A culinary adventure

Two chefs, four hands, one unforgettable evening. Hoku’s at The Kahala Hotel & Resort’s next Huakai chef series collaboration dinner is coming June 24. This one-night-only event features a special menu from The Kahala’s executive chef Jonathan Mizukami and guest chef Seunghyun Jo, former chef de cuisine of Benu, a three-Michelin star restaurant located in San Francisco.

“The intent (through this Huakai series) is to bring in these great chefs for the kamaaina and locals to be exposed to them,” Mizukami explains. “Chefs of this caliber don’t come to Hawaii on a regular basis; it’s an opportunity for locals to come and experience their cooking without traveling anywhere. It’s the chance for them to try something different that they normally wouldn’t have the chance to try.”

Partnering with Seunghyun Jo for the upcoming dinner was an easy decision, per Mizukami.

“This one comes full circle — we worked together at The French Laundry, and we always stayed in touch,” Mizukami says.

“I met chef Jonathan 15 years ago at The French Laundry,” Jo says. “I learned a lot from him; I looked up to him and wanted to be like him. It’s a great honor that he called me to do this event with him.

“I went from the very bottom of the kitchen and grew to be a chef de cuisine at a three-star Michelin restaurant,” he adds. “The reason why I could be in that position is because of chef Jonathan’s mentoring when I was working with him. It’s a great honor.”

Hoku’s is known for its French-influenced cuisine combined with fresh, local flavors, and this collaboration dinner features Hawaii ingredients blended with Korean cuisine.

“I’ve trained in French restaurants and learned all these techniques, and I wanted to combine it with Korean cuisine,” Jo says.

“I’ve been working on a lot of Korean-influenced dishes already; I want to introduce fine Korean cuisine and show chef Jonathan how much I’ve improved.”

“Chef Jo’s food has a very distinct style to it — it’s very Korean,” Mizukami adds. “I had to make sure my food meshes with what he’s doing, while staying true to my style and techniques. He’s featuring very Asian flavors — very Korean flavors — and I’m sure there’s a lot of French technique, too. My flavors have to pair well with what he’s doing to make sure the menu is cohesive.”

The dinner will begin with Jo’s grilled river eel tart with crab and taro root salad, along with Mizukami’s misoyaki brandade.

The latter is made with salted cod and pays homage to miso butterfish, a local favorite.

“I’m staying true to the French technique, but I put in the miso to pair with chef Jo’s flavors for that course,” Mizukami says. “It’s going to be very tasty.”

Next up is “Mulhwe,” Jo’s Kona abalone, kombu-cured fluke, bigfin squid, sea urchin, oyster and dongchimi.

“This traditional Korean food is typically a fisherman’s food,” Jo says. “Abalone, oysters, shellfish and fish are usually put together in one bowl and it’s usually very spicy — the sauces are spicy with lots of chile flakes — and it’s a rustic kind of dish. I make this with a fermented kimchi liquid sauce and sea urchin — when you eat it, you can have all the seafood really fresh with a refreshing flavor and taste.”

Next is Mizukami’s raviolo, which features Waialua Hen egg, housemade ricotta, vine-ripened Kawamata tomatoes and Kona lobster.

“Ravioli is pasta, but raviolo has egg yolk in it,” Mizukami explains. “When you cut open your pasta, it will have a soft, poached egg yolk in the middle and have a sauce with it.”

That’s followed by the collaboration Kona kanpachi dish, featuring loin confit, kale, Hawaiian hearts of palm, puffed grains and smoked bone broth, along with marinated belly with fine vegetables.

“We talked about what we wanted to do,” Mizukami says. “He’s (Jo) doing the belly, which will be in a raw format with vegetables, so it’s a cooked loin with raw belly.

“We take the kanpachi bones and dry and smoke them to make a broth — instead of using bonito — to get that same umami flavor and a little bit of smokiness to the broth.”

“The fish we are using is a fatty kind of fish,” Jo adds. “I’m going to take the belly and cure and marinate it, and I’m going to garnish it with a lot of julienned (thin-cut) vegetables with a lot of different colors.”

Jo is especially looking forward to his next course — charcoal-grilled beef short rib with short grain rice, assorted lettuce, tomato Ssamjang, kohlrabi kkakdugi, marinated clams and dried pickled daikon.

“This grilled beef short rib will be served Korean barbecue style,” Jo says. “I’m going to serve rice and all the condiments.

“Ssamjang is a Korean bean paste but I’ll dilute it with tomato jam and combine the two to make it more mild and approachable,” he adds. “It’s traditional Korean food, but more approachable and refined.”

Concluding the meal is Mizukami’s white sesame panna cotta made with Japanese black sugar, toasted soy bean and sikhye.

“I wanted something lighter to go with the theme,” Mizukami says. “This panna cotta is silky, soft and mild in flavor. The white sesame is reminiscent of a peanut butter or molasses flavor — a little nutty — and in honor of chef Jo, I’m doing a rice dessert (sikhye). It’s like a rice milk — horchata, but Korean-style — so that will bring it all together.

“It’s a fun menu; it’s very different, but I tried to stay true to my technique,” he adds. “I’m pretty excited about it, and it’s always good to catch up with chefs (through these dinners) — to see them and work together again.”

This collaboration dinner is just the start of new adventures for Jo, who plans to head back to South Korea.

“After this event in Hawaii, I’ll be opening up a restaurant in Seoul,” he says.

“In the future, you might hear of this guy in Korea — this three-star Michelin chef,” Mizukami says. “It’s always great to collab with people I worked with before and see how we’ve grown or changed, how we defined our craft and seeing where we are in our careers.”

The Huakai Chef Series is June 24 and costs $285 per person. Call 808-739-8760 or visit hokuskahala.com or opentable.com to reserve your seat.