DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Standing in the family dining room at Washington Place, chef Alan Awana holds a simple sandwich plate that he says would be a typical lunch for Gov. Linda Lingle. Awana says Lingle will sometimes come into the kitchen and fix a meal herself, "and she's good at it."

If you want to win influence,
Alan Awana advises: hold the pickles

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By Betty Shimabukuro
betty@starbulletin.com

The first clue that this interview with this chef would be a departure from the norm: no photographs in the kitchen. Security risks, you know.

It's your house, too Looking for that ideal place for a party -- idyllic setting, historic legacy? Washington Place, the official residence of the governor (although she actually lives in new quarters on the grounds), is available for private parties. The fee for nonprofit groups is $500; $2,500 for for-profit groups. You arrange for catering. You don't actually get to eat inside, by the way, that's a museum now. But the patio is spacious and scenic. Call 587-2598.

Alan Awana is the new chef at Washington Place, Gov. Linda Lingle's personal guy in the kitchen. It's his food she eats daily and it's his food you'll eat if you're ever invited to a state function at Hawaii's First House.

"There's only 49 other guys in the nation who have a job like mine," Awana says. "It's very humbling." Even if you do have to safeguard your kitchen, not just from bacteria, but also from potential sabotage. So, no photos.

If the name sounds familiar, Awana is the brother of Bob Awana, Lingle's chief of staff. Awana, the chef, has been a friend and supporter of Lingle since her first campaign, when he volunteered to cook for her staff.

It was that inside connection, Awana says, that made him reluctant at first to consider the chef's position. "I didn't want anybody to feel my brother had any influence."

Not that that matters. Governors can hire just about anybody they want for their personal staffs. Former Gov. Ben Cayetano says his chef, Diane Paraquelles, was chosen by his wife, Vicky, after interviews with a half-dozen candidates.

Stephanie Aveiro, special assistant to the governor, says the personal connection made her search for a chef much easier. No cook-off necessary.

Aveiro says there were four serious candidates, two of them suggested by Lingle because she knew and liked their cooking. (The Washington Place budget allows for a chef at a salary of $44,600. Lingle's request for 2003 increases the salary to $48,704.)

"I was looking for a team player, not a prima donna," Aveiro says. Having once been a waitress, "I know how temperamental chefs can be."

Awana came on the job in mid-December and 14 days later was preparing for the Christmas Day open house -- heavy pupus for 400 people. The New Year's party was only slightly smaller.

So anyway, should the governor ever come to your house, here's what you don't want to serve: "Definitely not pickles, any kind of pickles," Awana says. "She doesn't even want to see them on the plate."

And she doesn't drink coffee. "She doesn't even care for the aroma when it's brewing." (This hasn't stopped Lingle, though, from being a champion of the local coffee industry, campaigning in Washington, D.C., this week to make Kona coffee the only brew served at the White House.)

Other than that, Awana says, she's not picky. "She's just a healthy eater, which is good."

Lingle especially likes salads. One of her favorites is Awana's Governor's Salad, made with calamari strips and seared ahi, with red onions, avocado and asparagus tips, served with Swiss Inn dressing. (Awana trained with Martin Wyss, former owner of the Swiss Inn, at the then-Kahala Hilton. He considers Wyss to be his "main mentor.")

Lingle also likes beef stew -- "hold the mac salad" -- but her true love is chocolate chip cookies, bite-sized, Awana says. "I know if I put some cookies on the plate next to the fruit, she'll eat the cookies first."

Awana comes from a cooking family. His father, Ben E.C. Awana, was in the partnership that opened Haiku Gardens a generation ago. Dad's signature dish: smoked spare ribs.

"My mom would go down there and I was in the stroller. I just grew up eating good food."

Awana worked for his father, then spent many years at the Kahala Hilton, then the Sheraton Waikiki. "I was a nobody chef, just the guy who cut the vegetables ... got the chefs what they need."

In 1982, Awana opened a private catering company, A&D Catering, which is how he met Lingle -- brother Bob asked him to cater a function. Awana decided to stick around.

Now he spends six days a week in the small kitchen at Washington Place. Technically, he gets Mondays off, but Awana says he still comes in for awhile because that's the day that Lingle lunches with Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona.

His day could begin as early as 4 a.m., if a function's planned, but always by 8:30, and he's on duty until the governor has dinner, which can be as late as 8 p.m.

Awana says he shops daily in Chinatown and other local markets, always searching for the best buys. "I don't have the luxury of spending money out of a vault. I'm spending your money."

Luckily, he says, "my Chinese heritage allows me to be frugal."

From Awana's repertoire of no-nonsense cooking comes this poke recipe that he fixes often for parties, although it came out of humble circumstances.

"We were camping and didn't have a lot of ingredients, but we just happened to have a lot of cilantro and a lot of peppers that we were roasting. It's been a hit ever since."

Asian Poke

2 pounds ahi, any good grade, cubed
1/2 cup light olive oil
2 cups soy sauce
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 sweet red jalapeño peppers, deveined, halved lengthwise and cut in thin strips
1/2 bunch cilantro, 1/4 inch pieces, stems included

Drizzle ahi with olive oil and soy sauce. Mix in garlic, peppers and cilantro; stir well. Serve chilled. Serves 24.

Approximate nutritional information per half cup serving: 100 calories, 5 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 20 mg cholesterol, greater than 1,200 mg sodium, 0.5 g carbohydrate, 12 g protein

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