Sheldon Simeon

Coming Up

Training at Maui Culinary Academy, Culinary Institute of the Pacific, and Leeward Community College gave Sheldon Simeon the technical footing that carries through a working cook’s career. The early grind came on the line at Aloha Mixed Plate in Maui, Hawaii, where he worked as dishwasher and prep cook and learned the pace of service from the ground up. From there, the kitchen responsibilities stacked in sequence: opening head chef at Star Noodle in Maui, Hawaii (2010–2013), culinary director at Old Lahaina Luau in Maui, Hawaii, and chef at Migrant at the Marriott in Wailea, Hawaii (2014). Each role added weight to a style anchored in Hawaii’s flavors, rhythms, and everyday pantry.

Where They Are Now

At Lineage in Wailea in 2018, Sheldon Simeon’s cooking sat directly in the landscape that formed it. By 2019, Hawaiian Fried Rice at Lineage was drawing attention: bacon, Portuguese sausage, Spam, hondashi, oyster sauce, peas, and fried garlic chips arranged into a dish that reads as both comfort and a clear modern Hawaii register. The earlier years at Star Noodle in Maui from 2010 to 2013 still anchor his reputation. There, the menu included Steamed Pork Buns, built with Duroc pressed pork, hoisin, shiitake, and cucumber, and Pohole Salad, with Hana fiddlehead fern, Maui onion, ebi, and konbu. Those dishes show a line cook’s control: precise where it needs to be, open where the ingredients carry the place. Speaking about the wider chance that came with national attention, he said, “I could see the opportunity it brings. It’s been overwhelming at times, but also a blessing. It was a chance for me to represent Hawaii. I wanted to test myself.”

Signature

Sheldon’s signature dishes include Steamed Pork Buns, Hawaiian Fried Rice, and Pohole Salad. The throughline is clear: supple, savory, and locally legible cooking, with enough precision to hold together and enough texture to read as more than comfort food.

In Their Words “I could see the opportunity it brings. It’s been overwhelming at times, but also a blessing. It was a chance for me to represent Hawaii. I wanted to test myself.”

Honors

Sheldon Simeon has received Food & Wine, People's Choice Best New Chef for the Pacific & Northwest (2012). Sheldon’s honors include James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific, Maui’s Best Chef, James Beard Foundation nomination for Rising Star Chef of the Year, Top 5 Best Hawaiian Chefs, People’s Choice Best New Chef for the Pacific & Northwest (2012), and Fan Favorite. Read against the long hours of dish pits, prep stations, and service, those honors mark a working career that moved from local repetition to recognition far beyond the islands.