[ FOOD ]
‘Iron Chef’ Sakai’s first
U.S. café may be on Oahu
Iron chef Hiroyuki Sakai took some major steps toward establishing a culinary regime in the United States last week, but ask him about the finest moment of his latest business trip and thoughts turn far from food.
Last Thursday, at Waialae Country Club, Sakai made his first-ever hole in one.
"Very happy, neh?"
The details: It was the second hole (169 yards) and he was using a four-iron in gusty winds. "I think that is superb luck for me," Sakai said through an interpreter, still high 24 hours after the fact.
CHEF SAKAI INC.
Sakai with his hole-in-one ball at Waialae Country Club last Thursday.
"I didn't care about the rest of the score."
But back to business.
The French cuisine master of the Japanese cult hit "Iron Chef," Sakai already has four restaurants back home and a line of packaged baked goods sold throughout the country. For the last year he has been working toward exporting that success.
Plans to open a chain of cafés in the United States is proceeding, and it's starting to look as though the first could be on Oahu. In a few weeks Sakai will have his own Kona coffee on retail shelves. And next month he tapes a special "Iron Chef" in Los Angeles.
Let's take all these projects in order:
His business partners in Chef Sakai Inc. had planned to open their first restaurant in Dallas (lower cost, less competition), but it appears that a suitable space in Hawaii could be ready first, possibly by summer's end. Sakai won't say where, but that a decision is close. "It looks like a light at the end of the tunnel."
Sakai's La Rochelle restaurants in Japan are very upscale, but his U.S. cafés will be much more casual, open from lunch to the early morning hours, with a menu of light meals in a style combining Japanese and French. Sakai said he must proceed slowly, taking the time to understand U.S. tastes, "but I really wish I could start right now."
Certain to be served in his restaurants will be his Chef Sakai coffee. It was that project that brought him to the Royal Kona Coffee roasting plant in Kalihi on Friday.
BETTY SHIMABUKURO / BETTY@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hiroyuki Sakai, center, examined freshly roasted coffee beans at the Hawaii Coffee Co. plant Thursday, with his representative Sohbi Reynolds, left, and company president Jim Wayman.
Sakai sampled various Kona blends out of small bowls in the company's tasting room and made his selection -- No. 3, pure Kona. A discussion in English and Japanese followed, with Hawaii Coffee Co. president Jim Wayman explaining that 100 percent Kona coffee retails for up to $18 per pound, more than twice the price of a typical 10 percent Kona blend.
Sakai pointed firmly to bowl No. 3: "I like this."
Wayman said Sakai's will be the first pure Kona among the company's line of signature coffees, which now features only Hawaii chefs. He said the coffee could be in stores in as little as two weeks and eventually will be sold internationally.
Sakai said the Kona coffee will be the first in an American line of products bearing his name. The pure Kona was clearly the best, from first aroma through several sips, he said. The difference per cup will be just pennies in his restaurants, and besides, cost is not an issue. "Coffee is the most important end to the menu."
Finally, and possibly most important to fans of "Iron Chef," the Food Network is making an American special, featuring Sakai, Masaharu Morimoto and Kenichi Chin against a team of American challengers.
"Iron Chef" airs in re-runs on the Food Network, but no new episodes have been filmed in four years. Sohbi Reynolds, Sakai's representative in the United States, said the special will be taped in Los Angeles March 1 to 5, to air in August.
Click for online
calendars and events.
