What do you see as the most significant food trend of the past 20 years?

The Asian influence and Pacific Rim food coming into the American market. Sushi - who would have thought you could get raw fish around every corner and in all parts of the country?

Celebration

“;Art and Soul”;: A fundraiser for Hui Noeau and the Maui Food Bank; Nov. 29 at Haliimaile General Store, Maui. Tickets: $125, $100 tax deductible. Call (808) 572-4946.

  What are your signature dishes?

Sashimi Napoleon, Crab Boboli and Chinese Chicken Salad.

Is there a dish you wish you could take back?

Opakapaka in Parchment with Blackberry Beurre Blanc. What was I thinking?

How has your style changed?

I'm much better than I was 20 years ago! I've learned to cook a lot better with a lot more different ingredients. Restaurants make you constantly look for trends and ingredients; travel influences your food when you come back home.

Have you seen some really bad examples of fusion?

When you try to put 12 ingredients into one dish and you call that fusion. It's confusion.

Did you plan on having more than one restaurant?

I never thought I'd open a restaurant, much less be open for more than two years. I thought I'd play for two years and be done!

Your toughest decision?

When 9/11 hit, I had to let go of everyone and keep the doors open, not knowing if anyone was going to walk in. That was tough.

What are the toughest problems you continue to face?

Employees, employees. Labor cost, food cost, increasing utility costs, increasing cost of absolutely everything. You can't raise your prices to reflect the increases and the cost of doing business.

But would you do it again?

Yes, I'd do it again. But I think I'd get a lot of therapy.

How is the green movement affecting your business?

We're constantly looking for ways to cut down on waste. We give our wet slop to a pig farmer, we recycle all our bottles and cardboard, we're losing our plastic bags. We buy as local as we can, as long as it's good. We're looking into wind energy to be more self-sustaining. I planted an herb garden so all our herbs come from it. Our biggest thing is to get rid of plastic and glass water bottles.

What's in your crystal ball?

The food business is an addiction; I'm always looking to open one more place. But I don't know where we're going to find the labor to work in them.

I see fewer successful restaurants; it's about survival of the fittest. We are getting more worldly with our food; we've been through HRC and Pacific Rim-based foods, now we're more global.