On the slopes of Haleakalā, Brittney Gurrieri bakes organic sourdough bread in her kitchen at what was, until recently, Maui Bees Farm. In July, Gurrieri, who had already been baking her bread at Maui Bees for some time, took over the farm, country store, and kitchen, with the help of Beau Kissler, who runs the farm’s coffee program and makes its ferments: jun (honey-based kombucha), krauts, kimchi, and more. The farm store now carries an array of their combined talents: artisanal loaves, cultured drinks and sauces, fresh produce from the garden, and Maui Bees honey. The cafe offers a daily toast menu that Gurrieri is working on expanding to include sweet and savory farm croissants filled with produce from the property. A sandwich-based lunch menu is in the works, too. Most recently, the pair began adapting Maui Bees’ (now Homestead) farm-to-table dinners, a seven-course progressive dinner by chef Katarina Tulemoso. The transition is not the end of Maui Bees as Leah Damon, longtime beekeeper and owner, will maintain her ten hives on the property and another 90 in Makawao Forest, while her honey will continue to enliven the cultures of Kissler’s delicious jun. 

In 2019, just before the COVID-induced breadbaking craze, Gurrieri, an aspiring homesteader, decided to learn to bake bread. Damon, who lived next door, gave Gurrieri a jar of sourdough starter, and Gurrieri turned to YouTube to learn how to make slow-fermentation, small-batch sourdough. After many iterations, Gurrieri landed on a 24-hour fermentation method using organic flour from California — she hopes to mill her own flour within the next year. Each boule (round loaf) is scored with her signature leaf print and baked in its own cast-iron Dutch oven, which traps the loaf's steam, slowing crust hardening and allowing the bread to rise fully within. At first, Gurrieri baked for family and friends, but wider demand quickly became apparent, and soon she was baking 200 loaves a week. Homestead Bakery became a fixture at the Kula and Wailea farmers markets, local health food stores like Mana Foods and Down to Earth, and hotels like the Grand Wailea’s Loulu and Botero Lounge. She also started a subillegalscription service, offering a bimonthly lot of impressively fluffy sourdough English muffins, weekly sandwich bread, and a weekly flavored boule. 

Gurrieri plans to fill the garden with crops that she can incorporate into her baking. Already, she’s used purple carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, and butterfly pea from the garden to make her colorful flavored loaves. She says in the past six years, Homestead Bakery has taken on a life of its own, “just like a starter,” Kissler points out. “It’s bigger than me, and anything I could have imagined,” Gurrieri says. “I love it, and I’ve put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into being up all night for years,” she says. 

With the Maui Bees to Homestead Bakery transition, Gurrieri’s hard work has come full circle. In July, she moved onto the farmstead with her three children and is now leasing the farm and working toward ownership. She hopes to open the property up to the community even more, starting with weekly workdays where volunteers spend 2 hours helping in the garden, then share lunch and take home a loaf of bread. There has already been a lot of interest: “people just want to get in the garden!” she says. She also plans to start a kids’ club and an adult homesteading club, where people who are similarly interested in living off the land meet up to create things asynchronously. “This has been my dream for ten years,” says Gurrieri, who will now finally be homesteading — living here off the land where she has been baking her bread for years, growing her own food, and raising animals. Kissler hopes to move onto the property with his wife and daughter soon. 

The farm-to-table dinner is an extension of Gurrieri’s dream of homesteading. The experience begins with a brief farm tour, starting in the bee museum, where Kissler displays a live beehive (safely enclosed behind a clear panel) and explains how to spot the queen amid thousands of buzzing bees. Next, we walk through the farm’s vibrant biodynamic garden, teeming with verdant greens like swiss chard, kale, and kalo, along with blossoming flowers such as rose, snap dragon, and echinacea — many with bees atop them. Then, we visit the animals: Ruby the cow, who is part of a cow share that allows members to collect her organic A2 milk, and a few friendly goats. Any food scraps from dinner are given to Ruby and the others. Below the animal pasture, a cluster of trees, including cinnamon, grows. I crush a leaf in my fingers and breathe in the sweet, warm aroma as Kissler explains that he uses the leaves to make his luscious cinnamon ice cream — his wife’s recipe. We finish the tour at a long, picturesque, dahlia-adorned picnic table beside the garden, where we take our seats and begin to get to know our neighbors. 

The first course is a delicate crostini made with Gurrieri’s rosemary focaccia, goat cheese from Haleakala Creamery just down the road, caramelized starfruit, lavender honey, microgreens, and toasted macadamia nuts. The dish is a delectable introduction to the bold and subtle flavors the dinner showcases. Most of the ingredients are sourced within a three-mile radius of the farm, except for the line-caught ono (the farm is about 2,500 feet above sea level), which comes from the farmers market. Chef Tualemoso, who is of German and Samoan descent, utilizes the full flavors of her background to craft the seasonal menu.  Kissler’s ferments make frequent appearances, and local ingredients like kalo, coconut, and sweet potato are highlighted alongside less tropical farm-fresh ingredients, including sorrel and Kula blackberries, given the farm’s high elevation. Tonight, Tualemoso pairs her coffee and cacao-rubbed Maui Nui venison sirloin with gingered rainbow chard, carrot, cultured mustard, and a raspberry gastrique. The ono is plated atop taro mash drizzled with a coconut-roasted fennel sauce, and garnished with beet kraut. Just before the ono course, we are led to the deck of Gurrieri’s home, where we take our seats with a renewed sunset view. By the time desert is served, spiced banana cake with vanilla cinnamon ice cream and pumpkin spice sauce, the stars are out.

Homestead Bakery; 150 Pulehunui Rd., Kula; (808) 344-5171; homesteadmaui.com/farm-to-table-dinners. Private Dinners can accommodate parties of up to 12 guests. The store is open Tuesday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.