ROY CELEBRATES 20TH ANNIVERSARY AND OPENS TWO NEW RESTAURANTS
Known as the grandfather of Hawaiian cuisine he turns 52 this year but doesn’t even look half his age!
For star chef Roy Yamaguchi its been an amazing success story. In 1988 he opened his first Roy’s restaurant in Honolulu and now to celebrate his 20th anniversary he’s not only got 35 spread across the USA but he’s getting ready to open two more! Next month his new San Diego restaurant will open followed in July by another in Pasadena, California.
In a day and age of quick come and go restaurants for him to become a long-running legendary story in the culinary industry is a tribute to his dedication and skills. I’ve known the phenomenal chef since he first tried to find fame and fortune in Hollywood 24 years ago—but decided it was best to move back home to Hawaii to start his dream of a restaurant empire. That now includes two Roy’s right here in Vegas and he came here to celebrate his 20th anniversary with a five-course feast paired with wondrous wines.
“All the restaurants are my favorites,” he told me when we chatted in his East Flamingo kitchen. “They all have different personalities and feelings but I love them all. We are all so passionate with what we do. You can call it Hawaiian fusion mixed with Pacific Rim but really it’s all about what my father taught me in the kitchen. My mom didn’t do much cooking so it was my dad Hironobu (Harry) who got me interested in cooking when I was just 8-years-old. My grandfather Rokuro (Henry) had a restaurant on Maui in 1941 to 1947 so I guess the whole thing is really in my genes.” It’s no secret that fish and seafood specialties are the highlights of his Hawaiian menus and he’s co-authored a new cookbook—Roy’s Fish & Seafood—with 100 phenomenal recipes for his unique cooking style.
His 20th anniversary culinary tour stopped in Vegas for two-nights. The first was an Aloha Kitchen Challenge at Roy’s in Summerlin where three Cordon Bleu culinary students, Adam Berberia, Robert Rolen and Paul Hollins were teamed with top Vegas chefs Eric Klein from Spago, Linda Rodriguez from Hachi and Adam Cho from Rick’s Café out at Lake Las Vegas. It was a high-energy Iron Chef based contest with the youngsters creating a sake pairing to go with Alaskan king crab and lemongrass. At stake was a six-month internship at Roy’s working alongside a Roy’s master chef. New Flamingo headliner, magician Nathan Burton was one of the local judges who decided the winning dish was a fresh fish seviche entrée served up by winners Paul Hollins and Eric Klein.
Paul won the internship and Chef Eric challenged Roy to make the event an annual contest to encourage internships for budding future chefs.
On the second night the James Beard award winner and his Flamingo chef partner, Percy Oani teamed for the anniversary meal. It consisted of scallop sashimi with champagne, halibut with Riesling, Santa Barbara prawns with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, a Hawaiian-rubbed Colorado rack of lamb with Australian Shiraz and concluded with a blueberry vacherin and appropriately, a 20-year-old port.
Whenever I flew through Honolulu I’d always catch-up with Roy and he’d ensure I had an extraordinary dinner to go for my long-haul to Australia or Thailand and it became a standing joke between us that he’d even deliver it right to the plane if I wasn’t breaking my journey! There’s a lovely coincidence too—my longtime partner and friend at Lifestyles, ET and all our other TV shows, Al Masini retired to Hawaii and wound-up as Roy’s neighbor on Diamond Head!
The wunderkind chef summed up: “I’ve had so many blessings over the years: wonderful friends and valued customers. Its been a wonderful career and being able to bring the best of Hawaiian seafood to the mainland has been a special joy. Even though we’re celebrating a remarkable 20-years now we’re still looking forward to more.”