AMESBURY — Deval Patrick is a fan, and now all of Maui is too. Amesbury's go-to pizza joint, Flatbread Pizza, is celebrating its second year in Paia, Maui. The beachside restaurant has already won acclaim from Travel + Leisure magazine and is a favorite of locals and tourists alike.

"We fill a niche there," said owner Jay Gould. "They like the flatbread and the all-natural ingredients."

Still, Hawaiians have a different palate than New Englanders, which is why Gould chose to alter the menu — including a vegan macadamia nut pesto pizza. Even the oven is a little different — it was made from clay from the island, giving it a red hue.

"We added a flatbread called the Mopsy, named after the woman who lived behind the restaurant," said Gould. Amesbury general manager Shane Pine liked the pizza so much that he added the best-selling pulled-pork flatbread with pineapple to the Amesbury location's menu last month.

"Wherever we go, we go local," said Stacy Drouin, regional manager. "We make sure to buy local produce and cheeses. The great thing about Paia is that they have agriculture and farming all year round."

The Amesbury native, who has been with Flatbread for more than 10 years, went to Maui to help management for three weeks and ended up liking it so much that she stayed a year. Her sister, Jody Drouin, has worked for Flatbread for six years. She went to the Paia location with Stacy and is still there.

In 2006, Gould was prompted by a friend to look at a building for sale in the surf community of Paia.

"A bunch of us likes to surf, so we went out and looked at it. We loved the place," Gould said. And as a surfer, the warm Maui waves are inherently more appealing than the frigid New England waters.

"The waves were double overhead!" said Pine.

Pine worked at the Maui location for three and a half weeks while they were short-staffed. Soon, workers from the Amesbury and Portsmouth locations leaped at the opportunity as well, opting to move to the island with a guaranteed job.

"It was a great opportunity for these young kids to travel," said Gould. "We made it easier for them, helped find them a place to live."

Drouin said that in addition to customers from Holland and New Zealand, even loyal New England customers found a way to make it out.

"We have this really great couple that always comes to Amesbury Flatbread," Drouin said. "For their 40th anniversary, they took a honeymoon to Maui and visited the Flatbread there."

Currently, Gould and his partners, George Schenk and John Meehan, are looking into opening a Salem location, after striking out in British Columbia.

With locations in Portland, North Conway, Portsmouth, Canton and Bedford, Gould said that he does not want to franchise the store because he wants to be able to keep control of each location and make sure they are staying true to Flatbread's mission.

"We don't want to put that responsibility on people. What happens if they don't make money? What happens if they change the menu?" Gould said. "We'd rather just deal with it ourselves."

Like the New England locations, Gould insists on the Paia restaurant being a part of that community— through its support and use of local farmers, to the fundraisers held there. Every Tuesday is "benefit night" where $3.50 of every large pizza and $1.75 of every small pizza is donated to a selected organization.

"One of the nights, the fundraising was for a group of 3- to 8-year-olds so they could learn hula and local culture," Drouin said. "It's a great community feeling there. Even though it's halfway across the world, it's still home."