Some say success resides at the intersection of preparation and opportunity. If that’s the case, Tim Moore and his daughter Maddie are truly successful people.
Tim Moore has wanted to open a restaurant for more than three decades, but he wasn’t ready, wasn’t mature enough and, more importantly, didn’t have the resources. The opportunity just wasn’t there.
Opportunity.
For Maddie Moore, she’s been preparing some mouth-watering pastries for online clients and wholesale accounts and building a loyal following at farmers’ markets around Kansas City.
Preparation.
And soon, all of Olathe will be lucky enough to taste the fruits of their passionate labor when Mahalo Mornings, a new Hawaii-inspired breakfast, brunch and bakery concept, opens in downtown Olathe.
Together, the father-daughter duo is bringing their dreams to life.
“It’s a dream of my daughter’s to have a bakery and a restaurant,” Tim Moore said. “When I was in my 20s, I worked for Houston’s restaurant, and I always had a dream to have a restaurant as well. It just didn’t come to fruition back then. I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t mature enough. I didn’t have the money and no one was willing to invest in me.”
Now, the timing finally feels right.
At her father’s encouragement, Maddie started waiting tables at 15 to learn customer service and communication before expanding her skills into kitchen operations, working alongside personal chefs and developing a passion for baking.
“She’s always had an affinity and a love for baking,” Tim Moore said.
A KitchenAid mixer that he bought his daughter when she was 18 became the foundation for what would eventually grow into Mahalo Mornings.
“I grew up cooking and baking,” Maddie Moore said. “My favorite thing about food is that it brings everyone together, and some of my best memories are all related to what I was eating, what restaurant we went to, whether it was a trip or just around here. You always remember that great meal.”
The family launched an online bakery, building a loyal following through wholesale accounts, farmers markets and pop-up events across the Kansas City area. Today, social media has helped introduce customers to Maddie’s pastries long before a storefront has even opened.
“She’s done a tremendous job growing it, organically,” he said. “People come up to us at pop-ups and say they follow us on Instagram. It’s amazing to see how many people have found us.”
While the bakery, in its current form, has been successful, the Moores wanted something more. And downtown Olathe is exactly what they were looking for.
“We got married and started our family here,” Tim Moore said. “And Maddie grew up in Olathe and we wanted to plant roots, so it made sense to plant roots here (in downtown Olathe).”
Finishing the inside space is expected to begin after the developer (Lane4 Properties) turns over the downtown space early this fall, with the family targeting an opening roughly three months later.
The restaurant’s design will embrace an open industrial look while incorporating authentic Hawaii inspired touches. The family plans to bring home vintage surfboards from an upcoming trip to Hawaii to transform into tabletops, while Maddie’s boyfriend, a tattoo artist, may create a custom mural inside the restaurant.
“This place is kind of bringing together two of my favorite things – cooking and baking, but also creating that sense of family and community,” Maddie Moore added.
The downtown Olathe location itself was a major draw.
With downtown continuing to experience significant investment and new development, Moore believes Mahalo Mornings fills an important role for residents, downtown employees and visitors looking for a unique breakfast or lunch destination.
“With everything going on downtown, there’s just not a lot of places for people to go eat during the day,” he said. “We wanted to be that destination where people can come, create memories and reconnect with experiences they’ve had in Hawaii — or experience a little piece of it for the first time.”
For Moore, Mahalo Mornings represents far more than opening a restaurant.
“We wanted that storefront presence,” Moore said. “A place where we could create an emotional connection where it’s not just a transaction. We wanted it to be a place where people want to come, be part of the family and feel welcome.”
That sense of family is reflected in the restaurant’s name.
“Mahalo” means “thank you” in Hawaiian, while “ohana” means family — a word Moore hopes will define every guest’s experience.
“Welcome to our Ohana,” he said. “Our little Hawaii-inspired family here in Kansas City.”
The inspiration grew from years of family vacations to the islands, where Maddie fell in love with the culture, hospitality and community.
“She said, ‘What can we do to bring a little bit of Hawaii to Kansas City?'” Moore recalled. “She grew up in Olathe, so we wanted to plant roots here.”
When Mahalo Mornings opens, customers can expect everything from fresh pastries to hearty breakfast and lunch offerings. The restaurant plans to serve breakfast sandwiches, breakfast burritos, biscuits and gravy, French toast, soups, salads and sandwiches, with hours expected to run from early morning through mid-afternoon.
Everything will be made from scratch, blending locally sourced ingredients whenever possible with flavors inspired by the islands.
“It’s going to be really, really good quality,” Maddie Moore said. “I’m going to make everything from scratch. It’s all my own recipes, so I’m really excited to bring this to the community. I always love to make people happy and I’m so excited for all of it.”
Signature menu items include malasadas, pineapple banana bread, lilikoi bars, chocolate espresso brownies and a Hawaiian chocolate chip cookie featuring macadamia nuts and coconut.
Among the bakery’s biggest hits are Maddie’s twice-baked croissants with frangipane filling, pistachio croissants, almond croissants and butter mochi, a gluten-free Hawaiian dessert.
The malasadas, which originated in Portugal and brought to Hawaii in the late 19th century, have already developed a devoted following.
Moore recalls one customer who grew up in Hawaii making a special trip to the Farmers Market after hearing they served the Hawaiian doughnuts.
“He came the first week, but we had already sold out,” Moore said. “The next week we made one filled with haupia, which is the coconut cream he grew up with. It’s just fun to build those relationships with people.”
It’s the realization of two dreams separated by a generation and brought together by family, hospitality and a desire to make every customer feel at home.
Lucky us.