Something's really cooking in Waipahu

Kelvin Ro, right, graduated from Waipahu High School in 1980.
Photo by Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin

So when Waipahu High School asked the 1980 Waipahu grad to come back and help teach cooking, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

It's not as if Ro, whose Kahala Moon eatery has won both public and professional acclaim, didn't have enough to do.

But Ro remembered those Waipahu teachers "that went the extra mile in motivating and inspiring" him, and he wanted "to give something back."

So he agreed, and for the last month has been aggressively reorganizing the Waipahu Food Service class into something resembling a real-world scenario.

For first-year Food Service teacher Elaine Matsuo, Ro's expertise has been a shot in the arm.

One of the plans is to open an in-house restaurant in May along the lines of KapiolaniCommunity College, and give students and faculty a taste of their own homework.

There will be by-invitation public servings as well.

Kelvin Ro demonstrates knife skills
to Ray Villanueva.

"Frankly, there's a credibility problem in classrooms," said teacher coordinator Naomi Nishida, who once taught Ro.

"There's a big difference between learning something in an abstract, classroom situation and being instructed directly by someone who deals with these problems in the real world, on a daily basis."

Ro knows not just the cooking, but the legal aspects, the health codes, the planning that goes into a restaurant, and that's all part of the food-service business.

"I'm a good cooking teacher, but if that's all you want we have the basic food science classes," Matsuo said. "I asked for a teacher with experience in the business end."

When Matsuo asked for help, Nishida thought of Ro, and asked him to teach part-time.

She was a little surprised that he accepted so readily.

"It's something we're trying to encourage - the partnership between community schools and people in business," she said.

"There's something about coming back and sharing your knowledge that is satisfying," Matsuo said. "All we need is more classroom space and equipment to be more professional."

The classroom could really use a hood over the stove and a grill.

"Otherwise, we have to cook outside on hibachi," Ro said.

Culinary arts is the sort of real-world education skill that high schools are beginning to incorporate, and should be thought of as a trade.

"A lot of schools are moving into more advanced food programs, and we need to catch up," Ro said.

"Our restaurant won't be intense as KCC, but we want to serve teachers and students on a daily basis, and give students credit for working in the cafeteria.

"Some of the students are already in the food-service business, working after school.

"They have the technique already; it's a matter of finesse, of learning funding, of health, safety, sanitation - of holding a knife correctly," Ro said. "I like to conduct the class by asking questions, and then directing them through their feedback."

The class is about "half-half, boys and girls," Ro said.

One of his "inspirations" in returning to Waipahu, he said, was the "bad rep the school has suffered, even though it has to do mostly with gangs and drugs outside school."

"The kids in class are kind of self-conscious, not confident. But that's not the case! I was in THEIR shoes not that long ago! I can see their interest growing, like ice milk breaking down. I'm an example of what's possible in the food-service business."

Ro is primarily self-taught, primarily in French cuisine with hints of Pacific Rim, which he calls "the new cuisine of Hawaii."

His Kahala Moon restaurant won Honolulu magazine's Hale Aina award - "The only local food award that means anything" - and has been raved about by food critics in The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Star-Bulletin's own mysterious Nadine Kam.

But cooking isn't the only element in running a restaurant, and "too many professional restaurateurs forget that," Ro said.

So his revamped program at Waipahu includes crash courses in basic business applications.

Food service also is among the most equal-opportunity of career choices.

"It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, all you have to do is work hard and put your mind to it," Ro said.

Ray Villanueva and Nathanial Ayau, both 17-year-old seniors in Home Ec., aren't self-conscious about taking what used to be known as a "girls' class."

"No way!" Villanueva said.

"Cooks make money, yeah? And there's always jobs 'cause everyone has to eat."

Ayau has been so impressed with culinary arts that he intends to join the military and specialize in it.

Villanueva is seeking a cooking scholarship to Leeward Community College, and eventually wants to runs his own restaurant.

"Mr. Ro showed us already a lot of good stuff, like how to use the utensils, and practicing waitering," Ayau said.

Indeed, teen-age boys brandishing knives in a classroom could be nerve-wracking, but these kids were expertly dicing and mincing shallots.

Both boys have been pressed into service at home as dinner cooks. "I ask my mom lots of questions, and I'm getting faster at it," Villanueva said.

Junior Trisha Lee, 17, originally was interested only in art. "I thought I'd try cooking because it's different, but you know, it's called culinary arts. There's an art in food, too!" she said.

After graduating, Lee isn't sure she'll pursue a food career.

"I've thought about being a chef, but maybe I'll just be happy being a better cook," she said.

As for going back to school, "It's weird. All the teachers recognize me," Ro said. "It feels good to be back, like I've come full circle."

As though it's not time for dessert, but time to pay the bill.