On Lanai Today

On Lanai Today

Despite its fancy resorts, Lanai still has that sleepy old Hawaii feel. Residents are a mix of just about everything–Hawaiian/Chinese/German/Portuguese/Filipino/Japanese/French/Puerto Rican/English/Norwegian, you name it. The plantation was divided into ethnic camps, which helped retain cultural cuisines. Potluck dinners feature sashimi, Portuguese bean soup, laulau (morsels of pork, chicken, butterfish, or other ingredients wrapped with young taro shoots in ti leaves), potato salad, teriyaki steak, chicken hekka (a gingery Japanese chicken stir-fry), and Jell-O. The local language is pidgin, a mix of words as complicated and rich as the food. In recent years, David Murdock's plan to pay for the resorts by selling expensive homes next to them has met with opposition from locals.