on Friday, September 15. Mixing for Maui is a superstar event for fans of swanky drinks and spirits. Chef Ravi Kapur of Liholiho Yacht Club will serve bites inspired by his childhood in Hawai’i, Tsar Nicolai will provide the caviar, and sommeliers and expert bartenders including Hawai’i’s most recent master sommelier Chris Ramelb will pour drinks all night long. The VIP ticket ($500) gets you in at 4:30 p.m. and general admission ($200) at 6 p.m. with the party running until 9 p.m.

Past events and fundraisers

B. Patisserie

This weekend only, from Saturday, August 26 to Sunday, August 27, renowned San Francisco bakery B. Patisserie will be selling its black sesame kouign amann and donating all proceeds to the Chef Hui Maui Relief Fund. Orders can be placed online via Tock for either a 4-pack ($20) or a 9-pack ($45).

Merchant Roots

Reservations are now open on Tock for Merchant Roots’s fall menu, dubbed Time Traveler, which runs from October 25 through January 20. The menu costs $148 and diners can expect “dishes from the ancient past to the distant future” that are “made with cutting edge technology and Paleolithic dishes of the extinct variety.” For every tasting menu sold, the restaurant will donate $6 to the Hawai’i Community Foundations Maui Strong Fund.

Kona’s Street Market

This downtown San Francisco craft cocktail destination is taking all sorts of goods and shipping them to Maui. Swing by anytime Kona’s Street Market is open with canned food, medical supplies, clothes, toys, or any other basic supplies.

Harris’ Steakhouse

The pastry chef at this Van Ness Avenue mainstay, Joann Buhagiar, is originally from Hawai’i and she’s added the Island Pie — a chocolate treat inside a macadamia nut crust combined with Maui coffee ice cream — to the restaurant’s menu for a limited time, with 100 percent of its sales going to the Maui Food Bank. Harris’ Steakhouse is also shaking up a li hing mui margarita with proceeds headed to the food bank.

Cyrus

Wine Country restaurant Cyrus is celebrating its first birthday in a generous way: At a cocktail party on September 14, the restaurant is ensuring 20 percent of all ticket sales go to the Maui Strong Fund. Moreover, 100 percent of all additional donations at the event will go to the fund. Diners can also add on a six-course tasting menu that night titled the Bounty of Tomatoes, with 20 percent of those proceeds supporting the same fund.

Kodaiko Ramen & Bar

As of Sunday, August 13th, Sacramento’s Kodaiko Ramen & Bar launched its inaugural Soul Bowl, and the first rendition is the Hawaiian saimin bowl which benefits the Maui United Way. Eight dollars of each bowl sold until the end of the month goes to the organization. The restaurant will also promote pints from Maui Brewing Company during the two-week period and donate $2 from each pint sold. To make it as accessible as possible, Kodaiko Ramen & Bar is selling a combo deal for a bowl and a pint for $20, of which $10 will be donated.

MackBox Dessert and Confections

Toting loads of furikake Chex mix and dessert boxes, pastry chef Mack Estrada is headed to San Jose’s Fancy Flavors on Saturday, August 19. At this pop-up, though, the Filipino American baker behind MackBox is donating 25 percent of the proceeds to the Maui Strong Fund.

Musubis for Maui

Starting at 2 p.m. on Friday, August 18, Outer Orbit and a group of “Maui peeps” living in the Bay Area, organized by Katira Arak, will sell musubi on the corner of Dolores and 18th streets to raise money for fire relief. Spam musubi and butter mochi will be on deck, and all proceeds will go to the Maui Strong Fund.

Dalva

The recently remodeled classic 16th Street bar Dalva will host a benefit for Lahaina on Monday, August 21 starting at 6 p.m. All Santa Teresa daiquiri and mojitos served that night will go directly toward the Lahaina community; Arak and fellow local cocktail wiz Irene Kern are selling coconut chartreuse mochi and li hing mui gummy snacks on-site, too.