Celebrity Chef Sam Choy Celebrates Breadfruit Culture at Big Pine Key Dinner

Sam Choy set seven dishes before a large local crowd at Grimal Grove on March 21, making the case that a fruit most Keys residents have never tasted could help feed the archipelago for generations.

The Hawaii-born James Beard Award winner, known widely as the "godfather of poke," headlined a cultural dinner at the continental United States' only dedicated breadfruit grove, a two-acre tropical fruit sanctuary on Big Pine Key. He arrived with credentials that include designing menus for the Waldorf-Astoria and left guests with a table full of evidence that breadfruit, known locally as ʻulu, belongs in Keys kitchens.

Choy's signature tuna poke anchored the spread, but the breadfruit preparations carried the evening. Guests sampled brie wonton wraps with breadfruit and pineapple, breadfruit patties with local smoked tuna, and breadfruit chips with salsa. The fruit appeared again in a tabbouleh-quinoa-style salad, mashed alongside flank steak, and crisped into nuggets served with island garlic chicken.

"It's a very healthy food," Choy said. "It helps build strong, muscular bodies."

He also emphasized that modern preparation techniques can make breadfruit's texture and flavor more accessible to younger diners, a practical consideration for Keys restaurants from Marathon to Key West looking to build hyper-local menus.

For Patrick Garvey, owner of Grimal Grove and founder of the Growing Hope Foundation, the dinner represented the fulfillment of a decade-long effort to restore and honor the original vision of the grove's creator, Adolf Grimal. The property stands as the only dedicated breadfruit grove in the continental United States, and the Growing Hope Foundation has worked to sustain both the land and its mission.

The evening extended well beyond the table. Guests joined Russell Fielding for a tour of the grove, tracing breadfruit's travels across oceans and its introduction to the Florida Keys in the 1800s. Drums of Polynesia and fire dancers performed as the night deepened, connecting ʻulu's Pacific roots to its present-day home in the lower Keys.

That connection carries practical weight here. The Florida Keys import the vast majority of their food, and supply-chain disruptions are a chronic vulnerability. A single mature breadfruit tree can yield hundreds of fruits annually, and the crop carries a nutritional profile of complex carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamins that has sustained Pacific communities for millennia. In a region where climate pressures compound the risks of depending on outside supply chains, ʻulu looks less like a culinary novelty and more like a resilience strategy.

Choy sees the momentum building. "This whole movement with the breadfruit is going to be big," he said. "Once this thing gets off and running, it's going to be amazing."

Upcoming events at Grimal Grove are listed at grimalgrove.com/events.