Mixed Plate Special - Q&A: Chef Jason Takemura

Q&A: Chef Jason Takemura

Sunday, January 18 2009

Chef Jason Takemura is the executive chef at the Hukilau Sports Bar & Grill at Executive Centre in downtown. The 31-year-old Mid-Pac and UH grad who attended culinary school in Portland, Ore. brings with him four years of valuable experience running the kitchen at the award-winning Chai’s Island Bistro. At Hukilau, Takemura gets creative with flavor and presentation, expanding the boundaries of traditional island comfort foods. Chef Jason talks to Mixed Plate Special about super bentos, what makes chefs happy, and why it’s a good thing he wasn’t so great at Nintendo.

Describe the menu concept at Hukilau Honolulu. How does this Hukilau differ from its sister restaurants in the Bay Area?

The menu here is completely different than the mainland one. It’s more of my background—a lot of Pacific Rim and California cuisine fused together. All of our fish is local and brought in daily. We also just added Nalo greens to support the local farms.

The concept I tried to do is to take food that everyone grew up knowing and put my own twist on it. The portabello katsu sandwich, for example. Everyone does grilled portabello Napoleon, but I added texture to the dish by doing it katsu-style and added richness with the brie cheese.

What are your recommendations for first-timers?

If they’re going to come in for lunch, I would recommend the bento box. It’s an upscale bento with four courses all put out at once—perfect for business people who have limited time. It’s usually a salad, appetizer, entrée, and desert—for example, Asian chicken salad, crab cake with roasted pepper remoulade, crab-and-brie-stuffed salmon and green tea panna cotta or bread pudding. The bento changes daily.

Can you share one lesson you learned from your four years at Chai's that you can now apply in your new role at Hukilau?

The biggest lesson I learned is that you cannot please everyone although you always strive to. As long as you do things to the best of your ability and you’re satisfied with the product, you should be happy with that. What one person is eating might be to him the best thing in the world. And then someone else could come in and have the same thing and think differently.

What's the most stressful part of your shift?

The lunch rush. At 11, it gets pretty full in here. Everyone has time limits, and their breaks are all at the same time. We get people from all around downtown, from Alakea to the Capitol.

What's the most rewarding part about being an executive chef?

Walking through a full dining room and knowing you could please a bunch of people. I like to talk to the tables and get their feedback. Seeing people come back two or three times a week, you know you’re making them happy.

It's your birthday. Where are you going to eat?

Definitely, now I think it’s Nobu. I just went on Sunday and it was awesome. I would make my own tasting menu. Before, I think it would have been The Bistro, before it shut down.

Did you like to cook as a kid? If so, what was your specialty?

Yes. When I was really young my specialties were probably saimin and grilled cheese. Later, I mastered spaghetti. I used to play my brother Nintendo for who would have to cook, and I always lost.

When you host visitors, what is one restaurant you definitely take them to?

I love Tokkuri-Tei. I love that you can order a bunch of

different things and try them rather than ordering just one entrée.

What, to you, is comfort food?

Comfort food is food that I grew up eating. Spaghetti, lasagna, meat loaf.

What is the most inventive thing going on in the Hawai‘i culinary world right now, and who is doing it?

A lot of guys with backgrounds on the mainland are doing things that are new to Hawai‘i—not new to the culinary world, but new to Hawai‘i. Like foams. Foams are pretty old on the mainland, but in Hawai‘i, it’s somewhat newer. Hiroshi does a lot of these.

The guys at The Bistro used to do really good things. They tried to go over the top as far as being creative and experimenting with new things. They did foie gras with French toast. On the mainland, it’s not so new, but everyone in Hawai‘i still does it pan-seared with brioche toast points. These guys took it to another level.

Hukilau Sports Bar & Grill
Executive Centre
1088 Bishop St.
523-3460
Hours: Mon–Fri, breakfast 6:30–10am, lunch 11am–2pm, huki hour 4–6pm, dinner 6–9pm; Sat, dinner only 6–9pm