Roy’s celebrates 30th anniversary with food tour

I was a young writer-editor when I applied for the first position that came available at the paper I grew up with, the Star-Bulletin. I got the job as a page designer, but out of the blue came the question, “Do you want to write restaurant reviews?” My resume showed some experience dining with and interviewing chefs for advertorial pieces in another publication.

Our then publisher, Catherine Shen, was married to San Francisco chef and author Bruce Cost and knew very well how big the foodie scene was in that city. But there was no local restaurant scene to speak of and when the restaurant critic position was opened to the whole newsroom prior to my arrival, no one jumped. “Foodie” was not yet a part of the local lexicon and the other writers were certain that there weren’t enough restaurants in Honolulu to sustain the column for a year.

I started documenting restaurants in August 1988, not knowing Hawaii was about to go viral nationwide with the December arrival of Roy Yamaguchi and his flagship restaurant Roy’s, in Hawaii Kai.

Thirty years later, I’m still writing my column and it just may be because of Yamaguchi, who helped create a state full of foodies.

In Dickens style, I tried to imagine a world in which Yama­guchi did not arrive when he did. We had pockets of great talent, but everyone was doing their own thing. Yamaguchi was one of the catalysts for bringing chefs on four islands together under the Hawaii Regional Cuisine banner. Through national television appearances, restaurant expansion outside of Honolulu, and being the first chef working in Hawaii to earn a James Beard Award, he brought media attention to Hawaii’s burgeoning restaurant scene.

If not for Yamaguchi, “Hawaii’s dining scene would look like Michel’s,” said Philip Shaw, general manager of Michel’s at the Colony Surf. “There was French cuisine, Italian, Chinese, but we didn’t have a Hawaii identity.

“Roy was cutting edge in California and when he came, he challenged everyone else to be more creative.”

“He raised the bar and helped set the stage for many things to come, including the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival,” said Melanie Kosaka of First Daughter Mediaworks, who for six years produced the TV series, “Hawaii Cooks with Roy Yamaguchi,” which aired nationwide and in 66 countries.

“He created the path for other chefs’ success and showed younger chefs what’s possible.”

I caught up with Yamaguchi at the launch of his yearlong 30th anniversary celebration at Roy’s Hawaii Kai location Thursday.

The event was a kick off for Roy’s 30th Anniversary Food Tour, a year’s worth of charitable events marking the milestone. Yamaguchi’s dishes were served along with those of contemporaries Alan Wong and George Mavrothalassitis, plus two more generations of chefs, Ed Kenney, Colin Hazama, Chris Kajioka, Michelle Kerr-Ueoka, Andrew Le, Mark Noguchi and Lee Anne Wong.

Yamaguchi said he never imagined building an empire, and that his success came as a surprise. He said he had no clue he might be a big deal here until “people started writing about it. I was just doing what I loved to do. I wasn’t trying to prove anything.

“My cousin is a Realtor who lives in Portlock and said I should take a look at this building in Hawaii Kai. I felt I had the kind of food that was a good fit in Hawaii but had no idea whether it would work. I did zero market research.”

Although Yamaguchi’s father grew up on Maui, the chef was raised and educated in Japan, and spent summer vacations in Hawaii, where he was introduced to local flavors.

He became hooked on culinary pursuits after being introduced to basic cooking techniques in a home ec class, and at 18 left Japan to study at the Culinary Institute of America. Before moving to Hawaii for good, he had worked at L’Escoffier, L’Ermitage and other upscale California restaurants with their stand-alone cuisines before realizing, “I wanted to do something utilizing my heritage and incorporating the flavors of my father’s cooking and ingredients I had grown up eating.”

He opened his first restaurant, 385 North, in Hollywood in 1984. Since then, he has opened about 31 restaurants. He doesn’t keep track, having sold interest in Roy’s mainland restaurants to Outback Steakhouse. He retains ownership of 10 Roy’s restaurants in Hawaii, including Roy’s Beach House, Eating House 1849 and Humble Market Kitchin concepts.

Ideas continue to come to him, and this year, he aims to open Goen Dining + Bar at the new Lau Hala Shops in Kailua, a shopping and dining complex under construction. The 100-seat restaurant will specialize in locally sourced seafood with Yamaguchi’s signature Asian-inspired flavors.

“This is life to me. I enjoy every aspect of the business. I love cooking, I enjoy making deals, I love taking care of customers. In this business, you can do a lot for people.”

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.