Three chefs redefining the flavors of Hawaii

The food of Hawaii is not monolithic. Instead, the archipelago’s vibrant culinary culture — powered by fresh seafood, tropical produce and starchy foundational components like taro and rice — falls roughly into two main categories. There’s Hawaiian cuisine (native food cooked by indigenous Hawaiians) and then there is what is often called island or local food: the cuisine that incorporates post-contact elements from colonizers and influences from around the globe, especially Asia.

These three chefs celebrate the island chain’s colorful gastronomic heritage and history in deeply personal ways that taste very much of the moment.

Sheldon Simeon

The most high-profile ambassador for the contemporary food of Hawaii may be Sheldon Simeon. The “Top Chef” breakout star and author of “Cook Real Hawaii” owns two restaurants on Maui: Tiffany’s, a neighborhood favorite blending Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Portuguese flavors, and Tin Roof, which specializes in plate lunches and creative comfort food inspired by the islands.

“There is a constant back and forth between preservation and evolution as we pay homage to history and the ingredients that we have here,” Simeon says.

At Tiffany’s, a standout is saimin, a Chinese-influenced soup-noodle dish often compared to ramen. Over at Tin Roof, fried mochiko chicken is a specialty. “The batter is made with glutinous rice flour, which creates this wonderful crispy, yet chewy, exterior that’s very distinct to Hawaii,” he says.

Simeon says the goal for all his ventures is to create community, feed locals and visitors alike and serve dishes that reflect the way people eat on the islands.

“On the surface, our food may look simple, and seem very humble,” he says. “But if you dig a little deeper to discover the stories behind it and the context around it, you’ll find its true ono (deliciousness).”

Kealoha Domingo

As a youngster growing up on Oahu, Kealoha Domingo ate much the same way his Indigenous ancestors ate for hundreds of years. His dinner table was frequently graced with poi (steamed taro mashed into a purple paste), lau lau (butterfish and fatty pork wrapped in taro leaves then swaddled in ti leaves and steamed), haupia (coconut pudding) and pig roasted in a traditional underground oven known as an imu.

After some twists and turns in his career path, Domingo returned to his culinary roots in 2010, opening catering and events company Nui Kealoha, which focuses on highlighting traditional foodways while innovating with a contemporary mindset. “I’m moving forward, but looking backwards,” says the celebrated chef, who has cooked at the James Beard House in New York and Minnesota’s Indigenous Chef Expo.

Later this year, Domingo will open his first brick-and-mortar restaurant inside the Capitol Modern art museum in downtown Honolulu, where he will serve a mixture of iconic indigenous dishes alongside more modern-minded Hawaiian cuisine.

Brian Hirata

During his 12 years as a professor of culinary arts at Hawaii Community College, Brian Hirata usually gave new students a pop quiz on identifying local ingredients. Often, they returned the papers blank, unable to identify a single item.

The lack of knowledge was shocking and heartbreaking for the chef. Born on the Big Island of Hawaii, his Japanese American family taught him to fish, hunt and identify edible wild plants, such as cranberry-adjacent ohelo berries and various seaweeds.

Hirata decided his true calling as an educator was to reconnect locals and introduce visitors to the bounty of the lands and waters of the tropical archipelago. In 2021, he launched Na‘au Hilo, a now weekly pop-up tasting menu dinner at a farm on the eastern shore of the Big Island. “The name literally means ‘guts’ or ‘intestines’ in Hawaiian,” says the two-time James Beard Award semifinalist, “but Hawaiians also believe it’s where your soul resides.”

Hirata and his staff forage for wild ingredients to showcase alongside local produce and meat and the array of seafood from the surrounding waters. It is a circular process of discovery, enlightenment, and transmission. “There’s always something to learn,” Hirata says. “That’s what keeps it exciting.”