Everybody likes pie, and everybody likes Hawaii. So what’s a person to do when they want both at the same time? They go to Leoda’s of course. Simple.

“You got your pie shop on my island!” “You got your island under my pie shop!”

” It was as though angels had trained a thousand tiny unicorns to poop apples instead of candy corn “

During one of our many drives around Maui, my wife and I decided that we could use an afternoon snack. We’d have been fine making a meal of it, but we had dinner plans for later so an hors d’ oeuvre would have to do. A friend had recommended to us that we check out this pie place in Lahaina, and since we were in the area we headed into town and started looking around …and we found absolutely nothing. Huh? Oh, alright fine, what does Google Maps say? Seven miles away. In Hawaii that’s 90 minutes of driving. As it turns out, you see, Lahaina is an entire district and not just a town. Heavy sigh.

State of Hawaii: 1
Clueless tourists: 0

Feeling better educated and also somewhat silly, we got back in the car and drove down the road while quietly starving to death. Eventually the Terse Navigation Lady that lives inside Hertz GPS units alerted us to make a left turn RIGHT NOW into oncoming traffic, which we did, and hey! There was a big sign with “Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop” written on it right in front of us. Totally worth the risk to life and property.

Just look at all those pies! piespiespiespiespiespiespiespiespiespiespies

A funny thing occurs when you’re hungry enough to eat your own cargo shorts and are suddenly faced with several hundred delicious pies. Your jaw begins to flap around on its own while your brain attempts to work out the quickest way to absorb as many calories as possible, making comprehensible speech quite a challenge. Luckily my wife was there to translate my slurred caveman mumbles into “One apple hand pie and one banana cream mini pie please.” We walked to a nearby table (I shuffled), sat down, and got to work on our noms.

A flaky, sugary pouch of pure apple goodness.

It’s possible that our harrowing navigation experience made me appreciate life more or maybe I was just that hungry, but the apple hand pie was damn near the finest dessert food I have ever experienced. I don’t know why they call it a “hand pie” though. Despite the fact that it appeared to be travel friendly and pick-uppable, even so much as a sideways glance was enough to make it disintegrate into a flaky pile of pureed pie bits. This weakness was also the crust’s strength, however, because it was amazingly delicate and light while at the same time being flavorful, buttery, crispy… It was perfection, really. The apple filling, believe it or not, was slightly better than that. It was as though angels had trained a thousand tiny unicorns to poop apples instead of candy corn, and then made a pie out it. It was unreal.

What a cute little pie. I could just eat it all up! (Actually, I did.)

We were so impressed with the pies (the banana cream was crazy good too) that we came back a couple days later for lunch. Of course we got another apple hand pie and also a rather tasty burger. I decided to make a late breakfast out of the meal and ordered a savory biscuit (herbs and cheese) as well as a bacon and egg hand pie. This turned out to be about five times more food than we needed, but we were very keen to try as much of the menu as possible. I’m happy to report that everything we ate at Leoda’s was amazing, but nothing quite matched the magic of that first apple pie.

Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop qualifies as a must-visit whenever you find yourself on Maui and earns 999 out of 1,000 tiny, angel-trained unicorns. Bring your appetite, a pair of elastic pants, and a shop vac for cleaning up pie crust crumbs.

Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop
820 Olowalu Village Road
Lahaina, HI 96761
(808) 662-3600
www.leodas.com

The bacon and egg handheld isn’t exactly a typical Hawaiian breakfast, but it sure is tasty.