Emmanuel Laroche, host of the popular Flavors Unknown podcast, led another lively discussion with panelists at StarChefs Hawaii 2025. It discussed Hawaii's food scene and where the cuisine is headed. In his latest episode, he sat down with bartender-owner Harry Chin of Pigeon Hole, chef-owner Keaka Lee of Kapa Hale, chef-owner Robynne Maii of Fête, chef-owner Chris Kajioka of Miro Kaimuki, and chef-owner Roy Yamaguchi of Roy’s Restaurants and Eating House 1849.

Culinary Beginnings

The conversation started with a fascinating look at the panelists’ journeys. For Bartender Harry, his early career scene was a middle school classroom. After five years, he felt the culinary pull and launched into Los Angeles’ bustling food and beverage scene before heading to Hawaii. 

Born in Honolulu, Chef Chris knew early on that he was destined for the industry, hopping from San Francisco to New York City before returning to Hawaii. In San Francisco, he became a business partner for a Moroccan restaurant, immersing himself in the flavorful regional spices that enhanced the bare-bones setting. As Chris described it, “I learned, you know, how to make magic from [a] pretty sub-par kitchen.”  

Echoing those challenges, Chef Roy spoke of restaurant successes and failures, learning curves, and childhood summers in Maui that shaped his desire. When a teacher suggested Home Ec, he never looked back, leading to formal culinary training and his eponymous restaurants in several states.  

Hawaii's Food Identity

Hawaii is far removed from the stereotypes of luaus, tikis, and pineapple. Still, Bartender Harry acknowledged these images and said, “It was mainly to, I guess, romanticize the idea of Polynesian island culture through a westernized kind of drinking culture. ... I feel a huge misconception, especially when people tour in Hawaii, when people go to luaus and have a Mai Tai and things like that.”

Chef Keaka added, “[T]here's a lot of us, especially I think almost everybody on this panel, that went away and learned something new and had an opportunity to learn from somebody else or bring different cultures or techniques, skill sets back to Hawaii. And I think we're all just help[ing] lift Hawaii's cuisine by training the next generation.”

Food awareness also plays a part in the modern food scene. Chef Robynne spoke of how it’s harder to bring cuisine to an island. She said, “You know, everything's flown in, or it's grown here. So, I know for us ... we talk about kuleana, like, doing our part, taking care of our resources. So that, for me, is what's really transformed.” 

Fusion and Authenticity

When the conversation turned to fusion, there was universal agreement about its essential role in both Hawaiian and global cuisine. Harry mentioned that what people experience with fusion food depends on where they are. He said, “I think it's just a constantly changing thing, and I think that's wonderful that every city's concept of fusion is different, because that's also how we exchange ideas.”

As for Hawaii, global influences have shaped the food and given it a true identity. Chef Robynne explained, “So, the Chinese cuisine, the Filipino cuisine, the Korean cuisine, the Japanese cuisine, the Portuguese cuisine, the Puerto Rican cuisine, the Hawaiian cuisine all taste very, very specific to Hawaii. And then if you even wanna go, like, more deep-deeper dive, it even varies from island to island, which is really, really interesting.”

The Ins and Outs of Poke

One of the most ubiquitous Hawaiian dishes in modern dining is poke. The panelists discussed how much it’s grown from its humble roots into a meal full of diverse ingredients and flavors. Bartender Harry said, “So, visiting Hawaii for the first time, I had no idea, like, a poke or something that resembled a chirashi bowl could be so messy and hearty and beautiful, and just comforting all at once.”

Chef Robynne spoke of poke being an accompaniment, a snack enjoyed with friends and family. She also addressed the abundance of poke and the concerns about overharvesting, saying, “I think that tuna is overfished. There's a whole political and or environmental issue around it. So, I like to think that, you know, like all things, everything in moderation, know where your food comes from, and then no one should be having it whenever [they] want it.”

Poke has also changed form, with the traditional version including seaweed, sesame, and salt seen as healthier. Chef Chris said that a lot of places, especially on the mainland, add ingredients like mayo or rich sauces, adding, “That goes away from what it is, right? And a lot of that is just masking probably not good fish.” 

Regionality is another important consideration when creating poke menus. As Chris explained, “I think to have something that has to hit [the mark] in every market, I think that's impossible. But something that is similar, but again, pulls in the regionality of it, I think that's what makes it unique and special. So … instead of trying to have the same menu everywhere and have an overarching thing, I think what makes the world special is the regionality.”

