Azure chef serves isle flavors to esteemed organization

Cooking on the culinary holy ground of the James Beard Foundation House in New York is a career milestone for any chef, and for Shaymus Alwin, chef de cuisine at Azure in the Royal Hawaiian, it was especially emotional.

His father, a Maine lobsterman, died unexpectedly over the summer at age 61. “My goal was to get him (to) the event … but it wasn’t in the cards,” said Alwin, who was named after his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

“I dedicated (the evening) to my father. His birthday was the day before.”

Alwin was among about 300 chefs invited to cook at the Beard House this year. Only one other Hawaii chef has made the journey in 2016 — Isaac Bancaco from the Andaz Maui at Wailea.

In Alwin’s case, a hotel executive submitted an application, and once it was accepted, about 5 tons worth of logistics had to be worked out.

The eight-member Royal Hawaiian team required airfare and accommodations, of course, but arrangements also had to be made for a half-dozen carefully packed, 4-foot-long insulated boxes of food, wine and special ingredients.

“We brought as much of Hawaii to New York as we possibly could,” Alwin said.

Visiting chefs are expected to cover their own expenses, with proceeds from the dinner going to Beard Foundation programs such as scholarships and grants, chef boot camps on sustainability and healthful food, and kids’ food festivals to combat childhood obesity.

Dara Young, director of public relations for Starwood Waikiki, which manages the hotel, estimated the cost to the hotel at around $25,000, some of it covered by donations from partners such as Hawaii Ranchers, Southern Wine &Spirits and Hawaiian Airlines, who provided food, wine, flowers, airfare, cargo and other services.

“It’s a huge undertaking for any organization, regardless of size,” Alwin said.

Not surprisingly, there was a hitch. A shipment of uni — sea urchin — did not make it to New York. As it was to be a key component of an appetizer, Dodi Preese, Royal Hawaiian’s director of food and beverage, went on the hunt.

At a sushi bar at Chelsea Market, Preese placed an order for enough uni for 80 appetizers. Did she mean two pieces of uni, she was asked. No, she needed two flats’ worth. “Dodi came back to save the day,” Alwin said.

Foundation members paid $135 for the dinner and nonmembers paid $175 — typical for an evening at the culinary temple.

Nine dishes were prepared in all, from passed appetizers to dessert, and the menu was ripe with Hawaii-grown, -raised or -made ingredients. The courses were paired with wines selected by Alwin and Micah Suderman, key account manager at Southern Wine &Spirits of Hawaii.

Pupu passed during the cocktail hour included heart of palm chawanmushi (featuring that all-important uni), Hawaii Ranchers beef tartare, “abalomi” with Kona abalone, and Kona kampachi and caviar served atop a shrimp chip.

The first course, Keahole lobster and brioche, is the chef’s take on a lobster roll. The traditional lobster roll might as well be the official state sandwich of Maine, but Alwin’s dish is an upscale, lighter-side dish that looks nothing like its mayonnaise-slathered inspiration.

“From my upbringing, with my father as a lobsterman, that dish will forever be, it will always have a place on my menu, in my arsenal,” Alwin said.

The lobster course was followed by an arti­choke vichyssoise, a dish of crispy-skinned onaga and a main course of Hawaii Ranchers rib-eye with marrow dauphine, a dish paired with — gasp — white wine, specifically, a 2014 Donnhoff Kreuznacher Krotenpfuhl Riesling Kabinett.

Alwin and Suderman went through many red wines as they tried to find the right match, but the kabayaki butter in the dish made the expected red-wine-with-beef matchup impossible.

The nontraditional pairing definitely raised eyebrows with the sold-out crowd of some 80 diners.

“That was the last course, and there was a lot of anticipation for that one,” Alwin said. “Of course I wanted everything to be perfect, but with this one, I knew I had to have the seasoning, the sauce, the acidity” just right.

After dinner, when Alwin got to meet the guests, he was prepared for questions about that pairing. “People said, ‘That really worked, and changed my perspective,’” he said.

To help transform the Beard House venue into a little bit of Hawaii, Honolulu event designer Steven Boyle created a larger-than-life pineapple using sunflowers and local foliage, among several floral pieces. Hawaii expat hula dancers and musicians performed for guests, who also received gifts from the hotel.

Among those guests was Alwin’s sister and some friends from Maine. “My extended family was there for the special moment and it’ll always be captured in my mind and memory,” Alwin said. “It was amazing.”