Twenty years ago, when chef Will Queja met his future wife, April, he was decidedly on the road to success. On staff at the then- Kahala Mandarin, he was the go-to guy who knew how to handle all aspects of the kitchen. April was at the hotel on a culinary internship.
Then in 2004, a couple years after marrying, the Quejas set their sights on the Big Island, and Will landed a job at the coveted Four Seasons Hualalai — more success on the horizon.
But a decade later, with three children and another to come, the couple began to realize that success is an evolving concept. Will was working 14-hour days, and April held down a full-time job at her father’s construction firm while raising the kids, mostly solo.
“The work-life balance was the hardest thing to manage. Things needed to be done at home and I wasn’t there to do them,” Will said.
It was time to take the road less traveled and cultivate another kind of success.
“We talked about a food truck and did research at farmers markets to see what kinds of products they were selling,” he said. “There were lots of vendors using local products.”
Will was also keeping an eye on trends. He knew that they take time to grab hold on Hawaii island — “It’s slow from the mainland to Hawaii, then it goes from Oahu to Maui, and from Maui to the Big Island.”
Recalling the Melt food truck phenomenon that held reign over Oahu foodies about five years ago, Will knew it was time to get ahead as the craze made it to the Big Isle, and the couple settled on a grilled-cheese business featuring local ingredients. In January the Quejas opened the Red Barn booth at the Saturday Kamuela Farmers Market at Pukalani Stables.
Their menu reads like a foodie’s dream, with bread made by various local bakers; kim chee from a fellow market vendor; sweet potato chips from Atebara’s in Hilo; Big Island produce; and kalua pig, soup, bacon jam, lemonade, pickles, relish and other condiments made by the couple.
A sampling: The Green Garden features Kamuela avocado and kale, goat and jack cheeses, and tarragon herb pesto assembled on rosemary-Asiago bread that incorporates Swiss, Gruyere and Asiago cheeses; and The Purple Pig, with kalua pig, smoked Gouda and jack cheeses, dressed in a lomi tomato relish and served on sweet taro bread.
Among customer favorites is the Kimcheese, with butter-sauteed kim chee and scallions, and Monterey jack cheese served between slices of dark wheat.
“The jack binds the kim chee; it’s an oozy sandwich but crunchy from the cabbage,” said Will. “People tell us if we take it off the menu they will be so mad.”
The Red Barn even accommodates folks who don’t want any cheese or butter in their grilled sandwiches. In that case, says Will, the crew grills veggie-filled sandwiches in a little bit of olive oil to crisp it up. At the other end of the spectrum is an especially beloved special, the Cheeseburger Melt featuring local beef.
The Quejas say it didn’t occur to them that their popular bacon jam and pickles — which include cucumber pickles, pickled onions and beet-pickled eggs, a Midwestern condiment — would be hot commodities.
“We wanted to bring something new to the Big Island,” said Will. “That way, people could try something new and exciting and still be here. They don’t need to go away to get new things.”
The catalyst for change for the couple was the death of Will’s brother in 2014, a loss that made revamping their lives more urgent.
Though Hualalai was a premier venue even in the Four Seasons universe, Will’s promotions took him away from what he loved most: cooking. Instead, he spent those long work hours as a manager and administrator. “If you’re an artist, it’s hard not to have a palette,” said April.
When he broke the news that he was leaving, the hotel tried to find a new position for him that would accommodate his needs.
“But it was time for me to see my goals through, to be with my family more,” he said.
Though he no longer faces 14-hour workdays, there’s no denying the Red Barn requires hard work, down to “the kids sleeping in the living room Friday nights so I can carry them into the van early Saturday morning,” at the start of their long day.
Now, the Quejas are working on buying a food truck to broaden Red Barn’s reach. They already have an invitation to join a food truck rally that takes place on first Fridays in Hilo. Then there’s another market in Kona on Fridays, and one in Hamakua on Sundays.
“There are plenty of opportunities coming our way as we go along,” said Will.
But even with all the hustle and bustle, the business still allows ample time for Will to father his brood: a 9-year-old daughter and three sons, ages 7, 5 and 18 months. In fact, the baby has come to be known as “Daddy’s little opihi.”
“I’ve definitely changed a lot of diapers in the past seven months,” he said with a laugh.
But while you can take the man out of Hualalai …
“I took my sandwiches to several functions and some people said, ‘Wow, it’s just like the Four Seasons.’”
Great grilled cheese
Chef Will Queja has these tips for a well-executed sandwich:
>> Bread is key: To take your sandwich from regular to gourmet, use “really good bread,” something with body. Queja features a wide variety on his menu, including wheat with flax seeds, sourdough and an Asiago cheese bread with three types of cheese baked in.
>> Soft and semisoft cheeses are good foundations: Use any cheese you want, but if it doesn’t melt evenly (such as blue cheese), combine it with a meltable cheese such as cheddar, jack or fontina.
>> Lots of butter: It takes more than you’d think, but if you’re generous with it, the bread will develop a nice brown, crisp crust. >> Cast iron is tops: Use a cast-iron pan prewarmed on medium-high heat.
>> Avoid sogginess: Moisture is bad in a grilled-cheese sandwich, so when using a wet ingredient, such as a tomato, roast or oven-dry it before adding it to the sandwich. Queja sautes mushrooms for the same reason; an added bonus is that caramelization adds flavor. He also likes to use kale but first blanches it and squeezes out the water.
