Nobu brings his contemporary
Japanese cuisine to town

He'll make a 1-night appearance at Roy's

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By Betty Shimabukuro
bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, the guru of contemporary Japanese fusion, will cook alongside chef Roy Yamaguchi in a special dinner Sept. 17.

Matsuhisa, a longtime friend of Yamaguchi's, will bring with him Yuuji Wakiya, one of Japan's masters of Chinese cuisine and a two-time challenger on the TV cult hit, "Iron Chef." (His record: 1 win, 1 loss.)

Joining the three will be Hawaii chef Alan Wong.

The dinner is scheduled for Yamaguchi's flagship restaurant, Roy's in Hawaii Kai. Details such as price are not finalized and the restaurant is not yet accepting reservations, but plans are to have each chef prepare two courses. Each dish will be paired with wine by winemaker Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat in the Santa Maria Valley in California.

The dinner brings together Hawaii's two top chefs with a pair of Japanese chefs who bear international starpower.

Matsuhisa shares ownership with actor Robert DeNiro of Nobu in New York. His first American restaurant, however, was Matsuhisa, which opened in Beverly Hills in 1987 and quickly gained national acclaim. The New York Times named Matsuhisa to its Top 10 list of the best restaurants in the world in 1993.

The chef also owns restaurants in Tokyo, London, Malibu, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Wakiya is head chef at Turandot, a French-Chinese restaurant in Yokohama, Japan. His partner in the restaurant is former Iron Chef Yutake Ishinabe.

In his appearances on the Japanese gladiator-style cooking show, "Iron Chef," Wakiya was described as a "young rebel of Chinese cuisine."

He appeared on the show twice, losing to Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai in 1995 but defeating Kenichi Chin in 1997.

In the first battle the key ingredient was sea urchin, but Wakiya's winning turn involved a more Hawaii-friendly food, papaya, according to the Web site, www.ironchef.com.

He made soup and dessert with papaya, but also Fragrantly Baked Lamb Chop Papaya and Spicy Rock Fish Head with Papaya.

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