Seeking Inspiration 

Answers varied about where the panel of rising stars got their ideas. For Chef Roy, creative stimulation could come from something as simple as life itself. “I get very inspired by life. Just breathing every day is to me inspiring.” He also gets inspired by teaching and helping others. He explained, “…[W]e are now in the final stages of tasting the 50 recipes that we are going to incorporate in the school lunch program. And then later on as we build the regional kitchen, the first regional kitchen will feed up to about 60,000 students.” 

This homegrown food also drives a desire for local ingredients, with fewer needing to be flown in. Roy added, “And the school lunch program is a way that we can really incorporate Hawaii to become more sustainable in the future.”

Bartender Harry acknowledged that much of his inspiration for cocktails comes from food, but places and experiences can also lead to invention. As he said, “It could come even from an experience or even just a walk in the park. You see some ulu trees hanging and, you know, things like that.” 

Like Chef Roy, he also uses teaching as a pathway to creativity. Harry added, “I'm going to take that kind of mentality with me, of teaching creativity to bartenders and also learning from them. Because a lot of the time, the things I'm learning [are] things I would never think about, because everyone, all the bartenders or cooks have their own background and experience.”

Finding the Perfume

Cultural influences have long been important to Hawaiian cuisine, leading to new and delicious flavors that add a unique perfume to dishes. But as Chef Chris said, it’s not about copying the tastes. The real perfume comes from distilling flavors back down to their basics. He explained, “So a Japanese person, fifth generation born in Hawaii, is a lot different than a Japanese person from Japan. … You know, their cuisine goes deep, very deep. And that's somewhere where you try to get the basics, like Escoffier.”

Along with sourcing the basic flavors, it’s common to try to capture the scents in bottle form. Bakers often try this method for desserts or other sweet treats. But Chef Robynne wasn’t convinced of this approach, believing authenticity in Hawaiian cuisine is often best left to nature. She said, “A lot of my favorite produce items and my favorite flowers, they're elusive when you try to capture them in any other form.” 

Specific to pikake, one of Hawaii’s most iconic flowers, Robynne added, “I think the best perfumers take other things to get as close [as] possible. … Like, jasmine is never okay. … All the jasmine scents are so awful. Pikake in Hawaii is so beautiful and so delicate and so aromatic that I don't think anybody will be able to capture that in a bottle.”

The Joy in Flavor

The panelists spoke of finding joy in simple things, everything from lingering over fragrant food with friends to watching guests tear into a freshly prepared meal. For Bartender Harry, those simple joys also include drinks that bring back memories or a memorable experience. He said, “The old fashioned specifically because that was literally the first drink, the first craft cocktail drink I ever had, and I remember it very vividly when I had it. And I was with my friends. This was, like, such a new thing to me. I didn't know how a shot of whiskey could be so refined, and every time I have an old fashioned it … makes me feel like I'm having a good time.”

Chef Roy took things in a different direction, diving further into his school program with flavors of the Hawaiian islands. He spoke of how exciting it is to help kids get better nutrition and balanced meals during the school week. He said, “If you look at the school meals through nutrition, you know, we have a problem. And the problem is that because you can't get the kids to eat. No matter how [many] nutritional values are there, if the kids don't eat it, they're not gonna get the nutrition, number one. So, you have to make the food taste good.” 

Even something as simple as a salad bar can help, whether it includes creamy, pudding-like poi, cubed kalo root, or starchy, sweet ulu fruit. Roy is also personalizing meals with a more Asian flavor, bringing noodles and pork alongside seafood sourced from Tanioka market.

Food Globalization

Food also traveled in good times and bad. As Hawaiian cuisine expanded during wartime, Okinawan dishes like naru or taco rice made their way to the islands, enhancing Asian flavors. For the taco rice, Harry said, “It's basically, you know, it's like Tex-Mex, like taco beef and seasoning but refined in a Japanese way, on this hot stone bowl and the rice crisps around the edges, and they mix it in with the egg yolk and yeah, it's wonderful.” 

Chef Keaka spoke favorably of saimin, a hearty dish rich in noodles, kamaboko fish cakes, char siu pork, and green onions, which arrived by the mid-20th century. He said, “That's where people were coming all over, especially Asia, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Puerto Ricans, all in one area, sharing fusion or cuisines and developing saimin, which you can't find anywhere else than Hawaii.”

Takeaway

The mixologists, pastry chefs, and chefs of the StarChefs panel discussion brought a fascinating look at its traditional and modern cuisine, from humble staples to fusion dishes blending delicious cultural flavors. Whether infusing dishes with global influence or bringing healthy staples back, the panelists put the spotlight on Hawaiian cuisine that's anything but a stereotype.

For more insight into Hawaiian and regional flavors, contact the Symrise team and head to Flavors Unknown & Conversations Behind the Kitchen Door.