Iron Chef Sakai to open Waikiki restaurant

Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai, left, holds a press conference at DFS Galleria in Waikiki on Wednesday, Feb. 1. At right is Miho Makimura, president of Chef Sakai USA. (Star-Advertiser photo by Dennis Oda)

BY NINA WU / nwu@staradvertiser.com

Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai has always loved Hawaii — and thanks to a deal struck with DFS Galleria Waikiki, he will open a new restaurant on Oahu later this year.

Sakai of Hawaii, a casual, bistro-style restaurant, is slated to open this summer in the current Starbucks location at DFS Galleria. It will be an open-air space with plenty of outdoor seating and prices will be affordable, he said during a press conference today in Waikiki. The bistro will be open for brunch, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.

Sakai of Hawaii Opening July 2012 DFS Galleria, ground floor Open 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily

“French cuisine is like fashion, complex in flavor and design,” he said through an interpreter in an email sent before the press conference. “Japanese cuisine has four seasons and the presentation is beautiful. I love to combine the two.”

Unlike most Japanese chefs, who use shoyu, miso and other Japanese flavors as a base, Sakai said his base is butter, white wine, mire poix and classical French stock. He will combine Japanese and French flavors, adding touches familiar to Hawaii’s palate, yet reinterpreted. There will also be a signature dish for the restaurant, which has yet to be unveiled, said Sakai.

He plans to showcase local produce and seafood in his dishes, but gave no specifics as he continues to explore all that Hawaii has to offer. He said his approach will be “farm-to-table” and “ocean-to-table.”

“Hawaii has some of the most beautiful landscapes,” Sakai said. “With that comes great produce and seafood.”

Sakai of Hawaii will also offer coffee grown throughout the Aloha state.

Sakai, 69, is best known as Iron Chef French on the original Japanese television series “Iron Chef.” He first appeared on the show in 1994 and was on it for nine seasons. Besides being an advisor for Benihana restaurants, he’s a member of the Club des Trente, an organization of French chefs in Japan.

The award-winning chef is often described as the Delacroix of French cuisine because of his meticulous presentation of dishes, and will of course, bring that to Sakai of Hawaii.

“We eat with our eyes as much as we eat with our palate,” he said.

Sakai also made an appearance on the first episode of “Iron Chef America” on Food Network, competing head-to-head with Iron Chef Bobby Flay in “Battle Trout” in 2004. During that battle, he made trout ice cream.

Sakai lost, but when asked whether he’d  be willing to take Bobby Flay on again, he said, “absolutely,” with no hesitation. Sakai said he has a great deal of respect for Flay.

Would he try making trout ice cream again?

“No,” said Sakai. “The texture and look of it was beautiful, but the taste was terrible.”

Sakai will serve as lead chef for the new venture, while his right-hand chef, Toshiyuko Kudo from Japan’s La Rochelle restaurant, will be head chef. He will look to hire a chef de cuisine locally as well as local employees. Sakai of Hawaii will also offer a full bar and will be available for both private events and wedding banquets.

While Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto (who opened Morimoto Waikiki) is a dear friend, he said he wasn’t inspired by him to open this new Waikiki venture and hopes to collaborate. Plans for Sakai of Hawaii have been in the works since 2003.

In Japan, Sakai still runs three full-service French restaurants called La Rochelle, named after the French seaport on the Bay of Biscay. He will still be based in Tokyo, but plans to visit Hawaii often.

If you read Japanese, you might enjoy Chef Sakai’s blog.

“I love to blog,” he said. “It’s my diary and cooking is my therapy.”
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Nina Wu is a features reporter at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Email her at nwu@staradvertiser.com or follow her on Twitter.