DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM At the end of his cooking demonstration, Masaharu Morimoto went down on his knees to acknowledge the help of his assistant, Rick Vidgen. Vidgen and Joan Warmington won the chance to work at Morimoto's side in a silent auction.

Judging the isles' tastiest tomatoes
Chef's chef lends taste to the setting

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By Betty Shimabukuro
betty@starbulletin.com

What is iron cheffery if not the steel-plated will to overcome all odds? To sweeten without sugar, to mix without a bowl, to fry fish even when the wind extinguishes your flame?

"It's like a silent movie, yeah?" Masaharu Morimoto quipped during his cooking demonstration Sunday at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. He could have been referring to the lack of celebrity banter during his presentation or to the number of things going wrong.

The wind, after all, never blew in Kitchen Stadium, scene of the gladiator-style cooking contests that made a cult hit of Japan's "Iron Chef" and where Morimoto reigned supreme as iron chef Japanese.

But here, for the sake of Food TV, Morimoto's cooking demonstration was staged outdoors with a view of clear sky and the calm waters of the Hilton lagoon. Unfortunately that meant wind, over which even an iron chef has no control.

But a veteran warrior does not complain. No, he works silently and furiously, piling pans and pot lids around the burner to protect the flame, mixing sauce in a metal utensil holder, using mango as a sweetener when sugar could not be found, conscripting three people to wrestle with the plastic wrap that kept bunching up in the breeze.

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Hilton chef Willie Pingruber asked Morimoto to autograph his chef's jacket.

And within a half hour was able to announce his dish, in dramatic iron-chef fashion: "Hawaiian Local Fish Crispy Chips with Salsa and Morimoto Sauce. Hai." The crowd cheered. This is what they came for.

Morimoto's appearance -- staged for a live audience of about 200 and filmed for a future television audience of millions -- was a signature event of the Big Island Festival, four days of cultural and culinary activities meant to show off the resorts of the Kona-Kohala Coast.

After the cooking demo, he played host to the Big Island Cookoff, three competitions that gave teams of chefs 20 minutes to make the best of a mystery basket of local foods. It was "Iron Chef," mini-version, with the audience picking a winner based on showmanship and appearance of the final product. Competitors were local chefs vs. young stars off Food and Wine magazine's Best New Chefs 2002 list.

It was four hours before Morimoto could sit down and take a few moments to reflect. Although he had told the audience that his "Iron Chef" days were over, he said he prefers competition to the celebrity cooking demo.

Given the limitations of his English, he finds it difficult to talk and cook. "Next time, if I come again, I will compete."

In fact, he said, if the chance to be the iron chef comes up again, he'll most likely take it.

But it is important to remember that Morimoto has indeed moved on.

After running Nobu Matsuhisa's New York restaurant for many years (commuting to Japan for "Iron Chef" tapings), the chef opened his own restaurant, Morimoto, last November in Philadelphia. His second restaurant opens next year in New York, then in 2004 another -- "L.A. or Las Vegas," he said. And then? "Hawaii, San Francisco, Chicago ... whatever. If I have the people and the power, if I have the spirit, it will come."

Money is not a limiting factor. Not that he has a lot, Morimoto said, but because money follows success. "We doing good, we doing correct, money will follow."

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Te Benioni of Tihati Productions lent his multicolored skirt to Masaharu Morimoto, who wore it while hosting the Big Island Cookoff. Benioni pounded the drums that greeted Morimoto's arrival on stage.

Where in Hawaii would he like to be? His advisors prefer Maui or the Big Island, Morimoto said. "But I am old man from Japan (he's 48) and to me, Hawaii means Honolulu. Like New York means Manhattan, I think Hawaii means Honolulu, Waikiki, Diamond Head."

No matter what his restaurant success, it is doubtful that Morimoto will shake the moniker of "iron chef," at least as long as the show continues to air in reruns. He hung up his silver costume in 1999 when Fuji TV in Japan ended the series, and in the years since has remade his image.

He is pony-tailed now, wears heavy, hip, black-rimmed glasses and looks a bit heftier in his chef's whites. His soft, husky voice comes as a bit of a surprise, conditioned as we are to the perfect English of the American who dubbed his voice for "Iron Chef."

On Sunday he was introduced with great dramatic effect as a "kitchen warrior" and "the wizard of wasabi." A Hawaiian drum pounded in the background.

Later, he traipsed the stage in the drummer's skirt, struck sumo poses, threw spices, ate out of the competitors' pots -- generally mugging for the cameras. He might be uncomfortable speaking, but he does understand entertainment.

Even later came the autograph hounds, a seemingly endless line of them bearing programs, aprons, caps, tickets, slivers of paper ...

Morimoto takes this part of his celebrity quite seriously, not just penning his name, but taking the time to write a passage in kanji whenever he had the space. The translation: "Big dreams on a deep foundation," and it seemed his wish for everyone, himself included.

Next year's Big Island Festival has been scheduled for Nov. 5 to 9. Organizers hope to coax Emeril Lagasse to film his TV show during the festival. They also hope to bring in influential wine critic Robert Parker of Wine Spectator magazine to lead seminars.

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