Twenty years ago, restaurant menus offered Sole Almandine, Chicken Kiev, Veal Cordon Bleu, Chateaubriand and (frozen) mahimahi, all richly sauced in classic French style. Highballs and mixed drinks were ubiquitous, with generic wines an afterthought.

Continental dining was about ambiance and location. The food was good, but what did we really know about food back then?

Two decades later, dishes like Blackened Ahi, Macadamia Nut-Crusted Ono with Mango-Lime Butter, Kalua Pork Quesadillas, Mongolian-Style Grilled Short Ribs and (fresh) mahimahi fill menus, blending ethnic flavors and fresh ingredients in a delightfully tasty manner. Wine pairings are de rigueur; wine lists extensive.

Dining in Hawaii changed on Oct. 4, 1988, when Roy's in Hawaii Kai opened - a benchmark date in Hawaii cuisine.

Who would have thought that a restaurant in an office building in East Honolulu would create a buzz for Roy Yamaguchi's Hawaiian fusion food and for menus that listed ingredients, farmers and food sources that were never before mentioned?

Just 10 days later on Maui, Beverly Gannon opened Haliimaile General Store in an old plantation manager's house in Upcountry Maui, in the middle of pineapple fields with only a few houses close by. It was supposed to be a take-out deli, but quickly became a casual, family-style sit-down restaurant that beckoned folks from Paia, Makawao, Kula and other communities on the slopes of Haleakala.

A couple of months later, Merriman's Restaurant opened in Waimea on the Big Island, the rural ranching community that was a 15- to 30-minute drive along a dark winding road from the resorts of the Kohala Coast.

Peter Merriman had cut his culinary teeth at one of the resorts - the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, where he found the tastiest food being served in the employee cafeteria.

In 1988 these three forward-looking and adventurous chefs built the groundwork for what was to become Hawaii regional cuisine, blazing the delicious trail of using ethnic flavors and locally grown ingredients. Three years later, nine other chefs joined them, and the HRC movement put Hawaii on the global culinary map.

Despite choosing unlikely locales, far from where a well-heeled clientele would be inclined to seek out fine dining, these three original chefs firmly established their reputations and businesses. Twenty years later, as all three celebrate their anniversaries, they remain passionately committed to serving good food.