Hawaiian Melting Pot : The Diversity of the 50th State’s Culture Is Manifest in Its New, Eclectic Cooking

EATING IN HAWAII is like having airline food three times a day,” Alice Waters of Chez Panisse told a Hawaii-bound friend not long ago. “Take some olive oil and vinegar with you. That way at least you’ll be able to pick some wild watercress and have a decent salad.”

She was hardly exaggerating. A distressing proportion of the cooking in Hawaii’s restaurants and hotel dining rooms does turn out to be barely edible assembly-line stuff--flavorless frozen meat and fish, overcooked vegetables, ridiculous sticky-sweet sauces.

In the past few years, however, some good young chefs have shown up here and there--among them Amy Ferguson-Ota (ex-chef at Baby Routh in Dallas) at the Hotel Hana Maui, Roger Dikon at the Maui Prince Hotel, Mark Ellman at Avalon in Lahaina (also on Maui), Peter Merriman at Merriman’s on the Big Island (Hawaii), JeanMarie Josselin at the Pacific Cafe on Kauai and Mike Nevin at Il Fresco in Honolulu. And it must now be admitted that there are at least a few good restaurants, good even by California standards, in our 50th state.

Perhaps the best of those--the most completely realized and consistent--is Roy’s in Honolulu, where the good-as-California standards might have something to do with the fact that the chef, proprietor Roy Yamaguchi, was a longtime Los Angeles resident and well-known chef. After apprenticing at L’Escoffier, L’Ermitage and Michael’s, Yamaguchi took the executive-chef’s post at Le Gourmet at the Sheraton Plaza La Reina Hotel near LAX, a brave and well-received attempt to serve serious contemporary California food in a less-than-trendy neighborhood. Then, in 1986, he moved to La Cienega Boulevard to direct the kitchen at 385 North--and when that restaurant faltered in 1988, he headed for Hawaii.

Yamaguchi has a family connection with the Islands: Though he was born and raised in Japan, his father was born in Hawaii, and his grandfather once owned a well-known market and restaurant in Wailuku, on the island of Maui. Roy chose Honolulu for his own restaurant, and opened there in December, 1988. Roy’s was a smash from the beginning and remains just about the hottest restaurant in town.

What’s the secret of Yamaguchi’s success? “There’s not really anything else like this in Hawaii,” he says. “Until recently, most restaurants just took advantage of the tourists here, serving them any old thing. I guess people wanted something more. Now you see restaurants starting to have more pride in what they do, even in the big hotels.”

Yamaguchi’s menu commonly offers such local items as Maui onions, Big Island tomatoes, Niihau lamb, locally raised chicken, beef and duck, and, certainly, a wide variety of Hawaiian seafood--not just the familiar mahi-mahi and ahi (yellowfin tuna) but also such creatures as opakapaka (pink snapper), ono (king mackerel), a’u (broad-billed swordfish) and kajiki (baby marlin or spearfish).

Yamaguchi’s menu also reflects the diversity of Hawaiian culture, effortlessly combining French and Italian (and Californian) culinary notions with Japanese, Chinese, Thai and other Asian and European influences. Typical of Yamaguchi’s style is his Duck Linguine Oriental--Japanese, Chinese and Italian in inspiration, but at the same time somehow harmoniously, exotically, as Hawaiian as can be.

DUCK LINGUINE ORIENTAL WITH JAPANESE SPICE SPROUTS AND PICKLED GINGER 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced 1/4 teaspoon fresh garlic, peeled and minced 2 skinless duck breasts 6 ounces uncooked linguine pasta Salt and pepper 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 ounces red bell peppers, cut into julienne strips 2 ounces yellow bell peppers, cut into julienne strips 4 ounces nappa cabbage, cut into julienne strips 2 1/2 ounces Chinese peas, cut into julienne strips 5 ounces fresh or reconstituted dry shiitake mushrooms 1/4 teaspoon minced fresh ginger 1/4 teaspoon minced fresh garlic 2 teaspoons soy sauce 1 small container red pickled ginger* 1 small container Japanese spice sprouts*

Mix first four ingredients thoroughly; then marinate duck breasts in mixture for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, bring large pot of salted water to boil and cook linguine until al dente (cooked through but still firm). Drain and set aside to cool.

Remove duck from marinade, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Saute over medium heat in non-stick saucepan until cooked medium or medium-rare, according to preference. Remove duck from pan and set aside.

Mix remaining sesame and olive oil; then, in large saucepan, saute red and yellow bell peppers, nappa cabbage, Chinese peas and shiitake mushrooms in mixture over medium flame, stirring well. After about 1 minute, add minced ginger and garlic; then continue to cook until vegetables are done but not overcooked.

Add linguine to saute pan, moisten with soy sauce, and then simmer gently 2 to 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut duck breasts on the bias into thin slices.

To serve, divide linguine mixture equally among four soup bowls. Arrange duck-breast slices on top of each serving, and garnish with pickled ginger and spice sprouts.

Serves four.

* Available at Asian markets and specialty stores.

Food stylist: Wendy Blasdel