Mala Ocean Tavern Cookbook, Recipes for a Healthy Lifestyle
Chef Mark Ellman not only created Maui-Mex cuisine, he is one of the original members of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine (HRC) movement. His Pacific Rim recipes are featured in The New Cuisine of Hawaii, along with a dozen of his fellow HRC chef friends including Peter Merriman, Roy Yamaguchi, Alan Wong, Beverly Gannon and Sam Choy. Mark and his wife Judy opened their dream restaurant Avalon in Lahaina in the late 1980s. Although Avalon set the standard for Maui s dining scene for nearly a decade, Mark sold that restaurant in 1993 to concentrate on Maui Tacos. Within a few short years,Mark, Judy and friend Shep Gordon opened eight Maui Tacos on three islands! Maui Tacos was created to fill a niche in the beach culture that is Hawaii. It s a place to come in with sand on your feet, just to put some good food in your body...and go back to the waves again. Yes, it s true that celebrities do hang out with the surfers at Maui Tacos. Before they came to Maui, Mark and Judy owned the Can t Rock & Roll, But Sure Can Cook catering company in Los Angeles. They provided catering on film locations and backstage for celebrity rock groups including The Beach Boys, Neil Diamond and the Moody Blues. Check out the autographed photos at the various Maui Tacos locations. Today, Mark personally directs the openings of all the new locations. The Maui Tacos franchise was named one of the top fifty restaurant franchises in the United States for 1999 by Nation s Restaurant News ( The NRN Fifty: The New Taste Makers ). There are many Maui Tacos restaurants in Hawaii and the mainland including California, Minnesota, Texas, New Jersey, New York, Utah and Idaho. Mark is a frequent guest chef on national (and international) television shows including Emeril Live and The Today Show. Mark and Judy live (in that lovely house on the beach) in Lahaina, Maui. Mark and his wife Judy are up to their elbows with ten restaurants and over 150 employees, but would not have it any other way.