Sale Pepe has joined forces with the Maui Chocolate Tour at Ku'ia Estates for a one-of-a-kind culinary journey rooted in Maui's agricultural spirit. The new Farm and Feast Experience takes guests from a guided tour of a 20-acre private cacao farm in Lāhainā — complete with a chocolate tasting in a treetop treehouse — to an evening dinner at Sale Pepe, where locally sourced ingredients and Italian-crafted cuisine bring the farm-to-table story full circle. The partnership reflects a shared philosophy between the two businesses: deep respect for the land, the ingredients, and the community that grows them.

In its definitive guide to the best pizza across the island, the award-winning Maui Nō Ka ʻOi Magazine spotlights Sale Pepe as home to Maui's only certified pizzaiolo. The feature highlights Michele Di Bari's Italian training at the Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli, his three-to-four-day dough fermentation process, and the weekly shipment of Italian cheeses and cured meats that make each pie possible — alongside standout pies like the spicy soppressata Calabrese and the mortadella with pistachio and burrata. The guide also honors the Di Baris' commitment to Lāhainā, noting their rebuild in the same community after the 2023 wildfire.

W Magazine tapped three Maui locals — a swimwear designer, a pro windsurfer, and six-time James Beard-nominated chef Sheldon Simeon — for the definitive insider's guide to the island. Among their where-to-eat picks: Sale Pepe, called out as an independent Italian gem from a Milanese chef and Brooklyn native who lost their home and restaurant in the Lahaina fire and rebuilt. The guide highlights the restaurant's commitment to locally sourced ingredients alongside Italian-imported flour, fior di latte, and bufala mozzarella — housemade pastas and artisanal pizzas served the way they were always meant to be.

Resy sat down with Qiana and Michele Di Bari for a deep dive into the story behind Sale Pepe — from Michele's roots in Milan and the lessons learned at Brooklyn's legendary Franny's, to the 2023 Lahaina wildfire that destroyed everything they'd built, and the remarkable community-fueled comeback that made Sale Pepe the first restaurant on the island to rebuild and reopen. Writer Lizzie Takimoto traces a decade of dough craft, aloha spirit, and the kind of neighborhood hospitality that keeps people coming back — and that had the community raising $100,000 to make sure they did.

Two-time James Beard Award winner and Resy managing editor Jon Bonné set out to map the state of pizza across America — and Sale Pepe made the cut. In his sweeping essay on the rise of the country's pizza culture, Bonné calls out Qiana and Michele Di Bari's Maui restaurant as proof that pizza exceptionalism now reaches every corner of the country, noting the restaurant's signature Milan-Brooklyn spirit as a prime example of the hybrid, deeply personal approach defining the best pizzerias in the nation today.

The beloved Italian trattoria is back on Lahaina's dining map — and brighter than ever. The Infatuation named Sale Pepe to its annual guide to the best restaurants in Maui, praising the pillowy focaccia gonfia, housemade pastas like the mafaldine with braised beef cheek, and the warm, welcoming energy that makes it the kind of place you'll want to squeeze in one last dinner before your flight home.

Chef Michele Di Bari, owner of Sale Pepe Pizzeria e Cucina in Lahaina and Via! by Sale Pepe in Kāʻanapali, was named a semifinalist in the prestigious 2026 James Beard Awards. Known as Maui’s only certified pizzaiolo, Chef Michele was recognized among 19 other semifinalists in the Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA) category.

A Lahaina restaurateur has been named a semifinalist for one of the culinary world’s most prestigious honors, marking a bright spot for the West Maui dining scene as it recovers from the 2023 wildfires.

Chef Michele Di Bari, owner of Sale Pepe Pizzeria e Cucina in Lahaina and Via! by Sale Pepe in Kāʻanapali, was announced Thursday as a semifinalist for the 2026 James Beard Awards.

Nine Hawai‘i chefs and restaurants are among just over 500 nationwide who are in the running for the 2026 James Beard Awards. Those named as semifinalists in a press release this morning by the New York-based James Beard Foundation include four nominated for national awards and five for Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific. Five of the nine are first-time semifinalists for the leading culinary awards in the U.S.

Aloha State Daily recently spoke with the Di Baris ahead of the ahead of the second anniversary of the fire to talk about their experience during the tragedy, their rebuilding — and their newest endeavor.

Maui wildfire survivors Michele and Qiana Di Bari were able to move back to their Lahaina home last year, but they say it has been at least six months since they have visited Front Street, where their decade-old restaurant Sale Pepe Pizzeria e Cucina was lost to the flames.

In honor and remembrance of the second anniversary of the 2023 Lahaina wildfires, Sale Pepe Pizzeria e Cucina is donating all proceeds from its Margherita Pizza throughout August to the Maui Pono Foundation.

The first restaurant to fully rebuild and reopen in Lahaina following the 2023 Maui wildfires is giving back to the community.

On Wednesday, Sale Pepe Pizzeria e Cucina announced it’s donating all proceeds from each margherita pizza serving to the Maui Pono Foundation throughout the month of August.

There’s a new culinary addition to Whaler’s Village in Kaanapali, bringing a bit of New York City flair to Maui. Via! by Sale Pepe is a fresh new concept to Maui’s dining scene that debuted recently.

Via! by Sale Pepe, a fresh new concept to Maui’s culinary scene has arrived at Whalers Village in Kāʻanapali. Husband-and-wife restaurateurs Michele and Qiana Di Bari bring a fast casual twist to the Italian flavors that made their Lahaina favorite, Sale Pepe Pizzeria e Cucina, a beloved dining destination.