The Finest Ingredients with a Cultural Twist

By Jennifer S. Meyers

Photography by Rae Huo and Mary Ann Changg

For one of Honolulu’s best dining experiences, Alan Wong’s Restaurant combines great atmosphere with 5-star quality food.

Opening on April 15, 1995, Chef Alan Wong took his culinary skills to work.  After attending Kapi‘olani Community College Culinary Arts program, he decided that being a chef was his calling. Having a two year apprenticeship with Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia and working for restaurant Lutece in New York City for three years, Wong moved to Honolulu to create a restaurant of his own that has different ethnic foods using only the islands finest grown ingredients.

“They [experiences] have all been great but when you receive a new one, it means that you are doing what you need to be doing to stay current and stay in business, and thriving while doing it,” Wong said.  “You need to embrace the change, evolve and grow.”

Wong's passion for cooking will continue to grow.

Wong also formally owned a restaurant internationally in Tokyo Disneyland called Alan Wong’s Hawai‘i and plans to open new restaurants in the future.  He created ties with Hawai‘i’s agricultural farmers and advocates for them to the community for the importance of freshly grown foods.  Every appetizer, entrée and dessert are all made from ingredients grown in Hawai‘i.

Wong, along with his staff, creates new dishes for his customers with every creative process.

“The creative process relies on putting yourself in a position to be able to create something and actually make it happen,” Wong said.  “If you can do that, you may not end up with the creation you were thinking of, but you may have found something along the way.”

Wong is also a founding member for the Hawaii Regional Cuisine Chefs and won the prize of Best Chef from the James Beard Award in 1996.  Along with his restaurant, he opened The Pineapple Room where he has special events for his customers to show exactly what he has to offer.

Such special events include Cocktail Development 101, The Farmers Series Dinner: “By Land or By Sea”, FBI: From Big Island and much more.  One event in particular called Winez and Grindz Dinner compares Hawai‘i’s best wine with locally grown ingredients to inspire those who want to learn to cook the diverse cultural foods of Hawai‘i and pair it with a signature wine.  Wong is dedicated not only to serve the finest food, but also to inform his customers on how to cook better for themselves.

Wong and his staff are committed to learning new cuisines and advocating Hawai‘i’s natural food resources to promote Hawai‘i’s sustainability.

But out of all his success and special events, one thing that Wong treasures most is creativity.

During the day, Wong turns his restaurant into a working studio to make new and exciting cuisines which at night he will share with his customers.

“If you keep doing this [creativity] often, it’s who you become as a result of this process of allowing creativity to happen,” Wong said.

Alan Wong’s Honolulu is located on 1857 S. King St. and is open daily from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.