AMANDA SMITH
Director
Amanda Smith is a private chef and TV food host in Hawaii . She can be seen regularly cooking on Hawaii’s lifestyle program, Living808 on KH0N2. She also hosts Sustainable You Hawaii on KAUAITV where she showcases trendy and healthy restaurants for tourists on the travel and visitor channel. A Kauai native with Filipino roots, she was crowned Ms. United States 2019. Amanda always loved cooking and acquired a talent for farm to table recipe development at a young age. This eventually became the foundation for her success as an entrepreneur in the culinary field. She uses her platform to inspire families to eat healthy and clean.
As a self-taught private chef who supports Hawaii’s local food system, Amanda is known for her healthy home-cooked meals served family style. Her delicious menus are built around island foods sourced from local farmers – The Farm at Hokuala, Kauai Food Hub, and Nourish Kauai – including grass-fed meats, organic poultry, wild caught local fish, and fruits and vegetables indigenous to Hawaii.
Amanda received her degree in early childhood education from the University of Hawaii, which provided her the skills to launch a first-rate culinary and nutrition educational program for children. As a single mom raising her two beautiful children, 12-year-old Nevaeh and 8-year-old year old Jett, her grow, cook and eat non-profit program became Amanda’s passion project known as Menehune Chef. By collaborating with public personalities- restauranteur and Hawaii TV personality Chef Sam Choy, professional volleyball player Gabby Reece and actress Shailene Woodley- Amanda was able to bring her dream of Menehune Chef’s impact to fruition. Her program has since taught thousands of elementary and high school kids how to cook with sustainable foods grown on the Hawaiian Islands.
